An Artist.....

First Cut - Bailing Hay

2012-02-12T15:16:00.002-05:00

"First Cut - Bailing Hay" - 11x14, oil

This is another photo I took in the late 1980s, which I came across recently. My then-husband and his brother were bailing hay on the family farm. I was driving the tractor! They took a break and I took this shot of the hay wagon full of hay with the bright red hay-hooks sticking out and the field behind. I thought this was a really interesting shot.

I decided to try to paint this and used a larger panel than I usually use. I think it turned out really nice. I did have to use Photoshop to adjust the color a bit here. Seems like I have always had trouble (no matter the camera), getting that yellow green to read right on the computer monitor (no matter which monitor).

Below are some process shots and you can see a scanned/printed copy of the photo on the left:

almost done - now to fine-tune the details..

Gouache Studies

2012-02-09T08:41:00.000-05:00

No lame excuses... just haven't been in the studio much lately. But most Wednesday evenings, I've been painting with a friend who wanted some help in getting back into painting again. I'm trying to come up with some simple things to paint, while giving him a mini-lecture about value, composition, etc... We paint the same thing so that he can see how I approach things.

My paintings are shown below. Neither of us were too happy with the results, but I consider these "10 foot" paintings - they look much better from 10 feet back! LOL

First, we painted from a photo of a Zippo lighter which was on the Daily Paintworks Challenge site, as a challenge from Michael Naples some time ago.

ZIPPO! - 3.5 x 5", Gouache on Canson Illustration Board

And we still had some time, so I grabbed a red pear from the kitchen. If you squint, you can almost see the sheen on the pear. I think my Crow's feet have a direct correlation to my painting activities (squinting)!

Red Pear - 5 x 3.5", Gouache on Canson Illustration Board

2012-02-02T10:39:00.001-05:00

Sculptor Steve Worthington has a little contest going on where you could win one of his cast mice sculptures. Head HERE to take a look!

Steve Worthington http://steveworthingtonart.blogspot.com/

Ohio Winter

2012-01-29T17:56:00.000-05:00

I found an old photo I took back in the mid-80's after a big snowstorm and thought it would be fun to paint. I decided to use Gamblin Fast Matte oil paint for this one.

Ohio Winter - Fast Matte oil, 5x7

Surprisingly, Ohio has had a very mild winter so far, so we haven't had to deal with big snow drifts, such as this. Very unusual.

I also recently purchased a new tiny pochade and wanted to give it a try. I purchased the Guerrilla Painter 5x7 Pocket Box pochade. It is so cute! Here it is shown within my larger, 9 x 12 Guerrilla Painter box.

And here it is shown with the panel I used for the painting above:

Conte Crayon/Pastel Sketch

2012-01-19T10:02:00.000-05:00

Just playing around in the studio last night-

WAAL Exhibit Reception and Awards

2012-01-16T08:55:00.000-05:00

Sunday January 15th was the opening of the WAAL exhibit at the McConnell Art Center in Worthington, Ohio. Here is a link to a slide show of the event (you can turn up the speed and turn off the music - upper right options)

http://billwesterman.zenfolio.com/p185081674/slideshow

A large crowd of visitors were in attendance, which spilled over into the nearby hallways. Co-Chairs for the show were Bill Westerman and Steven Walker. McConnell Art Center Director Jon Cook greeted the crowd and expressed his appreciation for the participation. Worthington Mayor, Harvey Minton presented a proclamation to The Worthington Area Art League for their Community Activities and presented the Mayor’s Award to Steven Walker for his painting “Alum Creek Trail”.

Worthington City Council Member, Bonnie Michael presented the City Council Award to S. Betz Gallagher for her painting “Jazz” Guernsey Bank Vice-President. Bianca Conie presented their award of a ribbon and $50 check to Stephen Cheek for his painting “Maria”.

Steven Walker Co-Chair of the show presented the following awards:
Honorable Mention Awards to Charlie Rowland, Jim Glover, and Sherry Mullet
3rd Place Award of a Ribbon and $100 to Richard Clem for his painting “Quiet Cry”
2nd Place Award of a Ribbon and $200 to Dennis Zimmerman for his painting “Who’’s Next”
1st Place Award of a Ribbon and $300 to Brian Johnston for his painting “Blue Ben Diner”

Bill Westerman presented Best of Show award of a ribbon and $400 to Steven Walker for his Painting “Home and Away”

Jurists Jim Bowling from Otterbein University, Joe Lombardo from CCAD, and Michael McEwan from Capital University chose 60 paintings for the exhibit from the 170 plus entries. Judge for the show was Mary Gray from the Riffe Gallery of Columbus. Mary spent considerable time In going over the artwork and choosing the best of the best for the awards.

Two pieces Juried into WAAL at the MAC

2012-01-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

I was excited to learn that both of the pieces I entered into the Worthington Area Art League show were accepted! There were 162 entries with only 63 accepted.

Sunday is the reception and award ceremony. If you are in the Central Ohio area, please visit the exhibit. It will hang until March 18th.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:43:00.002-05:00

Look what Santa left for me! I've been a very good girl this year!

2012 Scion xB, Army Rock metallic

Studio Work - Fall Promenade

2011-12-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

Fall Promenade, Pastel

Studio Work - Pastel Abstracts?

2011-12-03T21:22:00.001-05:00

I thought I would try to do some abstracts with my pastels. I decided to just play around, so used some Colourfix coated paper. I used a dark brown grey colored paper, and decided to put some gouache on it to tone it further. Then to try to have an interesting palette, I used a split complimentary palette.

Colourfix paper with gouache to tone

Pastel choices

For a composition, I decided to take one of my landscape photos and try to use it just for the shape of the design. I was hoping to move it into an abstract completely away from the landscape. You can see the photo in the upper left corner of the picture below. I then did a thumbnail sketch (upper right -below).

first pass with pastels

Hmmm. You can see that it never moved into an abstract. I then decided I didn't like the portrait shape layout of the painting as there wasn't enough interest in the lower portion of the painting. So because I was using a paper support instead of canvas, it was easy enough to cut the painting into the shape that I liked better.

Finished painting

Then I had the lower hunk of the paper leftover:

I played around with it a bit further:

And this is what I ended up with:

As I have said in the past, sanded pastel papers are not my favorite choice. Way too much dust and hard for me to control. I really don't know why I don't use my favorite, even if I just plan on playing.

Tomorrow is to be a rainy day, so I think I will get the oils and palette knife back out and see if I have better luck. I received some sample paints in the mail this week, and will see what I can do with those.

Studio Work, November 27

2011-11-27T16:09:00.001-05:00

Being my last day of vacation, I thought I'd better make an effort to do some painting. I had a photo I'd taken in October which I wanted to try to paint, so I got out the oils and the palette knife. I enjoy using a palette knife instead of a brush, but it seems like I forget to get it out. I liked how this turned out.

Fall Yellow, 8x10, oil

I had lots of paint left on the palette, so decided to try to use it up. I attempted to do some abstracts from imagination.

