New Pochade

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

Plein Air Saturday - Topiary Park

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

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

Battelle Big Darby Metro Park.

Darby Meadow, 8 x 10, oil on board

Plein Air Saturday - High Banks Metro Park

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

"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

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

"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

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

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!!

 

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

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: