Monday, September 27, 2010

Maid of the Mist 11x14 oil

On the boatride over to the falls I took note of the shifting currents and blue/green color of the water. It was amazing to see how high the mist rose, towering over the falls themselves. I enjoyed watching everyone jostling for position to get pictures, and watched the excitement grow as we neared the base of the falls.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Full Moon and Jupiter 5x7 acrylic




I saw this scene while I was taking the trash out this morning. I grabbed my sketchbook out of the truck and did a quick charcoal drawing to capture the morning sky.
I had to leave for work in 15 minutes but I wanted to get this down while it was still fresh in my mind. I used a limited pallette of alizarin crimson, Phalo green, cerulean blue and white.
For the darks of the trees I used aliz. crimson and Phalo green. The sky was the same mix except I added white to lighten the value. I added a touch of blue to the greyed sky color to give a hint of the morning sky. To keep Jupiter bright I dipped the tip of my pallette knife in white and just barely touched the canvas. I put the moon in and the clouds that are barely noticable.
I had enough time to pour my coffee and get on the racetrack they call us1 superhighway, I made it to work at 7:00.


Sunday, September 12, 2010

Autumn Morning 8x10 acrylic

Autumn Morning 8x10 acrylic

Fall is right around the corner so I thought I would start with an image I've been wanting to paint for a while. I took the reference pictures for this two years ago,and have thought about this scene off and on every few months. I noticed that happens with some paintings, I have to think about them for a while and then one day something clicks and says you're ready and it flows off the brush.
I'm hoping we have a colorful autumn, so I'll have somrthing to paint in two years!
Enjoy.