Toaster

Well it's so cold outside that it been "going in to paint" rather than "going outside to paint" around here. Here's from the other night, a little portrait of my toaster in the warm glow of the under counter lights. It was fun so I'm going to do some more.

Toaster, 6 x 6.

Winter Plein Air along the River

A heavy snow fell last week and it's been relatively cold, so a lot of it is still around. On Tuesday the 22nd it was a beautiful sunny day and most of my Christmas stuff was finished up so I went out late morning to paint. I wanted to work on snow and winter foliage.

 I chose a spot near the river and found this old cottonwood along an old river channel. I learned that it is essential to have your painting umbrella along on a sunny snowy day. The glare can be amazing.  Luckily I brought mine along. Should have brought sunglasses too.  Some artists carry those fold-up windshield dash covers to help shield their palettes, an item that would have been very useful too, but I did not have. Probably a good thing to add to my plein air kit. It's also helpful to bring some kind of lightweight waterproof ground cloth to set my gear /backpack on while I am painting. I also bring along a camera. Extra batteries kept inside my coat would have been a help. The cold made my rechargeable battery go dead really fast as I was out about 3 hours or so.

Snow is fun to paint - there are many different colors in the shadows reflected back by nearby objects. I really enjoy painting snow.  Here's the painting.  Old River Channel, 9 x 12.

Winter Watch

Here's another studio painting I've wanted to try for a long time.  I took the original photos a couple years ago and every now and then I'd run across them looking for something else and finally decided now was the time to work on this painting. I love how these foothills look when the tops are covered in frost and snow but the low areas have melted off.

Unlike the east coast that's suffering under a heat wave, we have more normal weather and recently had a 10 inch snowfall and then a little dusting yesterday so I am in the mood to paint snow.

 Well - back to getting Christmas ready - have a great holiday!
 Edit - I have since changed this painting - it's new look below. I thought the hills were too dark and didn't look snowy enough, needed to have more contrast between the buildings and the hills.

Winter Watch, 11 x 14, sold.

Same #3

Now that winter has set in, working on studio paintings is often my only option, the sun setting so early and the days filled with getting ready for the holidays. Also - I'm just a wimp when it comes to painting outside in temperatures lower than 25F or so.

So here's another set of painting all done in approximately the same place looking at the same things.
Looking east at Hamm's Pond. Top to bottom: Dawn at the Lake, Morning Glow, Red Sunrise, Purple Dawn.

Break in the Weather

It did warm up enough last week to go paint at dawn so I went last Tuesday. It was kind of an overcast morning.  Winter skies have a different look to them than the summer sunrises. Good thing I went painting, because we have since had a couple snowfalls and around 10 inches of snow this week.  I am looking forward to Christmas week time off to get out there in winter sunshine sun and maybe do some painting. Here's the last painting,  Icy Edges, 9 x 12.

Framed paintings

Someone asked recently about what the paintings look like when they are framed, since they are listed as framed on my website.  Here are two of them in frames. I use the black frame with gold liners but also use gold frames sometimes.  If the painting is really dark the gold frame might be the better choice although I prefer the black ones generally.
Rainbow Dawn  and Predawn in frames:

Same #2

I thought I'd post another "same" post. Here are a couple paintings I did from almost the same location, different days, weather. This time the location is at Hamm's pond, looking across the lake towards the mountains in the west. They are top to bottom,  Waking Up, First Light, PreDawn, and Winter Sky.

A City Farmhouse

Here's the studio painting I just finished, worked from photos I took walking around one early morning after a light snowfall. I've always been interested in painting this house that sits near the top of a nearby hill not far from a busy intersection. The house and its small farm are now surrounded by housing developments -  a little island of rural in a suburban area.  The light on the snow covered roof and the long blue shadows in the fields with the golden morning sky looked pretty spectacular at the time.   I moved a few of the outbuildings closer together to get it all in the picture.
9th & Pace, 12 x 16.

