Boreal Forest Sunset Study

This is tonight's study.  This is the start of a Boreal Forest sunset.  The Boreal Forests are in the far northern Arctic regions of the world.  This is the block-in but is mostly complete.   I will make some small changes to the sky and miss add some branch detail, but not much more.

Douglas Fir Study

I am practicing my Ala Prima painting, so this oil was done as close as I could to mixing the paint and then applying it.  I am improving but still need practice to make the tree better and more believable.  I will probably go back and mess with the foreground grass and I will add definition to the branches in the Fir tree.

Praire Sentinel

Tonight's study is a small oil study of praise grasses, a lone cottonwood, and a cloudy sky.  This is the initial block-in of colors.  I will redefine the foreground grasses to give this more depth and I need to add contrast to the clouds to give it some aerial perspective i.e. to make the horizon clouds recede into the background more.

My Niece Sophia

This is a pencil, white chalk, and terra-cotta pastel of my niece, Sophia long jumping.   I traditionally do Birthday cards from the family and this is what she wanted.

Chickadees

I have blocked in the basics design of these Chickadees on the berry covered branches.  I will dry brush in some feather details this weekend and add the eyes, while continuing to refine the berries and branches.

Forest thru the Trees - Part 2

I like to group my learning experiments of paintings to try different types of common themes.  This is another block-in of trees in a forest setting.  I blocked in the basic shapes after drawing and outlining the design.  I will need to add foliage and square away the foreground reflections better.  It is a decent start to another learning and practice oil sketch.

Hand drawings

These are more practice drawings of hands.  These are from the Andrew Loomis book on Heads and Hands.  I have hundreds of these drawings.  They are like practicing scales in piano or other basic skills one does on the way to mastering a skill.