Abstract 11/27, 5x7, oil

I still had lots of red on the palette, which wasn't used in the original painting, so did another abstract. I will admit, I did have to add a bit more paint. This one reminded me of Joan Mitchell's abstracts. I have a print of a Mitchell abstract, but it is not marked with the name. It is a bit more structured than some of Joan's abstracts.
The DPW Challenge this week is to paint like another artist who you admire. So this is in honor of Joan Mitchell's artwork. Click here to see the Challenge page.

After Joan Mitchell, 6x6, oil

Abstracting from Life

2011-11-26T16:40:00.001-05:00

Although I took the whole week off from work, I never seemed to make it into the studio. Today, I decided to paint with the group at the arts center. One of the group gave a discussion on how he goes about creating an abstract painting from a still life. We all gave it a shot.

The Setup

My first painting kept going towards realism. It's a cute little painting, but it sure isn't abstract.

Abstract 1 - 6 x 6 - Gouache on Crescent Board

My second painting went abstract and I kept it pretty much hard edged.

Abstract 2 - 5 x7 - Gouache on Crescent Board

Wet Painting Carriers

2011-11-12T21:12:00.001-05:00

I enjoy building things out of simple materials like foam core board, so I thought I'd give it a shot to make some wet painting carriers out of a sheet of lightweight corrugated plastic similar to the ones made by one of the artist supply companies. I prefer to paint on 8x10 panels, and made mine to fit that size. I used 1/4" square balsa wood dowels to create slots to hold the panels. I made the first one big enough to hold 10 wet paintings. I still had a piece leftover to make another that will hold 4 wet paintings. I tried to make one more out of the scrap leftovers, but because of the way the channels of the corrugated plastic ran, it didn't work out.

Frank Webb Workshop

2011-11-05T18:20:00.001-04:00

Although I rarely paint in watercolors anymore, I jumped at the chance to take a workshop with Frank Webb today. I always admired his work and was happy to hear he was conducting a workshop in town hosted by the Central Ohio Watercolor Society (COWS). I was a signature member, but decided to go into other media several years ago. The workshop was held in quaint German Village, a suburb of Columbus, at the German Village Meeting Haus. The venue was really good for this and COWS fed us well. The only downfall was the parking issues, but at least it was a beautiful clear day, so walking the 4-5 blocks from my car was pleasant.

Here are a few shots of Frank working (some of the photos taken with my zoom lens looking at the overhead demonstration mirror).

Frank Webb's palette and tools

I attempted a painting using his 'wet on wet' technique. I had a bit of trouble remembering how to use transparent watercolors, since it has been a few years.

Superior Buttercup

2011-10-31T22:03:00.000-04:00

"Superior Buttercup and Delicata Squash" 8 x 10 oil
See "Art for Sale" tab to purchase

I was going to paint a picture of a pumpkin for the DPW Challenge, but I only had a couple of squashes in the house. I did an under-painting using the Fast Matte oils, and the next day finished it up with regular oils.

The buttercup squash had a sticker that said Buttercup Superior. I tried to paint it, but not sure it shows as a label in my painting. The Delicata squash (in the front) was very challenging.

the setup

the under-painting in Fast Matte paint

I recently tried the Delicata squash and I LOVE it! It has a really nice flavor with almost a 'sweet corn' after taste. I found it is really simple to cook squash in the microwave - cut in half and seed, then put in a lightly covered dish and nuke for 4-5 minutes. My kind of cooking!

First Frost

2011-10-29T10:15:00.000-04:00

We had our first heavy frost of the season last night. When I looked outside this morning as the sun was rising, it was beautiful with a frosty fog and the glow of the bright red leaves of my sweetgum tree.

Simplify Cute Challenge

2011-10-19T08:40:00.000-04:00

Blue Dress Day, 8 x 10, Fastmatte Alkyd oil

I painted this for the DPW Painting, "Simplify Cute Challenge". I really simplified the scene and put her into a light blue dress. I had started this using Gamblin's Fastmatte Alkyd paints, thinking I would come back later with regular oils on top. The alkyds are on the dry side and I seem to use them thinly with a dry brush technique. It gave me a different look than I was originally going for, but as it developed, I kinda liked the brush strokes and the haunting look to the little girl. The style of this painting reminds me of another artist's work, but can't recall which one. I wanted to keep her facial features hidden. She sure doesn't look as happy as in the photo. It is easy to imagine a dark story behind my painting.

I really had difficulty getting the hand holding the bag to read correctly, but I think it finally makes sense. Below, are process shots. I had a "Yes!" brand canvas panel already toned with a thin black acrylic on my table, so I used that.

Framed

2011-10-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

I popped my painting from yesterday into a frame and it looks really nice. It is shown beside one of the gouache studies inside the same type frame. I really like the square format.

Below these is the photo I painted from, and to the right is an older pastel called "Pear Pair". One of my favorites.

Studio Work Sunday

2011-10-16T16:11:00.000-04:00

Alum Creek Fall, 6 x 6 , oil

I painted this in the studio from a photo I took last weekend up at Alum Creek State Park.

Here is what the canvas looked like after I toned it with acrylics and the photo to the right:

I tried to finish the piece I started yesterday, but it was a failure. So here it is in the TRASH! Can't win them all!

Blustery Plein Air

2011-10-15T19:27:00.002-04:00

For the last outing of the year, my group was invited to paint at the beautiful private gardens of the Schnormeier's near Gambier. We painted there last year in July, and it was very hot. Today it was high forties and blustery winds.

I.Hate.Wind.

I tried to make the best of it and enjoyed helping my friend Chris from work, as this was her first plein air outing. We painted a couple hours and then walked the grounds taking photos. I did paint, but am not happy with it so, plan on working on it tomorrow (in the calm surroundings of my studio!). I may just wipe it off and start another using some of the photos I took today.

More Gouache studies

2011-10-10T11:17:00.000-04:00

Our plein air group decided to start painting indoors a couple weeks ago because it had turned really cold. Then this weekend, it was close to 80! Too bad they decided to paint inside after all. If I am going to paint indoors, I would rather do it at home, then to haul supplies to the art center for only 2 hours....Instead, I went for a drive both days and took lots of pictures of the change to fall in Ohio. Hopefully I can use some of these for inspiration for paintings this winter.

So I haven't painted much. I've spent a lot of time getting my studio re-organized and cleaned. I'm still playing around with gouache. I am trying out different boards and papers. Still having trouble actually applying the paint. Because it feels almost dry with it goes on, it seems hard to 'mush' around - it just kinda sticks. There is a fine line between too wet and workable...I am still not getting the look I want, but will put some more time into it.

Here are three quick ones. The first is on Canson art board in black. I liked the feel of this. The wetness didn't affect the board much at all.

The next one is on Canson Mat Board in a nice buff color that I like quite a bit, but it has a bit of texture instead of the smoothness of the art board above. I like to tape off a frame around the painting area so that the buff color shows. This is not really finished, but I got bored with the fence and gave up on it.

And lastly, hot press watercolor paper. This was my least favorite support. I worked on it dry and it seemed to buckle quite a bit for watercolor paper. Perhaps I needed to stretch it and wet it down before starting.

