A new Start - Cherry Blossoms revisited

This is a small study for a possible new commission.   It will be of the DC Cherry Blossoms near the Washington Monument.  The Cherry Trees line the tidal basin and some of the other areas around DC.  There are two small pagoda like monuments near the tidal basin and this is one of them with the monument in the back ground.  This is the very basic block-in of the initial colors.  I have not added the Cherry tree or any of the blossoms yet.  I just wanted to get the basic design in and the perspective on the foreground pagoda right.

Pine Cone Sketch

My eyes were bothering me after a day at the regular job, so tonight's post is a Pine Cone pencil sketch.  Just something easy and relaxing with no eye strain.

Moving Water Study

Moving water is pretty hard to paint effectively, but you have to practice it to get better.  This is the basics of a close up of water rushing over rocks in a creek.  You can see the start of the development of the water and trying to capture the movement.  This is painted very thinly so it will dry fast and so I can add layers to it and improve its depth and appearance of motion.

New Mexico Field with Flowers Study

This is not an original design, but I liked the design.  I blocked this in and will continue to add details to the foreground field.  This will need to be worked more to give it depth and pop.

Irises Update

I worked on a few things today, and cycled back into somethings started but not finished.  I wish I could say I was a type of artist who could knock out a painting in one go, i.e. all prima.  But I am not there yet,  I usually start something and work on it a while until I get frustrated or the paint is too thick to mess with and then I return to it later.  The above two photos are of the Irises.  There was an intermediate step between them but I did not get a picture of it.  The painting is going good now and will need some refinement on the stems and a little on the petals but it is coming together now.

Sky Sunset study

One of the things I have been working on is to do as many starts (on paintings) as possible as a way to improve my painting skills.  This is a block-in of the Sun setting behind a cloud and its reflection in a small lake.  This will need a lot of work but it is part of the starts.

Another Night Nocturne

This is another Night Nocturne I blocked -in.  I will need to work on the reflection.  It is one of the harder parts of water, so I will continue to work on it.

Beach Nocturne Study

This is the block-in I did of a beach at night.  I will have to work on the water as it will need the most work.  I have been out of town but now I am back to work and painting.

Boreal Forest from the sky Study

This is a small study I have worked on.  It is a Boreal Forest i.e. from the Great North of Alaska or Canada as seen from the air.  It is not a bad block in but I will have to go back and smooth out some of the detail to make the foliage seem more convincing.

Summer Break - James Snow Boarding

Since it is a bit of a heat wave, I decided to post a sketch I did of James Snowboarding.  James was pretty fearless and would jump, grind, and wipeout on everything, but he certainly enjoyed himself and the slopes.

Delicate Arch Nocturne

I started this over the weekend and it is nowhere near finished.  I did a smaller version of this ten years ago and I wanted to do a larger more in depth version.  So this is 24 x 18 inches.  I have blocked in the basics.  The sky is too light as I want to make it look like the Milky Way with the thousands of stars you can see in the real back country without light pollution.

Sunset River reflection study

I worked on this over the weekend.  I added the foliage and branches.  I added highlights to the foliage both in the background trees and the foreground grasses.  So another study done on the way to complete the 10,000 hours of practice needed to get to mastery of a skill.

Sawyer Glacier Fjord View

This is the other oil painting I finished this weekend.  It is from a trip we took two years back through the Alaskan Inner Passage.  This is a view from the Fjord leading to the Sawyer Glacier.

Juneau Welcoming Committee - Finished

This is a painting I started awhile back but waited to finish.  I added the two eagles to the top of the channel marker leading into Juneau, Alaska.

Sunset Water Study

I had previously blocked this in and then set it aside.  I took it up again tonight and added extra color to the sky and the water.   I added the trees on the left bank, I think this one is done.

Saguaro Cactus Sunset Study

So I have had a hectic couple of days and the art work has suffered a bit.  I have four different things going and this was the only one even close to being post worthy.  It is a bit rough but not a bad start.  I will need to work some of the cloud edges and I want to add more tones/colors into the clouds to add depth.

Alaska Sawyer'S Glacier Fjord - part 2

As I said yesterday, I had cleaned up so around the studio room and decided to work on this some today before the family and firework festivities get started.  I changed the tone of green through out the foreground and middle ground.  I extended the snowfield/Glacier so it made better sense to the composition and I started the process of making sense of the waterfall.  I did nothing on the background but I think I took a better picture this time around.  So Happy Fourth of July!

Livestock Auction Building, Denton, Maryland

I started this a while ago with drawing this out and setting the basic lines.  I then was flummoxed on how I wanted to paint this so I tucked it away.  I did a mid-year clean and re-organize and found this today and saw exactly how I wanted to start this and I have a plan to finish it.  This building was a Livestock Auction Building in Denton, Maryland.  It was was decrepit and in need of paint, which gave it lots of character and interest.  This is the basic bloc in of the colors and now I will have to add the age, peeling paint, rust, and other age.  Now the building is a flea market and has been painted and repaired.  Good for the building, boring for the art.

Waterfall stream study

Tonight I blocked in this small study of a small waterfall spilling over rocks.  I will make some small adjustments to the rocks and the water but I will wait for this oil painting to dry a bit.