A Beach Campout Weekend!

Ok, so I usually only post art related things here, but I couldn't resist sharing a photo from our troop beach campout this past weekend. The kids had a lot of fun, and it was great to see them so excited to be having meaningful adventures together. If it looks like we're screaming in this photo, it was to prepare us for the cold Atlantic water which we were seconds away from being immersed in:) Go Boy Scouts!

The Latest

So, here is a little landscape and its corresponding study. The larger finished piece is 11"x 14", so not huge, and the small study is around 4"x 6". And though I rarely show them together, I have included the original photo ref that I used for the piece. The photo itself is a compilation of three different photos (if you look close you can see the hack job in Photoshop...I was going quick). I include this so that you can see things that were similar as well as some of the dramatic liberties that I took with the piece, adjusting it for composition and interest. In these photos, the reference looks very vibrant and the two paintings are a bit washed out. In reality, the print of the photo was semi-washed out, and the painting has all of the color...funny. And beyond all of that, I had exactly two nights to get this painted and entered into a show (it didn't make it in:). So, though it was a mad dash to finish it--the piece bearing the marks of that speed--I'm glad that I pushed through and did it. Enjoy!

New Plein Air Easel

I just recently purchased a new 'Easy L' plein air easel, and am very excited about having greater flexibility to paint on location. The easel is great, but there were some design elements that I felt needed a little nudge to get where they needed to be. The slide-out wings were constructed on the flat bottom of the 'out of the box' easel with 1/8" birch plywood. I sandwiched the two pieces and alternated the grain and it turned out quite strong. There are stronger 1/8" ply's out there, but this was the cheapest, and worked just fine. A blend of different wood oils helps them slide well, and protects the wood.

Over the weekend I got out and did two mediocre paintings just to break it in. As Ron says (here at Blue Sky) "It's the indian, not the arrow!" ...onward and upward.