Playing in the Studio

2011-09-29T09:51:00.002-04:00

I played in the studio for a few minutes last night. I'm on a gouache kick right now and am still learning (I would learn more if I would take more time to play). The one on the right are Hosta plants in a garden..I can kinda see it.... I think gouache works well for value and color studies.

I've always had a problem finding a good way of storing wet paintings until they got framed (or determined to be duds and thrown away...). I have some nice wall shelves in my studio for dry/framed paintings, but the wet ones were always a problem. I generally work pretty small - 8x10 or 5x7 - so figured I could come up with something to display a number of paintings together on one of my empty walls.

Here is a board I came up with. This is a full sheet of foamcore and the tracks are plastic molding (made for covering the edges of paneling). The molding was about $3 for 8 foot at the home store. I used clear Gorilla glue to mount them to the foamcore. The slot width of the molding is just perfect for hardboard panels. Obviously, if the paint was really thick and juicy, the slots might mess up the very bottom of the painting. It was a fun experiment for only a few bucks. I will probably make something a little more refined, but for now it works for me!

Plein Air Exhibit - A Breath of Fresh Air

2011-09-28T13:11:00.000-04:00

I have two paintings exhibited in the Breath of Fresh Air show at High Road Gallery. I ran over with a co-worker at lunchtime to see the exhibit before the reception and award ceremony on Sunday (it gets so packed that it is hard to see the artwork at the reception!).

I had her take a picture of me beside my paintings with my cellphone camera. It took pretty good pics!

Stop by and see the exhibit Wed-Sat, 12-4pm, until October 22.

Saturday Plein Air - Franklin Park

2011-09-17T18:21:00.002-04:00

We painted at Franklin Park today. It was a brisk 50 degrees with a breeze and overcast. Such a comfortable refreshing change!

Conservatory View, 8 x 10, oil on board

Playing with Gouache

2011-09-14T21:30:00.000-04:00

I've been interested in the artists online who do such neat things with gouache. I finally bought a few tubes of the good stuff and a set of the cheap stuff so I could just play. I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to move the paint around. I am so used to oils now.

I did the painting this evening on cold press watercolor paper. The subject was from a DPW Challenge back in April, - here is the link to my original painting in oil. I really liked that painting. This one is just ok for a first try with gouache. I'll figure it out soon enough. That is what playing in the studio is about.

Saturday Plein Air - Scioto Park

2011-09-10T14:31:00.001-04:00

Today's location was Scioto Park near Dublin Ohio. It was so much cooler than last week! It was foggy and cool, and very comfortable to paint. I painted small today. After seeing a posting on the Gamblin Artists Color blog about using secondaries as primaries, I decided to experiment. I used Cadmium Orange, Sap Green and Ultramarine Violet, along with white and Chromatic Black. I think these colors suited the hazy cool weather.

Foggy Daybreak, 5 x 7, oil on gessoed mat board

Tragic Loss for Fellow Painter

2011-09-05T18:57:00.001-04:00

I follow Carol Marine, the DPW (Daily Paintworks) webpage and participate in some of the weekly challenges. Yesterday, Carol lost her home and studio to the wildfires in Texas. The family escaped with only a few things, but they are safe.

As I was finishing up a piece for the DPW Rectangle Challenge and getting ready to submit to David - Carol's husband who manages the webpages - I read about the fire. I plan on submitting the artwork and donating any proceeds from the sale of my piece back to Carol and David. Here is the link to the Challenge:

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenge/BCE72D70-B1A7-44ea-884E-5882A1B9355E

The painting is new version of the painting from Saturday. Here is the comparison of the two:

And this is the piece I will be submitting to the challenge:

Kingwood Vista, 5 x 7, oil on canvas board

Saturday Plein Air - Kingwood Gardens

2011-09-03T18:08:00.000-04:00

It was a blazing hot day today. Right now it is 99 degrees at 6pm. There was a tough group of nine who braved the heat this morning. We painted in Mansfield at the Kingwood Gardens. I painted two 5x7s. I was more interested in taking reference photos so that I could paint in the air conditioning!

Columbus Landscaping Association Garden Tour

2011-08-27T17:39:00.000-04:00

Our group was asked to paint in the gardens on the Columbus Landscaping Associaton Garden Tour today. I chose a beautiful house in a gated community off Orange Road. What a beautiful home and wonderful landscaping! I painted two paintings while there. What a great experience!

Studio Work - Heron Pond

2011-08-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

I worked in the studio several evenings this week. For this painting, I first used the Gamblin FastMatte Alkyd for the first layer to block in the basic shapes. The next night couple nights, I used my normal Gamblin standard oil paints. I really like the feel of working on top of the FastMatte. I am not sure it if was the dry texture of the Alkyd or just because the paint was dry. I am so used to working on a painting alla prima wet on wet. I also worked larger (11x14) then my normal plein air size of 8x10.

acrylic wash

FastMatte

regular oils

I thought I was done but the 2nd heron was distracting
and also made some other changes

"Heron Pond", 11 x 14, oil on hard board

yART–Art at the MAC

2011-08-20T17:14:00.002-04:00

I painted from a photograph while at the art fair. It was a nice day and lots of nice people came through. No sales on my part, but I did sell one of my older pochade boxes to a fellow painter. It got hot and sticky mid-afternoon, and I packed up and headed home.

While at the fair, I got some suggestions from my oil painting teacher and worked on it a little bit after coming home. My underpainting was a golden color and bright red. You can see a bit of it in the first photo below.

The photo I used was underexposed on purpose so that I wouldn't try to copy it exactly.

"Woodlot" 8x10 oil on hardboard

yArt in the Park

2011-08-19T13:14:00.000-04:00

If you are in the Columbus Ohio area, please stop by tomorrow at the MAC and visit with me and the Central Ohio Plein Air group. We will have art for sale and will be painting!
http://www.mcconnellarts.org/wp/archives/6181

Plein Air Saturday–Prairie Oaks Metro Park

2011-08-13T18:01:00.000-04:00

We painted at Prairie Oaks today. It was really overcast and drizzling when we arrived. I setup in the shelter house because I was using pastels today. Because I bought a new pochade recently for my oil painting, I decided to gear up my older Guerrilla Painter box for pastels. I already had two of the pastel trays, so bought two more and the palette extensions this week because Judsons had lower prices with free shipping! By the time I was trying to finish up my painting, the sun came out and every cloud disappeared! Talk about chasing the light! I like my finished painting.

Prairie Barn, 9 x 12, pastel on Pastelmat

Palette Cleansers

2011-08-06T21:42:00.000-04:00

Just a couple quickie sketches to use up the paint on my palette.

Saturday Plein Air–Glacier Ridge Metro Park

2011-08-06T15:30:00.000-04:00

We painted at Glacier Ridge Metro park today. I turned out to be a lovely day. After weeks of 95 degrees and high humidty, today was humid, but in the low 80's and overcast with a nice breeze. I decided to try putting a little video of my progress on the blog today instead of individual photos.

I have a new laptop, and learning about Windows 7 and Windows Live options. Some of it is pretty nice! I like the photo editing package real well, and have most of the options there figured out. And I do like using it to create a blog post.

