Estes Park Plein Air, Day 7, AM

Another gloomy, gray day this morning. Oh well. I decided to go out anyway and find something to paint, not expecting anything. I ended up doing one of the best of this week (I think)! I swaped out “Moraine Park Sunset” from the competition, as judges generally like larger works. I still think it’s one … Read more

Help me choose the top 5!

I need to select paintings to frame tomorrow and Friday for the show. This is my current take on ranking them. The first 3 (in red text) will be jurried as part of the competition, the top 5 (green text) will be left with the gallery and the remainder come home. What do you think? … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 6, AM

I met Ron Schlorff and Julia Seelos today on a riverbed inside Moraine Park for a morning of painting. I had a back spasm this morning (I have a herniated disk), so decided to take it easy. I found a spot in the shade and sat down to paint the work below. Time for a … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 5, PM

I set out to paint a large sunset tonight, but I could tell the combination of low and high clouds would not produce much. Instead, I sat down and painted the same stream in Moraine Park. Sorry, nothing clever to say for myself (I’m beat) so here’s a quote that fit this painting for me: … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 5, AM

The “Art Spirit” is with me today–another clear morning to paint.  As planned, I headed to the Alluvial Falls so I can expand upon my initial study and paint a larger piece.  I think this turned out well, although I’m still not sure that a) the source/direction of the light is clear enough (separation between … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 4 PM

Ah, another nice nap today before going out in the afternoon to paint until sunset–what a life!  I ended up at Moraine Park, one of my favorite spots so far at the park.  I met another group of artists to paint a spectacular sunset. To make things even more interesting, our usually quite stream was … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 4 AM

Another beautiful morning…I’m definitely detecting a pattern at Estes Park: nice mornings, followed by rain around 12noon.  In the afternoon, sometimes it clears, but so far not often. The light at Bear Lake was perfect.  I ran into Scott Loyd Anderson (of MN).  Nice guy.  Set up just 30-40 yards away.  We both found spots … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 3 PM

After a good burger at a local cafe–and a 90 minute nap 🙂 –I continued my painting adventures here, as usual, without the full cooperation of the weather.  Oh well.  At least the clouds/sky are dramatic.  They’re always changing which puts my plein air painting skills to the test.  I painted the study below in–I … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 3 AM

After a good night’s rest, awoke to a fantastic, sunny day at 7am. Finally! I drove to the Alluvial Fan area of Rocky Mountain National Park to paint the waterfall. I happened to mention the spot to a fellow artist, already set up when I arrived. We actually ended up painting the same composition. We’re … Read more

Estes Park Plein Air, Day 2

I got up at 5:30AM to paint the sunrise, but no luck. Estes was again covered with clouds. It is supposed to clear up this afternoon, and definitely tomorrow. I thought it worthwhile to explore the park, so drove up to Bear Lake (very nice, easy places to set up) and ended up doing the … Read more