Thomas Moran Watercolor - Yellowstone

Artist Thomas Moran did the first paintings of Yellowstone National Park about 160 years ago.  His art was instrumental in helping Yellowstone being declared the first National Park.  I did this watercolor and pentel pen sketch after the style of Moran's original.  I some times do these little sketches to experiment and to try to learn the techniques used originally.

Blossom Study - Cherry Blossoms at the tidal basin

I blocked in this study of Cherry Blossoms over the Tidal Basin near the Potomac River in Washington DC.  I started this to work out some things for my commission of a larger painting.  I plan to add a blossom reflection in the water and better define the branches.

Full size 16 x 20 Cherry Blossoms Washington Monument

I have been working on a commission to expand the size of my original 5 x 7 inch Cherry Blossom study into a fairly large 16 x 20 inch painting.  I blocked in the sky, the monument, the water and the very basic impression of the blossoms.  I am very happy with the sky and the first stages of the water. I am going to add some faces (sides) and slight color variation in the monuments color to add some depth and structure to it.  Then I will be able to focus on the last work needs on the water.  Then all my focus will be on the blossoms and their reflection in the dark water near the shore line wall.

500th posting

This is my 500th  posting.  I had always wanted to do art work and paint, for as long as I can remember.  It always lurked in the back of my mind as what I ultimately wanted to do with the spare time and in retirement, or at some time in the future.  Life always got in the way and I had put it off till some time in the future.  It was not until James, my son died about 20 months ago it was reinforced to me, life is short and time is precious.  So these 500 posts are dedicated to him and to remind us all, but especially me do something now you have always wanted to do since you just don't know how much time you will have.

Prairie Cloud study - revisited

I am in a revisionist mood so I pulled out the block in of Prairie Cloud Study.  Besides taking a better picture, I darkened parts of the clouds to give them volume and some structure.  I modified the sky patches with more varied blues, and finally I better structured the darks in the tree and the tones in the grasses.  I think this is a good study for when I plan to work on some of my South Dakota Badlands photos.

Plains Monarch - second approach

I went back and worked on this study of a lone three on the Plains.  I had blocked in the basics and tonight I ran across this while considering what I wanted to work on.  I made minor changes to the clouds and the tree.  I did a lot more brush work on the grassland in the middle and fore ground.

Green River, Wyoming

Sometimes I feel a need to do something different so I worked in watercolor and brown Pentel pen on tan paper.  This is modeled in the style of artist Thomas Moran's watercolors from 160 years ago.  So I enjoyed this as a break tonight.