Weeping Willow Branch sketch

A pencil sketch of Weeping Willow branch and leaves done in pencil.

Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods - block-in

Tonight's escape from the work rat race is a block-in of an oil painting of Pikes Peak from the Gardens of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  This is just the start and I will need to add a lot of detail to the scrub oaks in the foreground as just an example of the work needing to be done with this one.

Mountain Chickadee and Pine Branch

Simple pencil sketch of a Mountain Chickadee and Pine Branch.  A lite and easy sketch for a Monday

Scottish Highlands _ Part 2

I worked on this painting today, adding more texture and color.  I worked the sky, the mountains, and the stream.  I still need to work the fore ground and middle ground to add details of rocks and some trees along the stream line.

Lazuli Bunting - Lstly Finished

I saw this bird for the first time back in Utah a few weeks ago, so I decided to paint and small study of one.  You can see the block-i  with the basic colors.  I adjusted the background with washes of green, yellow and orange to grey it out.  I then added the feather detail and claws to the Bunting.

Oak Tree Sketch with three colors

A little experiment with three colors of colored pencils.  Two shades of orange and a black pencil.  Nice to be done with the work week and to get something done I like.

Spring Valley

I have been working on this for a while and I went over this again today.  I reworked the colors of the sky, mountains, and I tried to fix the trees.  I am not satisfied with the colors and shapes on this one.  This is not my original design but one more for the practice.

Happy Father's Day

Some of my earliest memories are going Fishing for Rainbow trout in the Northern part of Colorado. So I usually do the Fishing theme for my Father's Day card to my Dad.

Grass Study - Part 2

I readdressed this small Oil study and added more of the grass and started to refine the structure and the colors to move this beyond the block-in stage.

Summer Sunset on the River

Tonight's post is as the title says, "Summer Sunset on the River."  I had done an initial block-in on this but I was not happy with it and set this aside.  I pulled it out and changed the cloud blocking the suns color and glazed a thin layer of orange to the water to get a better composition.  It still needs some small changes but it is better than when I started with it.

Palm Fronds in the Jungle

So I experiment and try different things to see what might work or if this technique is something useful.  This was interesting and probably not a complete success but it is different.   I know how I will do it differently when I use this technique in one of the paintings from my experiences in Panama and Belize,  The biggest thing will be to not isolate the palm fronds against a dark monotone background.  The point of the experiment was to focus on the fronds and the sun shining through the canopy of leaves.  It needs background to base it some reality.

Large Mouth Bass with Lure to chase.

I added the Lure which is enticing the large Mouth bass from under the Water Lilies.  I added my "chop" of intertwined "Ss" and "A."

Lazuli Bunting - Block-in

So after a not so interesting week at regular work, I blocked in the start of this Lazuli Bunting.  This is a small but colorful bird, I saw in the Scrub Oak foothills of the Wasatch Range near Mt. Olympus near Salt lake City, Utah during a recent trip.  This is just the start.  I will need to grey and lighten the background, add the rest of the wing feather detail and the feet grasping the branch.  Everything is basic here.

Henry Point Lighthouse - part 2

This is the continuation of the Henry Point Lighthouse.  I added the lighthouse and added detail to grass and the field.

Junction Box - Finished

I free handed the box and letter "D" on the plate.  I then added the boxes and hints of writing below the "D."  This is a finished up painting.

Large Mouth Bass in Lilies

Tonight's post is a pencil sketch of a Large Mouth Bass swimming under water lilies, a favorite habitat of this fish.  Tomorrow night I will add a lure to give the fish some thing to chase.

Ocracoke Island Light house - part 2

I reworked the sunset sky over the Ocracoke Lighthouse painting.  I started this a while back but decided to start fixing the sky.  It is better but I still need to fix the trees and add details to the lighthouse.  I like this one and look forward to finishing it.

Power Junction Box - Part 2

Since we are suppose to have bad thunderstorms here in Maryland, I am posting a little earlier than normal.  I worked on a few things today, but this is the best.  I defined some edges, reworked the handle, added the 220 volt lettering and highlighted the small plate on the center if the bubble door.  I am pretty close to finished, but I will add some lettering to the plate and I will call it done.

Dead Tree Study

This is a study of a dead Tree, still standing.  This is part of a series of experiments in trees, leaves, turtles and mountains.  This is an oil study.  I did the sky with cobalt blue and white with a dab of viridian green.  The tree was initially blocked in with dark grey.  I modified the trunk with ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, and a light portland grey.

Scottish highlands - Block-in

Thank God I am done with that week at regular work.  Sometimes it is absolutely ridiculous.  Some days I wish I had just gone to art school out of high school.  I don't know where I would be but it could not be as annoying as the current state of things.  Thank God for painting, it definitely keeps me sane.  About 30 years ago, I got to go to the Scottish highlands twice.  I cannot wait to go back.  This is an oil study and not an original composition but it is just like the scenes I saw there so long ago.