Pushing color No.2

"Behind the trees" 8x10 pastel Available

Getting cold out there

Today it was cold in the morning. Brrrr
Had ice on my windshields. The sunrise on a cold day is beautiful. The colors in the sky amazing.

"Moody" turned out to be a very popular painting and so I kept playing with the same composition but going for a fall and then a winter scene. Enjoy!

"In the mood for fall" 5x7 pastel Available

"First snow" 5x7 pastel Available

Don't be afraid of color

When I find a picture I want to paint, I look at the shapes and ignore the rest.
The sky is blue in the photo, but does it have to be blue? that's one of my starting points.

If my reference photo is a landscape in a cloudy day, but I love the composition, then I have to push the color.

I always have it present in my mind that using the same colors as the reference usually does not work. It does not work because:

- the camera shot probably changed or did not capture colors and light exactly as they were in reality.
- if you want to clearly represent a sense of depth, you have to use aerial perspective (which involves value and also color pushing) to achieve that.

Keep that in mind!

"Unreal magenta" 8x10 pastel- Available

5x7 soft pastel landscape - "Entering Padilla Bay"

Available here

This painting was done from a reference photo I took during an art workshop in Mt. Vernon, by the Little Indian reservation area. It was about noon time when I was there with other artists.
The tide was coming into the slough at a fast pace. The scenery changes as the water starts filling the deep sandy banks.

It's beautiful out there with the yellow dry fields in the summer.

5x7 soft pastel landscape - "Moody"

"Moody" 5x7 soft pastel-Available

One of my favorite colors: ultramarine blue. I use it every chance I get! This is a pretty lose painting with that mysterious touch I was going for. Enjoy.

8x10 soft pastel landscape - "Secluded"

Secluded - 8x10 soft pastel Available

This painting was started plein air at Lowell Park, Everett, WA.
The Snohomish river flows thru the area, with gigantic banks, beautiful trees and lots of ivy.
It was a cloudy day, but I really wanted to paint this famous view from the park looking into this little house.

Art Journal- Plein Air finished in studio

After coming back from "art camp" with Richard McKinley last August, I kept going out to find places to paint outside. I knew summer was almost over here in Washington. So before everything gets gray out there, I grabbed the heavy backpack and fought being tired after work to start some field sketches and take a lot of pictures for later reference.

I ended up with many unfinished paintings. Some I thought were ok and then I realized they were pretty washed out because it was so bright out that I could not get the values right.

Here are some of the progress shots for 2 of the paintings.

I started this one at Marymoor Park. It was really hot that day, so I was trying to hide under some shade.

It looked pretty cool while I was out in the field but when I came home I asked for advice and realized there was not much gradation of color. It was pretty "white". Its easy to paint very bright when you are outside and your eyes are absorbing so much light.

Back in the studio, I grabbed some of the really dark terry ludwig sticks and worked on getting that contrast defined. It definitely ended up with some drama. And lots of blue.

"Last day of summer" 8x10

The second painting got started in the field, by the Centennial Trail close to Snohomish. After scouting the area, I concluded that the barn was interesting, and the light of the sun dripping down the willows was fascinating.

And again, the painting did not have the right amount of dark and bright contrast that attracted me in the first place.

Also, there was a lot of light color already applied, so I decided to darken the shade areas. That instantly did it!

"Weeping by the barn" 8x10

These two paintings will be available for sale starting September 15th at Christopher Framing and Fine Art as part of the Edmonds Art Walk. The show runs for a month. Come check them out all dressed up with framing!