Birthday Kingfisher

This is a Birthday card I received from my younger sister.  I really like this card and appreciate her making this hand made card of this Kingfisher.

Sloop setting out to Sea - Block-in and first adjustment

Today's post is an oil study of a Sloop Sailing Ship setting out to sea.  In the lower photo, you can see the initial placement of the ship, sails, sky, and sea.  I then went back after drying time and adjusted the sky and added detail and texture to the sails.  I started giving shape to the hull and the masts.  Since the ship is detailed and I want to capture a lot of that detail, this one is going to take awhile to complete.

Twilight Parachutists

I made some small tweaks to the parachutes and added some white to the setting sun to make it appear brighter through the haze.  This is a case of not much needed to be fixed after I let the painting rest.

Washington Monument at Night with blossoms

I worked on this tonight.  The lower is the initial block-in.  I darkened the sky some and brought it lower into the painting.  I am still not happy with the transitions between the layers so I will work on that in the future.  I also added the dark background of the Cherry Tree outline which will be the basis for the design of the blossoms when I add the details.

Elk in the pond

I finished working on this today.  I had started this painting a while back.  I had been frustrated with it so this one sat for two years before I picked it up last month.  I reworked the reflections which had been the biggest part of the problem.  I worked on it and then I worked the fur, the reflection, I added floating leaves, and some foliage around the bottom edges.

Brighton Summit - Block-in

This is the block-in for an oil painting of a rock face at the summit of Brighton Ski Area, near Salt Lake City, Utah.  When I do a block-in I try to get the shapes and colors on to the canvas as close as possible to the colors and the values to the study, photo, and notes I have taken from the original.  Some times I will make immediate corrections to the colors, values, and shapes.  I will also wait for it to dry to make adjustments.    I would like to get to the point of being able to do the painting in one go or alla prima.  Sometimes it works, but usually it takes a bit of work to get the painting to the point of satisfaction or frustration.

Engine House Junction Box

I worked on this still life of an Electrical Junction Box in the Baltimore and Ohio Engine House in Baltimore, Maryland.  The engine house is now the Rail Museum.  I noticed this box near some of the steam engines.  I liked the colors and the pattern of this.   The practice of still life painting is great way to improve your painting skills.