Rain on the River

A dramatic sky always grabs me - and this one was no exception.  With an eye always on the sky, I could see clouds approaching on the horizon.  Dodging wind and rain, I knocked this one out quickly before the whole sky changed.  I've lately felt the pull to explore sky paintings more.  Here's the first to upping my sky game!  Painting number 5015 in 5015 days.  

Wet Streets at Dogpatch

I have not painted a nocturne in ages! Dogpatch is an historic part of the Bagnell Dam strip, drawing visitors from far and wide!  We've taken our own children here through the years.  Intending to paint the street scene in the golden hour, I arrived before 6:30 to start painting. Within in minutes, a storm blew up over the Lake of the Ozarks, complete with driving rain and lighting!  I was suddenly painting a nocturne with the lights on! I moved inside my car to continue the block in, thinking it would pass.  I could see light in the distance, but it only grew heavier.  I ended up completing it in the car in very low light.  I'm so happy this painting found a new home at the event sale! Painting number 3132 in 3132 days. 

Steelville Park in Autumn

I love a misty, rainy day for capturing all that saturated color in the landscape.  One of the first real cold mornings, I had just picked up a propane heater for warmth in the field.  With no experience at all, I set it up at my feet and started it without issue. How nice it was to have a little warmth out in the cold wind.  I just needed to be mindful of where it was so I wouldn't step into it as I worked.  I'm always stepping back to check my progress, and forward to lay paint. It would be so easy to knock into it!  So far so good, and I'm looking forward to using it on those cold and snowy days of winter!  Painting number 2900 in 2900 days.  Wowza! 

Autumn Rain on Main Street

 

What is the perfect cold, rainy day activity?  Why, painting wet streets, of course!  These autumn colors sing against a backdrop of misty hues - and those reflections were irresistible!!  The charming Main Street of Steelville is so wonderful, I've already painted within this block three times since I arrived!  This painting will be displayed at Gallery Zeke this Thursday and Friday for a Two Day Only Show!  All remaining paintings from these last two weeks will be hanging.  I'm so happy to have hit the peak fall color for this trip!  Painting number 2849 in 2849 days. 

Garden Phlox!

Oh the garden phlox is amazing this year, and I had been worried about our hot, dry spell!  The deluge of four inches of rain worked miracles on all the flowers - and we had another before I was finished with this one!  Choosing ink and watercolor today, I may well choose oils tomorrow!  I look forward to painting these beauties every July, and they never disappoint!  Fragrant as lilacs, their perfume wafts on the air as I paint from the front porch.  I've planted them all over the yard, so I can choose whatever location suits my mood, or the weather in this case!  Thinking I could get this in, I sketched fast, catching a bee as it darted in and out of the petals.  I'm already surprised to see them working still as raindrops start to fall.  I add some watercolor, then add a little more ink just to enhance some of the detail. As I sign and reach out for a photo, the downpour begins and I must hustle this watercolor under shelter!  Painting number 2006 in 2006 days.

Turning Creek

When I realized the 67 degree morning was not going to last, I hightailed it to a favorite local painting spot.  Little did I know I would get caught in a deluge of rain - far from the car and without my rain gear!  I tried holding my palette cover over my palette to keep the rain out, but failed!  Thank goodness I was almost finished and the whole panel had paint on it!  Otherwise, I could not have continued!  Already wet, I pulled up my lightweight hood to keep the rain out of my eyes so I could quickly finish.  It had suddenly turned so dark, it was hard to see!  That cloud bank had come up behind me, and I was so tuned in, I never saw it coming!  It has been a long time since I've been caught in the rain - and I loved every minute of it!  This view was SO worth it!  Painting number 1858 in 1858 days.

