Shed

6" x 6" oil on board

A little mysterious and loose and painted over another painting that had lived long enough. 

Yellow Pitcher and African Violet

Yellow Pitcher and African Violet

8" x 8" oil on board

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Painted on a rainy Sunday on the sun porch back in June. I don't have a good spot for the African violet during the winter, so it loses its flowers and usually recovers in the fall, just in time to go back inside for the winter.  I need to invest in a good plant light. 

Evening Light - Backyard

Evening Light - Backyard 

8" x 8" oil on board

This is one I'd like to revisit or turn into a more finished painting.  I was just trying to get some practice in before the Paint Great Falls outdoor painting competition. I worked on this for under an hour, which may be obvious. Sometimes, though, I like the ones that take under an hour just as much or more than the paintings that take multiple hours. 

April 5th, 5pm

April 5th, 5pm

8" x 8" oil on Board

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Fairfield Porter has a painting called, six o' clock (linked). I haven't researched the meaning of the name, but I'm guessing it was chosen because the viewer can look at the painting and, based on light and shadows and other details, guess the exact time it was painted and maybe a lot more about what was going on in and around the scene. I don't mean to put myself in the same sentence as Fairfield Porter, but it is my goal to pass along a sense of time and place.  Can you tell that it was one of the first warm evenings of spring, or that my kids were squirting themselves with the hose behind me? Or maybe that my wife was sitting in a chair to my left, having a drink? My dog was wandering around? I could hear lawnmowers and cardinals and bumblebees buzzing in the redbud behind me. I was stressed out because I had just finished doing the taxes and we had to pay a hell of a lot, while our 401K's and index funds were bleeding out money. But I didn't think about that for a while. Did you get all that?

Melting

 

Melting

8" x 8" oil on board

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The plan was to practice and explore with this one, but I wound up liking it, so here it is. One idea that I'm trying to keep in mind moving forward is that shadows are not opaque. When I look at some of my older paintings, the shadows are black, opaque (ugly), curtains and in real life, that's not the case - shadows are transparent. So I'm trying to build shadows through layers of transparent paint, allowing the lower layers and even the toned board to peek through.  If I did anything right with this one, it's that.  I particularly like the shadow in the lower right, which is my house. 

Backyard Snow

 

Backyard Snow

6" x 6" oil on board

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I have three paintings currently in progress.  Despite completing this painting in one sitting on the sun porch yesterday, I'm trying to spend a little more time "finishing" my paintings: adding some washes or glazes, thinking of more interesting ways to say things, etc., which was the advice I received from Jon Redmond.  It's a bit of a quandary for me, though, because pleinair is my favorite way to paint. And when I paint outdoors, I feel like it's a snapshot or memento of a particular place and time and to go home and mess with that takes away some of the freshness of the moment and somehow detracts from the freedom I felt in the moment, although I'm sure no one cares about that.  Not to mention the fact that the more I fiddle with paintings, the worse I usually make them. So, I'm trying to find a balance, and I'm still getting the hang of some new techniques.  One new technique or tool that I feel has added another dimension to my paintings is using a scraper tool or paint squeegee.  That's what I used to create the highest value parts of this painting - I just scraped away the paint down to the toned board and voila, sled tracks/footprints. I also used it to create the little highlights at the top of the painting. Almost all of my recent paintings have felt like a step forward, and I have more ideas than I have time for, so that's a good thing. 

October Light

 

October Light

8" x 10" oil on board

SOLD

I almost called this one, "Soccer Practice," because it's based off a photo that I took during my son's soccer practice. In the photo, there are kids playing soccer and parents, sitting in chairs staring at phones, which is what parents do during soccer practice. I didn't think that would make a great painting, so I left them out.  

I used three colors; viridian green, cadmium orange and manganese violet plus white. Working out the values and warm vs. cool was tough - it would probably be better if I gave it another try but as usual, it's all about time. 

Native Garden Painting (With Kids)

 

Native Garden Painting (With Kids)

8" x 8" oil on board

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I often tell myself I'm going to revisit paintings, do another sitting, touch things up. But I never do and this is no exception. It's probably for the best because my rare attempts to improve paintings usually have the opposite effect. 

I wish the native garden still looked like it does in the painting - that would mean it was late July, but we've moved on to purple and white asters and golden rod - still going strong, just another phase.  I'm happy with it, considering I had two little monkeys painting alongside. 

Backyard - Redbud

 

Backyard - Redbud

8" x 10" oil on board

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Getting some practice in before my painting trip to Highland County, VA next week. My brain is a bit addled after having two teeth pulled earlier this week. I took a bunch of painkillers yesterday, but I liked them a little too much, so I decided not to take anything today, and I feel icky.  Plus, the gaping hole in my jaw hurts. I can see how people get hooks on those things. 

This is my 2nd attempt of the day.  The first one I tried to be really careful and draw everything out and pre-mix the colors and, of course, it turned out awful, so I wiped it and then painted this one really quickly, without drawing it out and using only one brush.  That's usually how it works.  Once I stop thinking, good things happen. 

Orchid

 

Orchid

8" x 10" oil on board

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Painted in the dregs of winter - late January. I liked the contrast of the warmth inside with the cool outside and the way the cool, blue light was hitting the leaves and the windowsill. This orchid rarely gets any water but it somehow sprouted some flowers a few weeks after I painted it. 