"Glacier Ridge View" 8x10, oil on panel

I have rigged up a new way of photographing my finished paintings too. I read online about homemade photography tents for lighting objects. I made mine with foamcore board, packing tape and tracing paper. I use clamp-on work lights for lighting. I have finally figured out all the options on my Canon SD1200IS Digital Elph camera and now set white balance and adjust before taking the photos.

Saturday Plein Air–Galena

2011-07-30T16:19:00.001-04:00

We painted in Galena today. Everyone was feeling pretty sluggish from the heat and humidity, even though we start early in the day. Several people just couldn’t take it and went home early. The rest of us soldiered on and we got together for our group critique early, about 11pm. Most of us then went over to the Mudflats Bar and Grill for lunch. They have great food and cool AC.

I’m not real happy with my work today, so I am not showing a closeup.

Thursday Studio Work

2011-07-28T21:31:00.000-04:00

Well, I still had paint on my palette so I gave the wild under-painting technique another go. This one was on a gesso hardboard, so it was a much smoother surface. I used very little solvent and because the paint was several days old, it seemed to have a lot of sheen – which I don’t like. I noticed it most with the titanium white. Is that a problem with that white? Should I try a zinc/titanium mix?

The final painting is just ok. It doesn’t have the pop that the one last night had. But I am learning a lot.

Wednesday Studio Work

2011-07-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

I haven't been real happy with my oil paintings lately. They have been just blah.... I know what I WANT to do, but getting the paint and the brush to do it is another thing. The application process has always been difficult for me. I tend to over-blend, use too thin of paint and mix dull colors.

I found some artists online whose work excited and motivated me. I noticed they use very colorful under-paintings, don't try to cover every bit of it, and have thick, clear, clean color. The brushstrokes are very deliberate. So last night, I made a few wild under-paintings. Tonight, I sat down to play, so I could use up the paint on my palette from Saturday. I had a GREAT time and am really happy with how it turned out! I have HOPE!!!

Saturday Plein Air - Goodale Park

2011-07-23T18:48:00.000-04:00

We painted at Goodale Park today. Painters among the Segways, Labradoodles, squirrels, joggers and homeless people. It was so hot and humid that there was a haze even at 9am. We painted quickly and headed home by 11am to camp out in the AC.

I can't seem to get a good photo of my painting, but hope you can see it well enough.

Leftovers

2011-07-10T09:29:00.000-04:00

I wanted to use up the paint on my palette last night, so decided to just play on one of the mat board panels. I loosely based this composition of the last painting. I gave myself a rule not to squeeze out any new paint. Yes, it is a blurry painting, but I kinda like it. It could be used for an under painting, but I will probably just move on to a new one.

Plein Air Saturday - Red Bank Marina

2011-07-09T17:18:00.001-04:00

We painted at the Red Bank Marina area of Hoover Reservoir, Westerville Ohio today. We have painted here many times. We had a large group today and I elected to park over by the boat dry storage area. There wasn't much shade, so I decided to setup at the back of my mini-SUV. I put a large golf umbrella over the back door and setup my new painting set. The light was still reflecting badly, so I finagled my cotton shirt over the edge and clamped it down. It was quite the setup! The back of my car is the perfect height for me to sit on the edge and the back end gives me lots of space to spread out the stuff around me! Here is a picture of the "Paint - Mobile":

Paint-Mobile

Here are pics of the view. Unfortunately, as often happens, someone decided to park their vehicle right in the middle of the view! So, several times, I had to walk across the parking lot to take a look at what was hidden and rush back and try to paint it.

And the finished painting is below. I touched up a couple things after I got home. I am trying to work on some specific issues in the field, such as keeping the paint clean and fresh and using deliberate brush strokes. Eventually I would like to go a bit more abstract, but feel I need to work on the foundation issues first.

"Dry Storage Mid July", 8x10, oil on hard board panel

Playing with Grounds

2011-07-09T17:00:00.000-04:00

I've been experimenting with grounds, size, and gesso. I had been given a huge pile of mat board cutouts and wanted to try to use these for my oil or pastel paintings, since I am not a fan of canvas. I recently tried the approach of using PVA size on the boards, followed by oil painting ground. Both of these products are by Gamblin. I use Gamblin oil paints exclusively and love the quality. I tried using the ground by itself on panels, but felt the paint 'lifted' as I was painting. So I figured I might need to size the panels first. It didn't seem to make much difference.

The painting below was a quickie painting done on one of these boards. This scene is at Bremerton from my trip in June. I used the Fast Matte oil paints last night. I really didn't like the feel of this surface at all and was going to give up on this one, but today with left over regular oil paints, I finished this up. I think the Fast Matte paint works well for an underpainting, with the regular oils on top. Although it isn't a spectacular painting, I feel I learned a lot from my experiment, both about the surface preparation and the paint. I think I prefer the feel of gesso.

Bremerton - High Tide, 8x10 oil on paper panel

Tide's Out

2011-07-03T17:00:00.000-04:00

Just a quick 6 x 6 playing around with the Fast Matte paint. I was able to mix some nice browns with these. Still working out the hues of greens though....and was pretty stingy with the paint! Sometimes it is hard to work smaller.

Test Drive

2011-07-02T20:15:00.000-04:00

I stopped at Blicks today to get some Gamblin Fast Matte oil paints. I wanted to give them a try as they dry really quickly. I intend on using them when I travel so that my paintings dry enough to pack them for the trip home. I like to make a quick color wheel test of paints I am not familiar with and was happy with how it turned out. I use regular Gamblin oil paint, and these were very close to those. A couple of the colors seemed a bit stiff but others seemed to leak out the binder oils. I mainly used Gamsol to get the consistency right, but also used some Liquin.

I usually have a hard time painting flowers, but thought these hydrangeas I bought at Costco might be simple to paint. Yea right. And this is the last time I will try to paint that vase! There is something about that shape and color that I just can't get right. I have tried to paint the vase several times in the past. This is not one of my favorite paintings, but it actually looks better in the photo than in real life, so I thought I would post it.

I gave my new pochade box a test drive for this painting too. It worked well and I did get a bit of paint on it to initiate it.

New Pochade

2011-06-30T13:44:00.000-04:00

I just received my new EasyL Pro pochade box. I really like my Guerilla box for local painting close to the car, but I wanted a slimmer box to be able to pack it inside a suitcase for travel. Of course, I have no plans to travel with it until next spring, but I was itching to get it so I could use it en plein air this summer too! Several people in my painting group use this brand and the company has a good selection of different sizes to choose from. It is very well made. I considered several other brands but this one had the options that worked best for me.

That is an 8x10 painting panel mounted as you would to paint - to show scale. The whole thing is about 11 x 14 and 3" thick when closed. The back side (where the strap is hanging down) adjusts and will hold several different sizes of wet panels, so you can carry the whole thing without worrying about messing up a wet painting. I bought the tripod as part of the kit. It seems to be a pretty good one.

