September 13, 2012

Daniels Park 11x14 oil

PAAC Paint Out.  After a day of much-needed rain, the sun came out and we had a beautiful morning for painting.

September 11, 2012

Sunflowers and Lemons 20x24 oil

September 7, 2012



Mixed Zinnias 16x20 oil

 This is a view of my annual bed in my front yard.  It's filled in quite well after a rough spring.  I planted the small Zinnias from seed in May, and they were just coming up when we got a major hail storm.  The garden was covered with pea sized hail.  After a couple of weeks, some of the plants around the edges started coming back, but there were large empty spots.  So I went to the garden center and bought some larger-flowered Zinnias in the same colors. They have finally all filled in now that summer is almost over.  This was a fun to paint, I wanted to capture the many different blooms, and the shades of red, peach, pink, and orange.

September 4, 2012

Watermelon and Cherries 20x24 oil

Class at Don Sahli's studio in Evergreen.  Don was happy that he found a watermelon with seeds for us to paint!  They're pretty hard to find these days.

August 30, 2012

The Rock 9x12 oil

PAAC Paint Out at Rock Park in Castle Rock.  This is the rock that Castle Rock is named after.  I've seen it countless times driving down I-25, but never really looked at it closely.

I tried a different method with this painting.  I picked the four main values of the scene, and pre-mixed them on the palette.  The colors were for the sky, the foliage in sun, foliage in shadow, and rock in shadow.  When I compared them on the palette, I could see that I had mixed the sky and the rock shadow too light.  So I adjusted them on the palette.  I think this really helped the painting. I'm going to do this more often.  Once I had the main blocks of color on the canvas, I added variations and accents and I was done!  I think this one reads quite well in black and white.

August 29, 2012

Buffalo Overlook 11x14 oil

 Denver Plein Air Arts Fest.  I painted at the Buffalo Overlook in the morning.  There were lost of artists lined up along the fence painting the buffalo.  It was hot and windy, so this was a quick study.  Then I went over to Christie's of Genesee and recharged on the shady patio.  Thanks to Jane Christie for drinks and appetizers!  She's an excellent pastel artist.

Christie's Flowers 8x10 oil

August 25, 2012



Lookout Mountain 11x14 oil

 Denver Plein Air Arts Fest.  The mountains looked hazy from the top of Lookout Mountain, so there isn't much variation in value here.  I enjoyed the company of the other artists and had a great lunch on the patio, courtesy of the Pahaska Tepee Trading Post.