Goose Hunt

Wednesday it warmed up during the day but the early morning was still a bit chill - around 14 degrees when I got up to go out. It's not so bad painting in the cold if the sun is shining on you, but really frigid out there before the sun is up.  I still wanted to go but knew I'd freeze if I tried to stand out in the cold and paint, so I took some backup stuff. Armed with some oil pastels and a pad I hunkered down in the car and drew. I don't like them as much as paint, but they worked in the super cold. This was an experiment - maybe I'll try it with pastels also.

 When I got there geese hunters were just about finished setting up dozens of oversized goose decoys in the nearby field and getting ready to ambush the Canada Geese and they begin to fly toward the lake in the morning. So the "geese" in this picture aren't real.
After the sun rose, flocks of geese starting flying in, but none went near the decoys while I was there. I finished and left before the shooting began.

Geese at Sunrise, 7 x 9, on watercolor paper.

Same place

I 've painted at the same locations, different times of day, different seasons, and they've all come out a little different, and the last painting I posted was one of them. Also my plein air style has gotten looser. Cold weather and the added pressure of a quick moving sunrise are some of the reasons that has happened. The choice is work fast or lose the scene. Just thought it might be interesting to compare a couple from the same general location.  These three were at Peschel Open Space, slightly different vantage points, different seasons. Here they are: Overcast Dawn, 2014, sold;  Late Afternoon at Peschel, 2014;  Warning, 2015.

Dark Skies

It warmed up a bit ( low of 29 ) so it was warm enough to go out again at dawn and paint. The sky had a heavy band of dark clouds with a glowing red stripe below along the horizon.  I had a short time to get it painted before the sun emerged and the dark clouds faded to white.  I named it after the old adage " Red sky at morning, sailors take warning".  Later that day a cold weather front moved in and we've been having a little snow each day since last Wednesday.Warning, 9 x 12.

It's looking more like winter.

We had a little snow last week and this latest plein air painting shows some of that. It was a bit too cold to paint at dawn,  so the morning after the snowfall I went for a walk at sunrise and took my camera - a gorgeous morning with the new snow. Maybe some of those photos will end up being reference for later paintings.

On Sunday it warmed up a bit I went out a little later and did some plein air painting. Thus this painting - "Frozen over", 9 x 12.  Most of the snow is melted by now but more is forecast for tonight - a Thanksgiving present.

Actually I am pretty thankful that I've had a great year of experiences painting outside, many, many nice mornings. I have become especially enamored with sunrises - which is pretty amazing since I tend to gravitate to staying up late and sleeping late. Now I can't wait to get out there and paint, even when it is freezing. The infinite variety of sky and color is just amazing. The changeability that occurs at such a rapid pace during sunrises and sunsets is a real challenge to catch. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to get faster at painting outdoors.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Lakeshore

Here's a studio painting I finished this week done from reference photos I took at Brainard Lake. This is a high country lake up near the peaks, and not too far from the tree line, but fairly easy to reach. The road in was closed for the last two miles so we had to hike in.  They had a couple snowfalls up there, and several more since I visited, so the lake edge was patched with remnants of the snowfalls, and the first set of winter ice around the edges was starting to form. I liked how the beach looked with the dark trees in the background.  Lakeshore, 12 x 16.

I managed to get in a pair of plein air paintings but didn't like how they turned out. You'll see them in the future with something else painted over them.

Cold Morning

It was a cold morning last Tuesday when I was out painting at sunrise. I didn't have much time so I didn't go far - just back to Hamms Pond.  This might be one of the last actual sunrises I paint in the rest of 2015 since temperatures are starting to hit the low twenties in the pre-dawn hour. I have a lot of difficulty keeping my fingers working right, without smothering them in big clumsy gloves that can't open paint tubes, etc.  I don't know what the current great famous plein air people do to keep their hands warm, I guess I ought to ask some of them. If anyone has some suggestions, let me know. Meanwhile, here's the painting - Cold Morning, 8 x 10, sold.

