Fallen Log

Fallen Log
plein air oil  9" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This log is on our property in the mountains.  I've looked at it for years, slowly rotting away.  I always take my painting supplies when we go up there in case something jumps out at me waiting to be painted.  I saw the light, shadow, grasses and decided that this was an interesting painting.  I'd also recently looked again at Richard Schmid's book and remembered his painting of a log and was inspired!

Light and Shadow

6" x 8" oil on panel
nfs

It was very windy when I went out to paint this morning. We often have high winds in Colorado, and it can be even windier in Hartsel, up in the mountains. So, my choices were to stand in the wind or go down into the woods. As you can see, I chose the woods. I thought I'd do another shadow and light study (like I mentioned in the last post) painting this piece w/ more light than shadow. But, I was drawn to these two trees, and so ended up w/ more shadow than light. That's ok, one day I'll do a study with more light than shadow.

Shadow and Light

6" x 8" oil on panel
nfs

During the Weekend with the Masters workshop, one of Kevin Macpherson's class exercises was to create a small piece which had 3/4 shadow and 1/4 light. During one of Skip Whitcomb's talks and demos he said that you should not have equal detail in the light and shadow. He also said that painting in the field is a place for fun and experimentation. So, this past weekend painting in the mountains, I tried to put all of this together in one exercise. I worked for 3/4 shadow w/ more detail, and 1/4 light w/ less detail. I think I've got about 1/3 2/3s, but a fun experiment.

A great benefit of blogging and the web world is meeting new people. I have met so many people through my blog. Today I got to meet a blogger friend in person! I spent a good part of the day w/ Cathyann Burgess from Richmond, Va. She and her husband are spending a month in Denver, Colorado visiting their son and his family. She drove down to the Springs, we met at the Garden of the Gods, had a great tour (I'm a pretty good guide!), went to lunch and visited galleries. What a world we live in! Visit her blog if you're not familiar w/ her work!

Restful Moment

6" x 6" oil on panel
nfs

I painted this in the mountains on the same day as the last mountain scene (post before last.) We had gone for a long hike, and were resting on our lawn chairs drinking iced tea enjoying the view and the sun, (I think you have to be mountain campers to visualize this!) Hiking at 8,000 can be a challenge, and seems to become more challeging the older we get! These restful moments are becoming longer and longer! But, that's okay!

I kept watching the light on the tree and the grasses around it and realized there was another painting before me! So, here it is!