Vineyard in the Rain

It was raining gently when I arrived at the Noboleis Winery quick paint.  Finding shelter in the large white tent,  I found my favorite view of this vineyard.  The greens of spring are so vibrant on a rainy day!  With only an hour and a half to paint,  I quickly blocked in and started meeting edges.  I did not sketch first,  as I've been doing lately.  When time is of the essence,  I drop this step!  With a musician performing add a drink at my side,  this was a pretty cushy plein air set up!  Afterwards,  we all enjoyed a dance party until they closed up shop!  Wine,  music,  dancing and painting - time well spent indeed! Painting number 1577 in 1577 days :)

Vineyard in the Rain
purchase here

View from Katy Trail

The rain was pouring as I jumped out of bed,  and continued for hours!  With the whole Katy Trail as a guide from Dutzow to Defiance,  Teddy and I went in search of cover.  This place was very appealing,  but the only cover we had was her raised hatch on the SUV!  Squeezing in,  we painted fast.  I had to get that surface covered before the rain started again!  I did get it covered,  and the rain let up.  Thank goodness!  It was very cold when the wind kicked up!  The Schaeffers at the Lindenhoff served the artists a wonderful hot breakfast by the fire in their gorgeous B&B after the judging.  How generous, as relaxing, after the cold, wet morning paint out! Painting number 1564 in 1564 days :)

Rainy Day Greens

I love these dark rainy days for painting flowering trees!!  Their colors really pop against a stormy sky!   In this case, the trees are blooming white,  but their green is showing in the heavy masses.  Light darts out between the clouds irratically,  shooting across the grass.  I wish I had my cad lemon on my palette - it is the perfect shade for the sunlit grass!   I found a few more short brushes for this box that are a little stiffer,  in my stash.  Now, I'll be able to lay down those early strokes in a quicker,  more effective way.  Painting number 1546 in 1546 days :)

Winding in the Mist

With the rain moving in and out again, we've had several soakings in the last few days.  I love the misty, moody atmosphere for painting!  Colors appear more vibrant, and ask is fresh and clean from the rain.  I have the tiniest painting window this afternoon, so I am choosing my panel accordingly - 5x7.  No time for a sketch, just some fast, quick strokes to get the job done, before I go pick up Tiffany's glasses and then the boys!  This is 1337 paintings in 1337 days :)

Winding in the Mist
Oil on panel, 5x7

Clouds Over the Marshland

Clouds Over the Marshland
Oil on canvas panel, 7x5 - purchase here

Another full day, all company has left, and bedtime has come and gone - I can return to my easel for my daily art fix.  Tonight, I am really in the mood for clouds - dark and full of drama.  The skies have offered up much inspiration these last days, and now I am committing them to canvas.  Only using two brushes, and my favorite palette knife, I have quickly captured this with broad, loose strokes.  And, this painting has a surprise underneath - one fourth of another landscape which I cut down to reuse the panel!  Waste not, want not - and now I must get my things ready for the paint out tomorrow! This is painting number 970 in 970 days :)

Rainy Day in the City

Rainy Day in the City
Acrylic on paper, 14x20

Surprise!  An abstract acrylic cityscape for today's painting of the day!  Today at the Tri-County Art League, we had Jim Ryon in to instruct a brayer workshop with acrylic paint.  It was SUPER fun!  With a rubber brayer, I dropped on paint, mixing with the brayer right on the paper to achieve the desired color.  No pre-mixing, no palette even - we used a foam plate for the little bit of brush work at the end to delineate the buildings, cars and people.  When pulling the color down into the street reflections - I simply slid the 4inch brayer from side to side for squiggly areas.  To loosely place the figures, I used the edge of my rather large bristle brush to dot in "carrot" shapes - one of Jim's tips for figures!  Although we used large sheets of paper for the workshop, this can also be easily done on a masonite type of surface.  I can't wait to try this technique on some of my Kansas City reference photos!  I have always liked the wet street scenes, but have never even attempted them!  How fun and invigorating to try something new and completely out of my box!  This painting makes 561 in 561 days - what will I paint tomorrow?

