It’s been over a year since I’ve participated in a plein air event, and boy, I feel rusty! The day started with checking in and getting my panels stamped. Ran into lots of old friends! I spent most of the day at DL Bliss State Park, near the Rubicon Trail. This is the deepest, steepest … Read more
I completed another composition from my Avila Beach reference photos last night in my studio. I’d worked on this on/off for a couple weeks. I wanted to include the sky, so I could work on relating the light from the sky to the ground and shadow planes. I also tried to balance rich color with … Read more
I enjoy adding figures to the landscape because they help give it scale. Don’t these boulders look huge! Well, they were 🙂 This is a 12×9″ painting, so these figures are tiny, just spots of color, really. Even so, given it’s a figure, I needed to get proportions, posture, all that correct, otherwise it would … Read more
I had a great time in Lake Tahoe last week. I painted a couple plein air, but they need some adjustment in the studio before I consider finished. This is a studio painting of the north/east shore, on the Nevada side. The friends we stay with their have a speed boat, so we were able … Read more
I’m still experimenting with use of the palette knife to apply paint. In this most recent study, I combined brushwork with the knife. Most of the paint was applied with brush, and used the knife for areas I felt were best suited for it, like adding texture in the center of interest, and in some … Read more
I’m still painting exclusively with a palette knife, learning the technique of managing control of the paint. I’m also getting paintings ready for the pre-exhibition of the San Luis Obispo Plein Air event. This reference photo is a favorite–I can’t wait to paint this spot plein air, it’s at Avila Beach in SLO County. It … Read more
San Luis Obispo Plein Air is among my upcoming shows, so I need to have ready some paintings of the area for the preview exhibition. Hollister Peak is a well known landmark in San Luis Obispo (try this Google Images search to see lots of photos and paintings), so I revisited this landmark and painted … Read more
Still painting with a knife, and really enjoying the process (unlike poor Cristy Anspach, who wrote a very funny comment on a previous post about painting with a knife). Laura Reilly and Bill Guffy also chimed in with their comments and positive experiences. This is keeping me loose, keeping colors clean, and just a physical … Read more
While I’m recovering from surgery this week, I’m slowed down quite a bit by medication Since my surgery Monday, today is the first day I felt I could paint. To keep things simple, I decided to continue using a painting knife (no brushes to clean!). Realizing I have a show in Lake Tahoe coming up, … Read more
Painting with a painting knife last week in John Eberberger’s workshop last week reminded me how different it is from a brush. The main differences are :1) you have less control (at least I do, I’ve seen some deft knife handeling by experts like Camille and John); 2) you can achieve much cleaner color; 3) … Read more