Waning Afternoon

Here's a painting from last weekend, the last bits of autumn color still clinging to some of the trees and bushes, done at Sandstone Ranch. It's amazing how fast the afternoon fades away. I left home around 2 to go paint and as I finished up the sun was dropping behind the mountains already. Even so, I started another but it started getting too dark too fast, so I'll have to finish it another day. Perfect weather for painting. Waning Afternoon, 9 x 12.

Autumn Sunset

Here's a painting I have been working on in the studio from some sunset photos I have taken. It gets dark so early and I don't usually have time to go out at sunset and paint, much as I'd like to. Now that the weather is getting colder plein air is getting a bit more difficult, or at least takes more planning to be prepared. There's a trail we like to walk on that's still partly closed from the flood two years ago, but you can see some great sunsets from there and this was one of them.  Autumn Sunset, 12 x 16. 

Painting last Friday

So, last Friday I painted near some small lakes. It was a scheduled paint out with a local plein air group. The morning dawned chilly and with a small sprinkling of rain. I decided to go anyway thinking the rain would probably clear up, and although it wouldn't be sunny, it might be a good morning to paint. A lot of the trees are turned color and with the water and reflections it might be very nice. Nobody showed up. Don't know if they thought it was too wet, or too cold or too dark? But it was fine, the rain quit by the time I got there. But here's the thing. There are 4 outcomes that could happen when painting.

 1. You feel like you are on a roll - the painting pours out of you and comes out fine, pretty good. You are pleased with it.

2.  You are not sure/don't feel like you should be painting that day, but you get into it and the painting turns out pretty good. You are pleased with it.

 3. You are not sure you should be painting that day, and the painting turns out awful.  You wipe it off later. You figure it was good practice and are glad you at least got out to paint.

 4. You are really into painting, happy to be there painting, but little by little the painting goes downhill, turning out awful. You give up, go home and wipe it off later. You think - what went wrong?  You figure it was good practice and are glad you at least got out to paint.

This was a number 4 day. Nice scene, nice morning, weather okay, but not so good outcome. You never know what you're going to get.

Hunter's Moon

Last Tuesday was the October full moon, sometimes nicknamed the "hunter's moon".  I wanted to paint the moon as it was setting in the morning so I went early to Hamms Pond and got a good view of the moon over the city heading towards moonset over the mountains. The mountain in the background is Long's Peak which conveniently sits over the city and now has a new coat of snow on it. Hunter's Moon, 8 x 10.

Distant Trees.

So last Sunday morning, I went down very early near the river and painted. It was still fairly dark when I got there, and it was a cloudy morning also, which made it even darker.  I set up quickly and started painting, getting the shapes in and the composition established. I was working on canvas mounted on gator board, toned tan. This particular gator board had a tan back also. As the light got a little brighter it suddenly became obvious that I was working on the wrong side of the panel. Somehow in the dark I had set up the panel backwards and never noticed, color being pretty much the same. So, that was that. I pulled out a different panel and started over, choosing a slightly different view. Actually I like the second picture better anyway.  So maybe it was a good thing.  I wiped the back of the old one clean and will use it another day.
Distant Trees, 9 x 12.

Saturday painting

I got up early again and went down near the river, in time to catch the pink sky reflected in the river heading off into the distance. Having some old paintings that I no longer want,  I've thought about throwing them away or redoing them. I saved some to paint over and this is one of them. It gives a different texture to the paintings.   Rosy morning, 6 x 8.

Without the Fluff

So here's the painting from a few days ago without the fluff, none the worse for wear after falling in the dirt. This was another almost predawn painting. Waking Up, 8 x 10.

The White Shed

Another painting from last weekend done in a late morning session at Sandstone Ranch. The white shed really stood out like a spotlight in the morning sun, especially as it was surrounded by all the muted browns and greens of the barn and trees surrounding it.
White Shed, 8 x 10.

Fluff

So I went this morning to paint but wasn't quite prepared. I thought I was. I had all my gear, packed and ready the night before, checked off on everything, didn't forget my paper towels or rubber gloves. I was so anxious to get out there and get started that I neglected to step outside first and evaluate the weather. It was pretty close to freezing which I didn't expect since it's been so balmy, and I definitely needed more layers, and gloves would have been a big help.

