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.

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.

symphony

 Moody Symphony is a plein air gouache on 400# hot press watercolor paper measuring 22"x32".  

Under the Gazebo

I got down there early because I knew parking was going to be tough.  I couldn't believe that I got the very first parking spot.

I was able to set up without having to wait for people to move.  I remember getting kicked out once because of a wedding.  

It was so hot.  I was thankful that I could be in the shade for the four hours I spent painting.

The scene that I was painting did not give the best view of Rock Pile so I had to change up the focus of the painting.

Here is the block in of the painting and the general composition of the painting.

The following detail shots are intended to show the abstract nature of the mark making in the painting.  

A lot of pastelists blend their marks with any number of  techniques.  I am not a blender.  Color and shape are created by layer upon layer of marks.  Each mark placed over another mark to create the desired shape, color, and intensity.

The idea of shape being created by what it is and what it isn't.  The palm tree fronds are created by painting their shapes but it is also created by the shape of the air surrounding them.

The detail shot allows you to see the color of the underpainting and the grain of the panel running vertically.