Saturday Plein Air and the Boat

10" x 8" Oil on mounted canvas.

I decided to shake the rust off of my plein air setup today after working on the Dragon Boat painting for a while. I got down to the creek and had everything balanced on a couple of rocks to get an interesting view. Then I realized I forgot to bring any paper towel or wiping rags! I didn't want to tramp back to the house, so I painted this with quite a handicap. I resorted to using only the knives, wiping them on the palette. I think my next expedition will be better.

I am still updating the previous "in progress" post for the Dragon Boat painting, but here is a bigger detail of the end on which I have been working.


(Click for a big version of the detail.)

Snow on the Mountain

6" x 4" Oil on mounted canvas

"It's aliivve." - Young Frankenstein

Well, I am alive anyway. After a couple of trips and some winter sickness, it is way past time to get a painting posted here. This is a plein air from Friday before we got even more snow and launched into snowblowing mode. Sunny days after snow can make even the rounded, tree covered Temple Mountain look dramatic.

Money Creek Small Plein Air

6" x 4" Oil on mounted canvas.

This is a small version of the creek from yesterday. It is a similar view looking upstream toward Temple Mountain.

Money Creek October Afternoon

8" x 10" Oil on mounted canvas.

If you read a few artist's blogs, you will often hear the plein air people gush about how much they learn working in front of nature. Well, it's true. I had an enjoyable time this afternoon and the challenge of changing light was good. Of course, a beautiful day helps make it enjoyable. This view is from the bank of the creek looking toward Temple Mountain with the sunlight bouncing off the water and the tree leaves. Contre-jour as they say.

Temple Mountain Plein Air

8" x 10" Oil on mounted canvas.

This plein air could be subtitled "our front yard"; it is the view from our front deck on Saturday afternoon. This is a south view and the sun is going behind the hillside to the right along with the thin veil of clouds you see. So, the light was softening as I painted.

We are currently in emergency mode here since our main and backup generators have failed. The batteries are coasting toward empty, so hopefully we will get something working today.