Highway 51 Farm

Highway 51 Farm
Oil on panel, 8x6

Each day, my mom and I passed by this farm on Hwy 51 from Elmore to St. Charles Hospital.  It has a timeless beauty, looking much as it did a century ago.  Each morning and each evening, it offered a little pastoral peace for moments of our drive.  We drove mainly through the countryside, until we were quite close to the hospital.  Everything is so spread out in rural Ohio.  I haven't been up there this time of year before, and it was nice to get to see the changing of the seasons.  I am so thankful that dad does a little bit better every day, and  I hope I don't have to drive by this barn again any time soon!  Painting number 284 in as many days.

Illinois Farm

Illinois Farm
Oil on panel, 12x9

The midwest farms are simply glorious during harvest season!  The leaves are not yet turning in southern Illinois.  Many corn fields stand tall and yellowing in the fields.  Indeed, it is corn in the fields behind this cluster of barns on the rising hill.  Some of the grasses have turned to gold and reddish, set off beautifully by the fresh greens.  All have just been thoroughly washed by the passing downpour.  I don't paint many of these skies, but I sure do like the drama of them.  Painting number 280 in 280 days.  I think I'll paint my roses tomorrow - they are bursting with blooms!

Rain Over Parkville University

As I set out for Parkville this morning, the sun was shining with a promise for a beautiful day.  As two artists and I walked around scouting our painting locations, thick clouds filled the sky.  Once deciding on my composition, rain was threatening - and I set my easel up under the protection of an awning.  Thank goodness!  I hadn't been painting 30 minutes before a light rain began to fall, and a damp chill set in.  I knew I must finish on location, because chances of finding another day with the same light are doubtful.  I have painted 2 landscapes in the rain this week!  This is my 264th painting in as many days, and Day 24 of the 30 Day Painting Challenge.

Rain Over Parkville University
Oil on panel, 14x11
Parkville in Art

Rainy Day at Augusta Shores

Rainy Day at Augusta Shores
Oil on panel, 9x12

After a stormy night, the hard rain held off until Teddy and I had just packed up our gear and loaded the car.  We couldn't have timed it any better!  For the last half of my painting, it was lightly raining.  I pulled out my red raincoat (always in my trunk), and tried to cover the flat parts of my easel with plastic.  Rain drops stuck to my painting and filled my palette as I worked.  By the end of this, I was literally moving the water aside with my paint brush full of oil paint.  Oil and water really do not mix.  I was fortunate to have had most of my panel covered with paint before the rain increased.  Those few little areas left unpainted resisted those oils relentlessly!  I see a few things I will probably touch up, but for now, this one rests - and off to the next location we go!  Painting number 260 in 260 days, and Day 20 of Leslie Saeta's 30 Day painting challenge.

First Blush of Spring

Sold
First Blush of Spring
Oil on panel, 12x9
Augusta Shore Paint Out

This very rainy day was a challenge to find places with enough cover to paint from.  In fact, I heard it rained 5+ inches on this day!  My first painting had been done from the front porch, pushed up as close as I could get to the house.  For this one, I was in the garage with the door open - until the rain was blowing so hard we had to lower the door until it let up a bit!  I have never painted in such a heavy rain!  That is the fun of plein air - you never know what kind of weather you will get!  This is painting number 117 in 117 days :)

Rainy Day at Big Cedar

Rainy Day at Big Cedar
Oil on panel, 10x8

This painting was started in the rain at the Big Cedar Plein Air Event event.  It was a one hour quick paint, and I set my easel up as close to the building as I could get - to shield myself from the rain.  It was so cold - and I had on several layers to fight the elements!  My red rain slicker kept the rain running off of me while I quickly painted.  Today, I finished this piece by cleaning up the edges and defining the shapes a little better.  I dared not change the colors, as I couldn't find my photo reference.  Things can get a little crazy during a quick paint!  This is painting number 83 in 83 days, now back to getting my panels primed.........