New Project - Cherry Blossom Pagoda and Washington Monument

This is the start of the new project, this is a 16 x 20 inch painting of the Cherry Blossoms at the tidal basin with the small Pagoda Monument with the tidal basin and the Washington Monument in the background.  O have just started and this was all I got done this evening.

Irises - Finished

This post gives you an idea of how I developed this painting from the basic block-in to the continuing refinement of the image.  This is more detailed than I normally paint but this is a more detailed subject.  I did this from a photo I got from another source, but the goal is to paint something like this from life.  That won't be possible until I get done with the current cubical monkey job.  I will continue to practice in the mean time.

Beech tree study - Part Two

This is one of the things I worked on this weekend.  I refined the details on the tree, the forest floor and added the small sapling to add the depth to this study.

Mountain Moose in colored pencil

Today is another experiment day.  I did this from a photo from out of a book.  The medium is colored pencil on tan paper.  If you ever see these beasts in the wild they are impressively huge, odd looking and dangerous if it is the rut.

Bighorn Sheep in Gouache

This was a little bit of an experiment in opaque watercolor or gouache on tan paper.  I dabble in watercolor sometimes for fun and a switch, but usually it is the transparent watercolor most people are familiar with from their childhood days.  The gouache is similar in some ways to oil but drys very fast and is good for a quick piece of art or an experiment.

Lodge Pool Pine tree - part 2

I am at a stage of wanting to finish up some of my starts of these small studies.  I modified the clouds and then I added details to the dead trees to add interest to the trunks and added branches.  I modified some of the foliage to try and make it more convincing.  I have been reading a philosophical book which encourages tinkering and making as many small mistakes as possible.  I thought that was an interesting corollary to the recommendation to artist to paint often and all the time to improve.

Pine Tree change

Some times when I come back to a study, I don't like what I see and it bores me.  So when I came back to this one I did not like the tree and thought the sky was a little boring.  So I changed both.  I added a little to the foreground and made some adjustments to the back ground.