November at Thousand Oaks

After a busy day of shopping with my girlfriends, I arrived back at the resort just in time to get a painting finished.  Who could possibly resist the saturated color of a misty day?  I LOVE my Guerilla Painter thumb box pochade!  I opened it up and found a wet painting!  Shoot!  I thought I had two panels for the weekend!  I guess I'll be using ink for the rest of this trip!  Painting number 1760 in 1760 days.

Autumn Begins

I will be having a large solo show, and as I look through my paintings I find myself wanting to revisit some of the older work.  My use of paint has improved so, that many of these large paintings could benefit from a little extra effort.  This is such a painting.  I pulled this older acrylic out, and just started laying in oils as I felt the need.  I'm going to see where this process takes me.  Can I get it to a place where I'm happy with it?   I don't know.  I always start fresh each day with a new panel.  Its totally worth a try, I can always paint a whole new landscape on it's surface of things go awry!  I am going to let this one rest until tomorrow, and see what I think in the light of day.  Painting number 1357 in a 1357 days.

Old Dirt Road

Old Dirt Road
Oil on masonite, 9x12
purchase here

I love coming over the top of a hill to see this magnificent view spreading out before me!  And to think, we almost didn't drive down this because it was a dirt road!  Taking 200n east off of Burnt Prairie blacktop, we parked on the side of the road to unload our gear.  I set my easel up in the middle of this road, and was able to get my whole sketch and half a block in done before the first truck came barreling down the road!  I moved back out after he had passed, only to have to shift again.  By that time, I had enough done to finish a bit closer to the ditch, setting up our new bright orange cones - a gift from the planners of this event!  With so much depth in this painting, I was more careful in the application of paint, letting each layer build before moving to the next.  I have wanted to paint a road for a long time, but really didn't want to capture asphalt.....so this wonderful dirt road was the perfect solution!  What sheer joy it has been to paint in perfect weather, and to find such captivating subject matter!  And the icing on the cake?  I won a fabulous $150 gift certificate in the door prize drawing tonight!  COuld life be any sweeter?  This painting makes 1010 in 1010 days :)

Clouds Over Prairie Road

Clouds Over Prairie Road
Oil on canvas panel, 7x5

Getting wood panels primed for painting surfaces is a big job.  As a daily painter, I am in constant need of substrates!  After getting about 60 panels cut at my local Lowe’s store, today I started preparing them.  First, I sand all the edges - which are a little rough after been cut.  I prefer to do this outside, as I don’t want to inhale all that dust, nor do I want the mess int he house.  Next, I mix up gesso, acrylic paint to tint, some gel medium gloss and a bit of sanding grout.  Mixing this completely, I slap it on with a large putty knife, brushing out the marks with a 2 inch synthetic brush in a cross hatch fashion.  Once this dries, I again brush over the surfaces with gel medium tinted slightly with a pumpkin orange.  I like this color for summer, but sometimes I go with a Monet yellow - which is what is underneath in this case.  Once dry, I have surfaces that readily accept the paint, and the addition of gel gloss at the end makes the surface kinder to my brushes, and they don’t wear down so quickly.  I finished most of them - maybe 10 need the second coat, and 2 didn’t get prepped at all.  Oh well, I’ll have to catch them with the next batch.  This painting makes 971 in 971 days.

Almost Spring

Almost Spring
Oil on unstretched canvas, 6x4
7/100, The {100} Artists

On this painting, I am exploring how a dark, somewhat stormy sky reflects off the plowed ground at this farm. The dirt appears very plum in such lighting - and the highlights are very muted.  By squinting my eyes down, I can truly see the colors and more importantly, the values.  Spring is just showing in foliage and brush, though not fully awakened.  I've not painted many landscapes with this kind of dark sky, so this painting is a lesson. I need to do more of these to feel comfortable with the lighting.  I'm going to let this rest for now, but I have a feeling I will return to work on it again.  Painting number 913 in 913 days.

Autumn Aspens

Autumn Aspens
Oil over acrylic on canvas, 18x24

I seldom paint on canvas.  The the way the woven texture grabs the paint is so different than wood.  The canvas soaks up the paint far more than a birch panel does, even when primed.  I love the way I can push the paint around a wood panel.  I had started this one on canvas, so today I return to working on canvas.  I had the underpainting done in acrylic, leaving me free to apply the oils at will - making changes as the painting progressed.  Any reference or sketch is only a template for the painting, a jumping off point.  As the painting grows, it often takes on a life of it's own - leading me to where it wants to go.  The hue and key of this painting is far different than where it began, softer and more peaceful than it's underpainting.  Oils are king for this kind of change, the transparency of acrylics make it very hard to come back from bold.  I have been working rather large the last few days, and I just got some beautiful new larger frames.  There is nothing more motivating than gorgeous frames awaiting their paintings!  This one makes 86 paintings in 86 days.