Now it will be difficult to get started painting on it. Kinda like driving a new car and worrying about getting that first ding! I may spray more Polyurethane on the inside before I do anything else. Some people get a piece of glass cut to fit and seal it in to use as the palette, but because I intend on putting this in a suitcase on a plane, I am afraid to use glass. For now, I will probably use disposable palette paper, and later get a piece of plexi-glass cut to fit.

Plein Air Saturday - Hocking Hills Bees

2011-06-25T16:39:00.000-04:00

Plein Air Saturday - Topiary Park

2011-06-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

We painted downtown at the Topiary Park. I decided to use pastels today. We got done about 20 minutes before the rain started, and then it poured all day long.

Bremerton Trip

2011-06-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

I flew out to Bremerton Washington for two nights this weekend to see my niece graduate from Olympic College, with honors! Congratulations Claire! Stayed in Silverdale at a hotel that was right on the water. Lovely.

Here are a few pictures:

Anyone know what this bush is? They were everywhere along the roadways.

Plein Air Saturday - Darby Creek

2011-06-04T14:53:00.000-04:00

Battelle Big Darby Metro Park.

Darby Meadow, 8 x 10, oil on board

Plein Air Saturday - High Banks Metro Park

2011-05-28T14:53:00.000-04:00

Green, green, and more green. We painted at High Banks Metro park today in the Big Meadows area. It was hard to find a nice composition because everything is the same color of green! I setup looking to the east while I sat in the back of my mini-SUV.

When I was finished, I realized I had not used any Cad Red from my palette, which surprised me. I just used a bit of Burnt Sienna.

I rearranged the trees and removed the center tree so that the horizon tree line was more evident.

Deja Vu - all over again.... Process shots

2011-05-25T13:17:00.000-04:00

"Beyond", 10 x 14, pastel on suede mat board

Does this subject look familiar? I was asked to prepare a "process presentation" to be shown at the MAC. This will show how I work en plein air, and use that alla prima painting as a sketch for a larger studio painting. Since my favorite medium is pastels, I decided to use them for the final painting.

Below is my oil painting that I posted a few posts back from the recent workshop. Beside it is a little 'work-up' sketch done in pastels so that I could decide on which pastels to use. I think it's a cute little painting too, although very casual and loose.


My oil painting from the workshop on May 14th on the left, and a pastel work-up on the right.

A large piece of grey suede mat board was masked off in the final size. I prefer to work on a larger piece so that I won't have to mount this on another board later when I mat and frame it. You can see my initial sketch on the grey board.

Here you see the final larger pastel along side the two earlier works.

Here are process shots - 1) sketch 2) first color pass and 3) final painting

Starting on July 5 my presentation will hang at the MAC for 3 weeks in the Geissbuhler Gallery.

Veggies

2011-05-22T13:08:00.003-04:00

I played around on some small panels using up the paint on my palette from yesterday. Artichoke and baby bok choy. Unfortunately, I waited too long to actually cook and eat these, but I love how the paintings turned out.

Submitted to the Paint Your Vegetables challenge on DPW Challenge site.

"Baby Bok Choy", 5 x 7, oil

"Purple Artichoke", 5 x 7, oil

Plein Air Saturday - Malabar Farm

2011-05-21T20:36:00.000-04:00

"Malabar Peonies", 8 x 10, oil on board

Today we visited Malabar Farm State Park near Lucas Ohio. This is author Louis Bromfield's farm (my favorite part of the history - Lauren Becall and Humphrey Bogart were married in the parlor of the 'big house'). I painted just outside the big house in the garden where the peonies were starting to bloom. Very hard to get the right color and feel of the peonies - and even harder to photograph my painting and get the colors correct.

This from the farm's website:

"In the rolling countryside of Richland County, Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and dedicated conservationist, created his dream — Malabar Farm. Inspired by his love of the land, Bromfield restored the rich fertility of the farmlands and preserved the beauty of the woodlands. He built a 32-room country home, where his family, friends and neighbors could share the pleasure of life on the farm.

In 1976, Malabar became one of Ohio's state parks. As a park, Malabar Farm is dedicated to perpetuating Bromfield's farming philosophies, preserving the Big House and its many artifacts, and providing a place where visitors can explore life on a farm and the beauty of nature."

Plein Air Workshop Paintings

2011-05-15T18:39:00.000-04:00

I tweaked these just a bit today and here are the final paintings:

Path Through Hedges, 8 x 10, oil

Red Barn, 8 x 10, oil

Plein Air Workshop with Michael Chesley Johnson

2011-05-14T22:12:00.000-04:00

I just returned from my plein air painting workshop in Lima, Ohio with artist Michael Chesley Johnson for two days. I had a great time! I think it was one of my most relaxing, stress-free workshops ever. All the people were really nice and laid back, but I'm glad to be home!!

2011-05-03T12:53:00.001-04:00

Please see attached announcement of my exhibit at Worthington United Methodist church. I am pleased to show eighteen of my pastel and oil paintings.

I have studied with local artists Jim Glover, Charles Rowland, Angela Gage, Meredith Martin and Stan Pierce. I am an active member of the Worthington Area Art League and Central Ohio Plein Air.

Self Portrait

2011-05-01T14:34:00.002-04:00

The DPW Painting Challenge this week was "All about Me" - a self-portrait. I had some paint leftover on my palette from yesterday, so grabbed a small panel that was a goof-up (used for another project but it was not good enough to keep) and painted over it. I like how it turned out with the primary colors showing, from the other project, in the background. Although it doesn't look too much like me - maybe younger, thinner, etc...

This was the first painting painted in my sunroom on my new easel. I'd moved into my new condo almost a year ago, and bought the easel 8 months ago.... but have done most of my painting either in my studio or plein air. This was a good project to christen the sunroom!

All about Me?, 3 x 5, oil

Here's the pic I painted from:

Plein Air - April 30

2011-04-30T19:34:00.001-04:00

We painted at Hayden Falls today. I'd never been there so was excited to see it. Because there are some long, steep steps to get to the falls, I walked down without my gear to take pictures and look around. It was cool and dark and misty from the falls - not good for painting! I enjoyed viewing the falls, but it didn't inspire me enough to climb back up to the car to haul my gear back down, so I just setup above in the parking lot with a few other people. I decided to just do a quick practice piece with a palette knife.

Among the Pines, 8 x 10, oil

I don't understand why blogger rotates my pics when I download them!

Plein Air - April 9

2011-04-09T13:41:00.001-04:00

Finally, our group was able to get out and paint. The weather was a bit warmer today, about 50 degrees with a very dull overcast sky. We painted at Alum Creek State Park, below the dam where the river leaves the reservoir. I chose a view looking downstream towards the bridge.

I started with a canvas board washed with the Napthol red acrylic wash, as I had done with yesterday's painting. Because the atmosphere was so grey and the landscape so dull, I was hoping it would liven up the painting. Here is my pochade with the completed painting, facing the the view.

This painting is a "ten-footer" painting - it looks much better from 10 feet back! LOL

"Alum Creek", 8 x 10, oil on canvas board

German Lane

2011-04-08T21:29:00.001-04:00

I submitted a piece to this week's DPW Painting Challenge. As I painted, I took several in-progress shots:
I printed out Carol's photo and cropped it with a couple of scraps of mat board.

