Saturday Plein Air - Westerville Wetlands

The weather held off and gave us a beautiful day today! We painted at the wetlands in Westerville. This is one of my favorite spots. Lots of interesting views. The golden rod and asters are slowly fading away, and luckily we got a chance to include them in our paintings.

This was my view. Although it's difficult to see from this photo, the large pond is in view. I wanted to keep the golden rod and asters as the main focus.

 I was trying out a new technique to get the composition down with the darks. I used an Art Graf stick of water soluble graphite. I've used water soluble graphite pencils in the past, but wanted something that would cover the areas easier than a pencil tip. The stick is a good choice!  Below is the first sketch:

 Then I wet it with alcohol so it would dry quicker than water. Nice darks!

 Below are continuing process shots:

 And the final painting. I made a few adjustments at home, but very few.

Fall's Departure, 8x10, pastel on UArt sanded paper.

Saturday Plein Air - Three Creeks Metro Park

Fall is here! This morning, temps were in the 50's with overcast skies. By the time I got on the road the sun was out in my end of town, but closer to Three Creeks Metro park, there was fog! Beautiful with the sun behind it, and before I got unloaded, it was gone. It was still pretty cool to be painting bare handed, but luckily found a pair of the stretchy winter gloves in the car. They were paint covered from last year!

We were painting under the pine tree canopy overlooking the Turtle Pond. I always love to paint pines, so had to include those in my painting.

I was painting on a gesso'd masonite board which I had pre-toned with a soft oxide red. This surface works best for me, as I dislike the weave of canvas. Process shots below:

Since the painting is wet, it's hard to get a good photograph with the glare.

  on-site shot

 studio shot

Turtle Pond Fall, 8x10, oil on panel