Pond reflections looking west change pretty fast in the pre-dawn so I wanted to have time to get set up before the light started coming up. The chill started to settle in on me and by the time I was done painting an hour later, the sun was creeping over the east horizon creating a gorgeous dawn, and I was standing there frozen stiff hardly able to appreciate it. My numb fingers fumbled putting my stuff away and the painting went flying, flipped over and landed face down on the ground. It came up with dozens of little dandelion-type fluffs all over it and small clumps of dirt and a few tiny bugs. Here's me picking off the fluffs at home after I've warmed up (a hot shower helped a lot). It survived fairly well in spite of everything. I'll post it in a couple days after it's dry.

Looking the Other Way

Often on these morning paintings I paint facing east toward the sunrise. On this painting I looked west. You can see the mountains in the background catch the early morning light and the first bits of sun hitting the houses on the other side of the lake. A big cloud of noisy redwing blackbirds took flight and headed out away from the pond as I set up my gear.  I called this "First Light," 9 x 12.

The Sun is Back

Two days later - the rain had moved out and the early morning sun was back. A pale crescent moon was fading over the eastern sky as I started to paint. There were nice pastel colors in the sunrise that morning with a low cloud bank and a high cloud bank with turquoise sky in between. It was a challenge. I got there a bit later than I wanted and had to play catch up really fast before everything changed too much. I didn't have the luxury of time to make some color mixes at the beginning of my painting, but just had to start painting as quickly as possible.
Crescent Moon, 9 x 12.

A rainy dawn

This is from last Tuesday, a mostly overcast dawn. I hoped to be able to see the sun coming up but the horizon was too cloudy. I chose to paint looking north. The foggy trees in the distance looked interesting to paint. I did several paintings last week and they are all finally dry so I will be scanning them soon and writing about them here.  This one, 9 x 12 - Rainy Morning.

Aspen Season

The past two weeks were the "peak aspen season" here in the mountains when all the leaves turn gold before winter sets in, so we went up to Rocky Mountain Park hoping to catch some of the color. It was also elk bugling time which is very popular. Everybody from the Front Range seemed to be there and we faced a massive traffic jams getting out of the park at the end of the day. But the scenery was great. I brought along my painting gear and did one painting.
 R M aspens, 12 x 9. 

Back to Painting Again

October seems to be Breaking Appliance Month this year. We had a water heater decide to break so that took a lot of time to deal with but we finally got that fixed and out of the way, and then the oven broke. All these things take away from "painting time".  But  I managed to get out and paint two paintings.

The first was another dawn painting. I got there a bit early but a cold front with excessive clouds had moved in and the dawn was bleak and gray. Instead I painted the other direction, almost a nocturne painting of the lake looking west. Here's that painting -  Predawn, 8 x 10.

Another Sunrise

The local city-wide Studio Tour was last weekend so my studio was open on Saturday and Sunday, and I had no time to paint, but did sell 3 paintings.  I went again last Thursday and painted. It's getting downright civilized -  I only had to get up at 6 AM which isn't too bad. The only painting panel I had ready (I am in the process of making more) was a 12x12 so I used it. I liked working on the square format so perhaps I will do more in that size. This one is called Warm Sunrise, not because it was especially warm it (it wasn't- I'm starting to dig out the base layer clothing for early morning forays) but because the sky had a really warm look to it.

More Changes

After reading an article about making an art website work better (and theoretically sell more paintings) I decided to change the template of my new site to get more pictures of paintings up front.

According to Alyson Stanfield in her Art Biz Coach blog, http://www.artbizblog.com/2015/09/website-no-sales.html, it's important to not make people click multiple times to get to see the art. So I've changed my template to one that shows more art upfront. And I adjusted this blog also to sort of match. Which is actually kind of fun to do. But I have started the new blog on the website, and I will be phasing this one out in a bit. Here is the new website/blog.