I then took a canvas panel and underpainted it lightly with napthol red acrylic paint. When that was dry, I quickly sketched in a basic layout with a combination of ultramarine blue and quinacridone red oils thinned with Gamsol.

I started with the darks and placed large shapes. I was trying to pay attention to value relationships when I put in the sky and the road. I re-painted those several times!

I was using the photo as inspiration and decided to just go with it to please my eye. I am happy with how it ended up! I had a hard time taking a photo though because of the grain of the canvas and the glare.

"German Lane", 6 x 6 , oil on canvas board

Die Hard Plein Air Painters

2011-04-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

Brrrrrr! It was our first day out for the plein air season. It was a brisk 40 degrees with a north wind and misty skies. I stopped by, but only brought my camera and a sketch pad to make some thumbnail sketches. I lasted about 15 minutes, even though I had on layers under my Gore-tex jacket. Hopefully I can make a painting at home which represents the scene and weather.

DPW Painting Challenge - Help Japan Challenge - SOLD

2011-03-28T16:13:00.001-04:00

I have posted an older watercolor on the DPW Painting Challenge auction to benefit victims in Japan. Click below,

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenge/FC50B15D-5016-4E5E-87F2-87C3F79BA65B

SOLD!

Leaf and Butterfly

Last Saturday at the MAC - Carnations

2011-03-26T18:32:00.001-04:00

Today was the last Saturday my group will be painting inside - next week we will go plein air. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. We had several still lifes of flowers setup to paint today. I chose yellow carnations which I brought from home.

This is pastels on suede mat board. The mat board was bright scarlet red. You might see some of it peaking through. The first photo shows the painting midway through. The final photo is after finished it at home. It was difficult to get a true color photo, but I am pleased with this painting.

DPW - White Vase

2011-03-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

I painted a piece for the DPW Painting Challenge. This week's challenge was to paint something white laying on a colorful cloth. I felt like I overworked this. I was hoping to be more selective with brushstrokes but blended more than I intended.

Pastel - Foothills

2011-03-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

"Foothills" - 8 x 10 - pastel on suede mat board

Play - Pastel Underpaintings

2011-03-12T17:14:00.000-05:00

I recently bought the new book Pastel Pointers by Richard McKinley. The book included a DVD in which Richard showed how to use wet underpaintings. I thought I'd give it a try. I am not a fan of sanded papers, but had some leftovers of several brands, and decided to experiment. I used UArt, LeCarte and later - Wallis.

In the photo below you will see two UArt papers on the left and a LeCarte paper bottom right. I have blocked in the composition using the reference photo on the top right. I used the same colors of hard pastels for all.

Then I tried several different wet washes to see which I liked the best. In the photo below you will see that I added Wallis to the experiment. Because the LeCarte's grit was dissolved (you can see the white patches), I just threw that away. Because LeCarte uses a vegetable based grit, it was too fragile for a wet wash.

You can see that the Wallis was the most vibrant and had a nice watercolor effect. The others were pretty boring. I then started to add more color with softer pastels to all three papers. I really didn't like the feel of the UArt paper and since the Wallis was much more interesting, I worked on that alone. Below, you will see the finished painting. It was a good experiment overall, but I still don't really enjoy using sanded papers. I prefer a softer feel and suede mat board is my favorite.

Play Two

2011-03-06T16:41:00.000-05:00

Play

2011-03-02T20:08:00.000-05:00

Stepped into the studio this evening just to play with pastels. Just a simple quick sketch.

A Career as an Artist?

2011-02-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

Interesting article - I think she makes a lot of sense.

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/02/06/how-to-build-a-career-as-an-artist/

Painting Saturday at the MAC - Abstract?

2011-02-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

Finally made it to Saturday painting again. I'm just getting over the first cold I've had in years, so didn't have a lot of energy to paint, but gave it a shot. The group suggested we try to abstract our still life. It's difficult! I got started and changed things a few times, but was still headed towards a realistic painting. I quit for the day. We don't get much done in our short 2 hour time period. I may try to work on this, and again, try to abstract what I have. I like the color palette I have used so far.

Winter Wonderland....

2011-02-01T21:30:00.002-05:00

A wonderland, only if I can stay inside!

Ice Day! Let's Paint!

2011-02-01T17:03:00.001-05:00

I stayed home today. We had about 1/4" to 1/2" of freezing rain this morning, and we are expecting more this evening. My driveway is on a slight hill and I am not sure I could get back into the garage if I left, so I took a vacation day. Got my laundry caught up, watched alot of my DVR recordings and finally got into the studio!!

I decided to try painting with the new DPW Challenge Group. Since it is a very dreary day, I had a hard time taking a good photograph.

"Imperial" 5 x 7, oil on mat board coated with mat medium

Painting Saturday at the MAC - Whiteware

2011-01-15T17:54:00.000-05:00

The still life today had a set of white porcelain ware. How difficult! But I think it ended up pretty good.

"Whiteware", 8 x 10, oil on Yes! canvas panel

Back in the Saddle again....

2011-01-08T17:33:00.000-05:00

Finally back to painting again. Yes, I had plenty of time to paint on my own, but just couldn't get motivated. The group met today for the first time in weeks. We painted a still life again.

I bought myself an i-Pod touch recently and wanted to play around with the camera on it. The top photo shows the still life setup and my painting. I used an app on the i-Pod that simulates a HDR camera. It took two shots (one light and one dark) and merged the two to make the photo. You have to keep the camera still as it is taking the shots (which I find hard to do) and the people in the background moved - so there is a bit of blurriness. But compared to a standard shot I took, I think the app does improve the vibrancy of the photo.

The second photo is a bit farther in my painting process. This was taken with just a standard shot.

This isn't one of my best paintings, and I am bored with it, so won't be doing anything more with it. But it was a good exercise to get me painting again!

Saturday Painting - Clementines in Jar

2010-12-11T17:35:00.002-05:00

Finally back to painting with the group on Saturday morning. It's been so long since I got the oil paints out, I wasn't sure if I could even paint anymore!

I put a couple clementines into a glass jar and put another beside it. I wanted to try my hand at painting through glass. In the photo of three below, the first image is the photo of my setup, the middle is what I painted while with the group, and the right is my final painting finished at home after trying to tweak things. I am fairly happy with this, even though I can see lots of things that need corrected when placed beside the photo. I did have trouble getting the ellipses of the jar correct.

"Clementines in Jar", 8 x 10, oil on canvas panel

MAC Birthday Party

2010-11-21T18:24:00.000-05:00

Today, my group demo'd at the MAC birthday party from 2-5pm. They had birthday cake to celebrate the McConnell Arts Center being open one year. They had live music, potter demos, painting demos, and tonight there was a performance in the auditorium.

My group painted live models in two different galleries. I had a tough time again. I was a little too far away to be able to see the facial features well enough to get a good likeness. As usual, my portraits never look like the person....

These are pastel. The first one is on on Pastel Mat and the second one on suede mat board.

