Another Tree Sketch

I continue the sketch series on the trees.  I have a whole sketchbook about half filled with trees.  Most I have been posted to this blog.  I took a class from the painter Scott Christenson.  He reminded my of one of the principles of mastery which is the near obsessive practice on things you want to improve on, so I have been sketching the trees.

Frozen Lake Spruce trees

I did not get as much done as I would have liked art wise this weekend, but I did do this block-in of a frozen lake with spruce trees.  I will need to make some adjustments to this color wise.  Some are too bright and in need of graying it some to push it into the background.  Future plans for things to come.

Old Oak Sketch

This is a pencil sketch of an Old Oak Tree.  It is not an original design but I really liked the design and the structure of this tree.  Tomorrow I will be painting again after a busy week.

Sycamore Sketch

More work on the tree sketch book. I have been trying different ways to represent trees.  So this is not an original design but a way to try out and experiment with techniques.  This is a sketch with a thin Pentic Marker with the trunk being light as opposed to dark which, is how you normally think of tree trunks.

Alaska Fjord Waterfall Pencil Study

I did this pencil sketch of an Alaskan Fjord Waterfall as a value study for a painting.  I wanted to do a basic layout and to try out the composition before committing to canvas and paint.

Colorado, Fall in the Foothills - Closer to the finish

I worked on the Fall in the Foothills today.  I added the start of the horses grazing in the Meadow, which is what attracted me to this scene.  It has been challenging for me to paint, as I have attempted this three times before getting to this which I am mostly happy with as a painting.  I feel like I need to adjust the cottonwood tree foliage and I will add some small detail to the horses to give them more structure and depth.

Sunset over the Bay - Finished

Tonight I finished Sunset over the Bay.  You can see the progression from Block-in to developing the atmosphere of the sky, water and the foliage.  I finished with toning down the water and adding the flying waterfowl.  The Chesapeake Bay is the major east coast of the US flyway and many ducks, geese, and swans over winter here as we are usually south of the freeze line.  The hall mark of fall is the chorus of honks and quacks of our visitors from the north.