Tag: landscapes

Summer of Oil Sketches

Painting, Uncategorized

I have taken the opportunity these past months to get out of my comfort zone and “stretch” my artistic style with relatively quick oil sketches. These all need adjustments in some way but I have decided to keep them as is with notes to myself of the changes to be made since a few of these have the potential of becoming larger paintings.

Rainy Day In Paso

Painting

Life is hectic for everyone, so carving time out to do what we enjoy needs to be a priority. My husband and I, along with our two very sweet Boxers, enjoy a bit of local traveling which includes going to Paso Robles.

We have been going to Paso for nearly 35 years! The first 25 years we went waterskiing and wakeboarding at Lake San Antonio then good friends of ours introduced us to Paso’s wineries and vineyards. The beauty of the area has been the subject of many of my paintings including this painting I just finished today. Summerwood Inn & Winery has been a favorite of ours and we have stayed at the Inn on several occasions. On one particular rainy stay at the Inn, I fell in love with the rainy day view looking out onto the patio toward the vineyard and knew I had to create a painting of the scene.

This is 10″ x 26″ oil on canvas and so far, untitled. Here are a few photos of the process:

Visiting Arizona

Uncategorized

View of Lake Pleasant

We are enjoying the opportunity to visit the Phoenix area and Scottsdale while staying at the Lake Pleasant Regional Park in Arizona. We, my husband and I plus our 2 Boxers, have been to Arizona in Spring and Summer but the winter season in the desert cannot be beat!

This morning, before the rain really set in, we were able to take a hike down to the lake and see the beautiful views.

This trip had a rough beginning though. We were supposed to leave Sunday evening but got only 10 minutes from the house when the truck lost power, causing us to turn around. Being so close to home when we broke down was a blessing though and we are so thankful that we were kept safe. Two days later, we were on our way again to enjoy family and the beautiful Arizona scenery.

Happy Valentines Day!

New Challenges With Painting

Painting

5″ x 7″ oil

I am looking forward to going to the 2019 Plein Air Painters Convention is in San Francisco this Spring and as a painter who enjoys the controlled environment of the studio, this will be a new and exciting experience for me. My hat goes off to all the Plein Air painters that are able to complete a quality painting, in changing light, within 2 – 4 hours. I love taking my time with painting and getting lost in thought, music or a good audio book, so working quickly is definitely a challenge for me.

To avoid any excuse regarding location or weather, I decided to set up my easel in our yard to capture some of the landscape and also set up still life’s in my studio. In order to stay within a 3 – 4 hour time limit per painting, the majority of my paintings are 5″x7″.

I will be heading back outside to work on my landscapes in changing light. For those of you who paint out, I would love to hear how you deal with the light, the elements and mixing colors quickly.

Small Works

Painting

This past month I have enjoyed seeing the paintings posted from two different artists for the Strada Easel Challenge. Each artist faithfully completed 31 paintings for the entire month of January and not only was I impressed by their commitment, but each new painting built greater skill on the one painted the previous day. I would like to see my skills improve along with the confidence of mixing colors quickly in order to build speed, so I have decided to challenge myself in a similar way.

Painting quickly, in a looser style, or outdoors has never been my strength, but I do believe that challenging myself to paint small paintings every day will help me in the long run. Below are the first five that I have completed, 3 outside and 2 in my studio: