Back Bay Overlook

Back Bay Overlook 20x20 soft pastel over a watercolor underpainting.

It was a moody and tropical morning

 

99 Voices

 Tides Out 24x36 plein air pastel on board.

Black Star Canyon 24x36 plein air pastel on board. These are my entries for the 99 voices show for Pastel Society of the West Coast.

At The Bench

A commission from last year. It started out with a friendly conversation with Matt and his dad.

Matt had just proposed at Heisler Park at this bench.

Matt wanted to make sure I put the bench in the painting. I did everything I could to change his mind. 

He insisted and I put the bench into the painting.

The finished painting The Bench 24x36 pastel on board.

The bench in question.

Some detail shots showing my mark making and the abstraction in my work.

 

Yesterday

 

Two A Days

Over the years there have been days when things just clicked.  Those are the best painting days.  All of the paintings in this post were days where it all just worked out.  It enabled me to create more than one finished piece that day.

There are so many things that can go wrong when you are painting outside.  Time is usually the toughest obstacle to overcome.

I paint larger than most artists when I am plein air painting.  All of these paintings are 24x24 or 24x36 inches.  I have to really be in a groove to get multiples done on site.  I do not take them home and work on them.

One of the ways I judge my painting is by how many good decisions in a row I can I make.  Every bad decision is a mistake that has to be corrected and that takes time.

I got to the point 2 years ago where I was striving to take my plein air painting to a higher level.  This led me to the decision to bring my work out more than one painting session.  This enabled me to get a deeper level of expression.

In the past it was more about how quickly could I get painting completed and capture the essence.  Now I am trying to push my skill beyond what could with just one session.