Painting Saturday - Male Model

2010-11-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

We had a guy come in to sit as a model for my Saturday painting group. Since we only had 2 hours, I just used black, grey and white pastels on cream colored LeCarte pastel paper, instead of trying to use paint.

There sure isn't much resemblance between my sketch and the model though..... it's much easier seeing what is wrong after you take the photos and place them side by side...look at that huge head!! But its all about practice.

Demise of a Giant

2010-11-04T12:54:00.000-04:00

I posted about one of my favorite trees, in a nearby park, back in March of this year. Recently, I found that it was finally cut down. I visited today at lunch and took some pics. Such a beautiful tree, but obviously, it had some rot inside.

Ohio Plein Air Exhibit

2010-11-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

Come see the exhibit of my Saturday painting group's artwork. We paint each Saturday morning (year round). This is an exhibit of some of our favorite work. The exhibit will hang from November 14 thru January 13, 2011.

Painting Saturday - Small Pastels

2010-10-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

Today we setup some stuff on the table in the middle to paint still lives.

I painted a couple small 5x7 pastels on suede mat board.


"Gala" 5x7 pastel on suede mat board

"Onion and Candle" 5x7 pastel on suede mat board

Painting Saturday at the MAC

2010-10-23T20:08:00.000-04:00

Today was the first inside painting session for the season at the MAC. We are done painting outside for the year. Undoubtedly, there will be a few hardy souls who will paint outside all winter. But I need to start using my own studio to paint and will go to the MAC Saturday painting sessions occasionally.

I decided to just play around with pastels today. It seems like its been a long time since I used my pastels. I used a scrap of Pastelmat. I like this surface a lot and hope to do much more with it.

Here are my two sketches from today. Both used the same reference photo. The first shows the whole scene, and the second a closely cropped version. I like the second sketch quite a bit.

Sister Visit

2010-10-17T20:15:00.000-04:00

No painting for me this weekend. My sister from Colorado flew in for two nights to visit me and see the new condo. I took her on a tour of the gallery where my winning painting was hanging, we had a nice little brunch at the french restaurant nearby, then a driving/walking tour of a couple of my favorite nature spots.

Saturday Painting - Inniswood Metro Park

2010-10-10T19:48:00.000-04:00

Saturday we painted again at Inniswood Metro Park. I painted two small 6x8 inch oil sketches, in a hurry. Then I took a walk around the park.

I had intentions on painting the lovely sun-lit scene below:

But then this happened:

So that is how I decided to paint it! A whimsical painting, just for fun.

I think the first photo is a lovely view, so I may try painting that again, larger, without the VW!

Then I setup looking to the west. I have been intrigued by the light colored Japanese pines in the distance, each time I visit, so I did a quick sketch.

Here are more views of the park which show some fall color:

1st Place Award for 'Fall at Scioto Park'

2010-10-03T20:27:00.001-04:00

I won 1st Place at the Worthington Area Art League Fall show at High Road Gallery. The award ceremony was this afternoon. I was presented with a blue ribbon and a nice check. The painting is "Fall at Scioto Park" which was painted at the end of August at Scioto Park, Dublin Ohio with my Saturday painting group. I had posted the painting in my blog at that time, but I will attach it here again. I am so pleased!!

Saturday Painting - Camp Lazarus

2010-10-02T20:40:00.000-04:00

The group met at the west entrance to Camp Lazarus today. When we arrived, it was overcast and very dark down by the creek. I decided to setup near the parking area in the open where there was more light. You can see my progression and then the finished painting below. Following those are a few shots of the area.

I love fall and really enjoy being in the woods, but it was a bit too dark to paint within the woods today.

Can you see the plein air painter?

Painting - Fall fence post

2010-09-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

Today the group met near Delaware Ohio at Stratford Ecological Center and Farm. The Center was having a Harvest Festival and asked the group to paint on the grounds. Several of us also donated a painting for their fund raising auction.

It was a cool morning, in the 50's and me being so used to HOT, didn't bother to take along a jacket. There was a bit of a breeze and mostly cloudy, so it was a bit nippy. I setup beside my car to use it as a shield from the wind. About an hour later, the clouds started to move away and it became very comfortable.

This is a palette knife oil painting of a fence row with grape vines. There was lots of interesting fall colors, but I'm afraid I got too interested in the details. I love the big rock, but it looks kinda out of place.

Visiting the Painters at Whetstone Prairie Garden

2010-09-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

I got up early enough, but got sidetracked and then there was Saturday traffic (forgot about the High St farmer's market and the OSU game traffic), so didn't make it to the painting venue until after 10am. I roamed around taking photos and stayed for the critique.

Painting Saturday At Dawes Arboretum

2010-09-11T17:50:00.000-04:00

Got up extra early today, to meet the group near Newark Ohio at Dawes Arboretum. Its a lovely place. I hadn't visited there for nearly 15 years.

I setup looking towards the west and painted this one a 5 x 7 canvas panel using a palette knife.

My subject (zoomed in)

First block-in

Midway through

Final Painting

Several of the group decided to stay another couple hours after our critique session so that we could paint more because it was a lovely day. I attempted a pastel but it just wasn't working at all. I chose a very complicated composition, and I just gave up. I seem to be only able to paint one painting on a Saturday.

Sunflowers

2010-09-08T12:58:00.000-04:00

Stopped in Whole Foods at lunch today and thought these might brighten up my office nicely!

Painting Saturday

2010-09-05T11:15:00.000-04:00

I didn't paint with the group on Saturday, for several reasons, but I did paint! I painted my kitchen - so not quite as interesting as plein air....

There is a definite change in the season here. We have finally broke out of the 'heat wave of the summer of 2010'. Last night the temperatures got down in the high forties. Love it!! I kept the bedroom window open. Just love snuggling under a quilt with the cool air coming in the room. I got up fairly early and decided to get a taste of nature today. I stopped off for breakfast (love to eat breakfast out!) and then made my way to Galena to the boardwalk over the mudflats. There was a smell of fall in the air with that scent of drying leaves. I walked out on the boardwalk to the end where it's over the shallow water. The air was still crisp but bright and clear The leaves are just starting to hint at a change in color. I spent some time alone looking over the scene while drinking my coffee. It made me a bit sad actually. I always love the change in seasons especially fall, and being single its difficult not to be able to share the experience with someone close.

Scioto Park

2010-08-28T14:24:00.000-04:00

What a perfect day to paint! The group met along the Scioto River near Dublin at Scioto Park. It was a lovely park. I painted at the river's edge. This is an oil painting on a Yes! Canvas panel using a palette knife. I tried 'stand oil' today instead of Liquin. Not sure I like this medium or not.

At the start, I toned the canvas with Napthol Red Light, leaving a bit of it to show through.

Above it is shown in my pochade box at the painting site, and below I have put it in my new easel in the sun room. It's a 8x10 but it looks pretty puny in this big easel!

Excuses, excuses....

2010-08-26T08:45:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't painted for a couple weeks. I had intended to paint while at the MAC art fair last weekend, but I was sick with a cold.