Haiku

 

Haiku

6" x 6" oil on board

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November light fades

Above, crow flecked clouds scurry 

On winter's approach

The Big Rock(s)

 

The Big Rock(s)

9" x 12" oil on board

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"The Big Rock" is what my kids call this section of Daniel's Run Park.  So called because there is a fairly large boulder that they climbed back when the boulder probably seemed a lot larger than it does now. The path here follows a ten foot fence lined with barbed wire with signs pointing out that the area is under video surveillance. It's a strange area that reminds me of the Hawkins National Laboratory from Stranger Things. I'm not sure how the giant boulders got there - there are no other boulders in the park that I've seen, and they seem to be purposely placed in ascending size.  

My plan was to paint the largest boulder which is farther up the hill, but it was mostly in shade and didn't look as appealing as these three smaller boulders that line the path. I did three paintings, but this is the only one that was worth keeping. 

Painting slivers of light in the forest is extremely difficult. The light seems to change twice as quickly as it does in an open space such as a field and within 5 minutes, the light and shadows were completely different from my initial sketch. My first painting was a failure because I tried to adjust to match the changes, which made everything muddy because I was painting over the original drawing. This painting was more successful because I sketched everything out and made notes or little dots of paint to show what the light looked like and then basically quit looking at the scene because it was no longer anything like the original sketch. In fact, it was completely in shade.  See photo below.  

The 3rd painting was also a failure and then I got a text from Sarah that she and the kids were heading my way.  When they got there both kids remarked that the boulders were not as big as they remembered them to be.  

Even More Blue Chairs

 

8 x 10" oil on board

Even More Blue Chairs

I painted the first version of this painting in the backyard with my daughter, Camlin.  I didn't like it so I scraped it off with a palette knife.  But then I liked the way it looked after I had scraped it. Did I like it enough to post it? That, I also tossed around in my head.  Ultimately, I decided that it's part of the progression, so here it is.  Plus, my aunt Enice, who may be the only person who reads this blog, said she liked it :) Thanks, Enice!  This is also the first painting I've done of the chairs since we had to cut down the ninety year old Japanese Maple that used to sit directly behind them - I put the chairs in their current spot to hide the massive stump.  The tree was killed by an infestation of ambrosia beetles that target trees that are already in a weakened state. The arborist who examined the tree said he thought it was weakened by the cicada outbreak in 2021 and then the beetles moved in, bored into the bark, and turned it to sawdust. Heartbreaking. I didn't achieve the colorful, happy tone that I set out to achieve on this perfect summer day in the backyard with my daughter.  Maybe the ghost of this beautiful tree had something to do that that. 

Blue Chair Study

 

Blue Chair Study

5" x 7" oil on board

The desire to paint is strong, but the time is limited, so I've been sneaking in some quick ones.  I've been looking at this guy's paintings, which have been stoking my desire...Still working with the Venitian Red, cadmium yellow light, blue black, plus a blue (phthalo blue in this case) palette, which is limited but versatile. 

We bought some new, "Pacific Blue," Adirondack chairs. My main focus was getting the blues right, but I didn't achieve my goal. I struggled with the highlights in particular. They are nowhere close to how they look in real life.  Note to self, try a tiny dot of lemon yellow mixed with titanium white and pthhalo blue for the highlights next time. 

First Day of Summer Vacation

First Day of Summer Vacation

12" x 12" oil on board - Sold

The native plant garden in my backyard - still mostly green. The kids were watching Raya and the Last Dragon, so I had two hours.  I got it done in about ninety minutes...It was cloudy, so the light stayed pretty consistent, but it was still bright - good painting conditions. Another summer vacation begins. 

Blue Chairs II

Blue Chairs II

9" x 12" oil on board

Post one, year twelve.  The urge to paint has been strong lately, but the time has not been there.  I bought my daughter a cheap table top easel that she allows me to use.  It's handy for setting up on the sun porch and painting the views in my backyard. There should be a swing set in the top right, but I left it out because the light was changing so fast.  My portable French easel is beyond repair, and I'm trying to justify the expense of a fancy new travel easel...Should I do it?

 

Blue Chairs

Blue Chairs 

4" x 6" oil on board

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I know a lot of people would look at this painting and assume it was done by a five year old. But it's actually of my favorite paintings of the year.  And in contrast to yesterday's painting, it was much more enjoyable to make.  

When I'm starting a painting, I tell myself I'm going to put down a stroke and leave it. I'm going to use thick paint and I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. I rarely ever do what I tell myself to do.  With this one, however, I did.  

The purpose of painting, in my mind, is to pass along a particular moment in time and the feelings I felt in that moment.  When painting from photos, I feel like that job is much more difficult for a number of reasons, including the fact that you're compensating for the camera's deficiencies, the least of which is its inability to accurately capture light and shadow.  As a result, I have come to dislike painting from photos.  

This painting was done in the moment.  It took less than 30 minutes. I used thick paint, put down a stroke, left it, and quit before I screwed it up. I wish all paintings were this enjoyable!

Redbud II

Redbud II
6" x 6" oil on board
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I've been on a painting SPREE lately!  I did this one from the sun porch with some leftover paint from yesterday.  95 degrees in the shade, but at least there aren't mosquitos on the porch, and I was able to turn on the ceiling fan...