The little art fair in the yard at the MAC was nice and casual. There were maybe 25 artists and several did quite well with sales. Lots of people walked through with their dogs or riding their bikes, on their way to the farmer's market uptown. I went to help out for a couple hours, but the cold got the best of me and went home to take decongestant and sleep the afternoon away.... what a waste of a weekend.

I never get colds! Can't remember the last time I had one... I blame this on visiting the doctor for a routine checkup. I must have touched something the snotty nosed kids had touched. I even used hand sanitizer on the way out of the office! Anyway, once again, I was side tracked from doing artwork.

I finally got the new studio organized and I hung some nice 'picture ledge' type wall shelves so that I can display and rearrange my artwork. And this week, I purchased an artist's H-frame floor easel. I'd been wanting one for awhile but waited until I was more organized after the move. I set it up out in the sun room for now, so I have two very nice places to paint with good lighting.

I had started an oil painting a few weeks ago. It's still in the 'ugly' stage and sits there and taunts me... I need to push past that and finish it up.

No more excuses......

Art in the Yard

2010-08-17T10:32:00.002-04:00

Workshop Day #2

2010-08-08T18:29:00.000-04:00

Today the workshop was held at Whetstone Park of Roses in Clintonville. This is a very busy city park. We first setup near the "Edible Garden" - a very aromatic setting to watch Jim's demo! I also was able to take a couple pictures of a hummingbird and a cicada, although you might have to click on the photos to be able to see them.

It was a bit hotter today - but I was pretty pooped - mentally, creatively and physically. I don't have alot of stamina to paint that many hours in two days. Even though I love to be in nature, its demanding to try to find an interesting subject and make it work, while visitors stroll around you. I pretty much painted two stinkers!! But I was happy that I was able to purchase one of Jim's demo paintings, so at least I came home with one nicely done painting.

Workshop Day #1

2010-08-07T21:55:00.000-04:00

It was a nice day for the plein air workshop. Today we met at Inniswood Garden Metro Park. Jim did a demo then let us loose to paint on our own. He came around and helped us with our paintings.

I was happy with my paintings. The first was a oil painting using a brush, painted on mat board primed with black gesso.

We broke for an hour lunch, then went to a different area of the park. Jim did another demo, then I started another painting. By this time, I was getting pretty hot and the gnats were starting to get to my face. I worked really quickly and used a palette knife for about 85% of this painting. I think this is the better painting of the day. This is oils on a YES! canvas panel. I like working on these panels a lot, and I am really enjoying working with a palette knife.

Tomorrow, we meet at Whetstone Park Of Roses. It's to be a bit hotter, but still a nice day.

Plein Air Class

2010-08-05T13:31:00.000-04:00

Inniswood Metro Park

This coming weekend instead of painting with the group, I'll be taking a class with my oil painting teacher, Jim Glover. He is teaching a two-day workshop in Plein Air Painting at two local parks. I took studio classes with Jim last fall to learn about oil painting and I learned a lot from him. But since I'd laid off painting while the house was on the market, etc... I forgot half of the stuff he taught me! I am looking forward to this weekend.

It will be a long two days - we will be outside working from 9am-4pm. But because of the schedule, I might not feel as rushed in my work as I do when I paint with the group on Saturday mornings. The weather promises to be about perfect - we are finally getting a break from the heat and humidity - it's supposed to be sunny with highs in the low 80's.

I will post about the workshop next week. I do plan on taking lots of photos.

Pastel - Downtown Grove City

2010-08-01T07:36:00.000-04:00

Today we painted in Grove City Ohio in their downtown area. There was a Farmer's Market going on, but I hung out in the shade behind City Hall away from the hubbub and crowds, with a view of this mural on the building across the street. A few of us who setup with this view painted the little bandstand, but I was more interested in the mural and the way the light was filtering down upon it through the tree.

I decided to paint in pastels today, it's been awhile. I thought since we were probably going to see alot of architecture, it would be easier for me in pastels, since I have problems painting straight lines with oils!

I started out with a piece of 8 x 10 suede mat board which was a bright scarlet red. Suede mat board is my favorite support for pastels, it grabs the pigment so easily. I dislike the feeling of working on sanded supports, as it's like 'fingernails on a chalkboard' feeling to me... I don't get that feeling with suede board. It's like painting with butter - smooth and soft.

I painted it a bit stronger than reality, but liked how it turned out. I feel it might be one of my strongest paintings that I have completed recently.

City Center Mural, 8 x 10, pastel on suede mat board

I also tried out using a 'My Art Cocoon' carrier which one of the guys in the group gave me. He'd received a number of these and wanted the rest of our group to give them a try. You can Google the name if you are interested in learning more. It worked really good for working on my Guerilla Cigar Box pochade, I mounted he Cocoon on the outside the normal frame work of the Guerilla box, which worked much better than inside. I always felt like I was scrunched inside the box before. I use the Cigar Box only for my pastels. I have the Guerilla inserts which cradle and protect my pastels in transport. I have a Guerilla 9 x 12 box that I use for my oils. Both boxes, I found very slightly used on E Bay and got a good deal on them.

2010-07-30T14:28:00.000-04:00

Oil Painting - Leatherlips Yacht Club - On Shore

2010-07-24T21:34:00.000-04:00

The group met at Leatherlips Yacht Club in Dublin Ohio today. Sounds glamorous but was just a casual sailing club on the river.
It was a miserable day. Oppressive heat, sun and humidity. We had a nice size group surprisingly, but everyone was drenched with sweat and wore out before noon. I struggled with trying to get the architecture of the boats correct and with being uncomfortable with the weather, didn't have much fun.

Oil Painting - After Marine

2010-07-22T11:24:00.000-04:00

Hey! I actually painted in my new studio last night! I finally got the lighting installed and I needed to give it a try. I mounted a standard fluorescent light fixture with two 'sunshine bulbs' in the ceiling of my studio at the condo. Much better than at the old house, where there were no overhead fixtures. I used to have to use multiple clamp-on style fixtures. I tried many types of bubs, but always felt that the lighting spot lighted the canvas and I over compensated with too bright or too dark values. With the new fixture, it is much better having a nice wash of light.

I decided I needed quite a bit of practice to get back in the groove of oil painting, so I am using several of my favorite daily painter blogs' paintings as reference. I do not plan on exhibiting my paintings of these subjects in public, nor selling them, or even finishing them, but using them as learning tools as artists have done for centuries. This practice was more about the application process than the end result and to get back into mixing colors/values. I worked on this painting for about an hour and felt I did good. Its not really 'done' - there is much that needs corrected and refined. It does not look too much like the artist's work other than the subject layout, but I figure I got back what I was wanting so I will move on to another example. This was painted on Judson's 'carton' board which I coated with black gesso. The boards are cheap stuff and not precious enough to worry about creating a masterpiece and wasting a more expensive support. It's a thin tan colored cardboard that has been treated with resin, then I added the black gesso to experiment. I will save the more expensive panels for my own designs.

Here is my 'student work' from last night using a painting from the wonderful painter, Carol Marine, as reference:

"After Marine" 8 x 10, oil on carton board coated with black gesso