Saturday, December 31, 2011

Christmas Tree Series oil painting

I wanted to challenge myself to find four images on our Christmas tree to paint.

I divided a 9x12 canvas panel in four quarters with tape so I would have four different paintings with a white border. I usually waited till the end of the night after everything was done before I set up my easel and started each painting.  I did one painting a night.




This will be the last painting of 2011.
Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year.
Pat

Friday, December 23, 2011

Winter Nocturne, Christmas Morning 4"x12" oil on canvas

I wanted to paint a  peaceful scene that has the feel of the world sleeping in that quiet time between night and early morning.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Pat

Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Passion for Flowers

One day we were doing yard work and I happened to turn around and saw my wife Maria bathed in this wonderful light, my eyes went from the blue flowers to her blue top back to the flowers. That convinced me to get my camera. I started photographing her from different angles trying to capture a pleasing composition.

I wanted to try to show her passion for the flowers and plants that she grows. I enjoy seeing the passion people have for things they are interested in whether its flyfishing, photography, or flowers.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Figurative Work Practice

In August Maria and I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame which is a half hour away from each other. While we were sitting outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I spotted this mother and daughter sitting across the way, the mother talking away and the daughter texting. The mother seemed concerned with something out of our view, minutes later her husband showed up and they left.
I didn't want it to be obvious I was photographing them because I wanted natural poses, so I held the camera on my lap and looked the other way as I shot pictures hoping some of them would turn out.
The background was cluttered with a tent and other unnecessary objects so I switched a hedge for the clutter keeping the background simple and not detracting from the main focus.
I enjoy doing these figurative works as challenging as they are. Some are successful and some aren't.

I'm almost finished with a painting of  my wife Maria pruning the flowers in her planter. This painting of Maria  just seemed to flow off the brush, I had three quarters of it done the first night, which is unusual for me.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Autumn on the Lake

This is from a lake we fish in the Pocono Mountains. I liked the color on this odd growing tree.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Clouds over the Lake

This was the same day at Marsh Creek Lake when we started out in thick fog. The sun came out and the clouds started building. When the wind started kicking up we knew it was time to start working our way back to the boat ramp. It started raining as we got the boat on the trailer.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Autumn Flyfishing


Autumn Flyfishing 5x7 acrylic  (SOLD)
This is from our recent flyfishing vacation in upstate Pa. I wanted to try out a small study first before doing a larger painting. I enjoy painting the late afternoon light when objects start taking on the orange glow.

We had a good trip even with the rain and both of us each caught nice trout.


Sunday, October 30, 2011

Early Snow acrylic on canvas

Its too early for this isn't it? The leaves haven't even finished turning yet let alone falling off the trees.
This is a quick sketch looking out the front window of this unusual event. Now we will be shoveling and raking leaves at the same time.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

I'm back from our trip upstate, it was a good trip as always.We had rain every day except Monday and Tuesday but that didn't stop us from fishing and scouting other streams to add to our list.

I got some painting in too, I wanted to try out a light for painting at night. Its called a Mighty Bright and it clamps onto the top of my easel so I can see the canvas panel and my paints in total darkness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              




This is a painting of the logs in the fire ring
Tom and fire



When I turned around the moon was rising and clouds constantly passing by so I decided to capture what I could for the rest of the night.





This is a set of pine trees painted at dusk


The rushing waters of Hyner Run  coming out of the forest.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Annual flyfishing/painting trip

My brother and I head out Sunday morning for our annual flyfishing trip to northcentral Pa. We do alot of walking, climbing, and crawling along the streams during the coarse of a day,and I like taking my portable paintbox( wood cigar box) with me but by the end of the day it starts feeling pretty heavy so this year I wanted to try to lighten the load a little.  This portable setup is just for my stream  fishing, I also bring an easel and tripod when  back at the cabin.

To lighten the load I am going to leave the box at home.
I have different size pieces of canvas I precut and toned to get rid of the white of the canvas. These I will tape onto a 8x10 masonite panel which will be my easel now, I can prop it up against a tree or a rock or just hold it in my hand. I am also switching paints, going from oils to acrylics. With the fast drying acrylics I won't have to worry about smearing the painting while we are walking to the next spot. I just remove the dry painting from the masonite panel and tape on another canvas.





To help keep the acrylics workable I brought a bottle of Liquitex pallette wetting spray. I was actually looking for a spray bottle to put water in and found this.It is liquid medium. I'll use a small clear plastic pallette to put the paints on.
To wash the  brushes I have a small container of soapy water, a rag and sponge in a ziplock bag for cleanup.
              
A week of flyfishing and painting sounds pretty good to me. The weather forcast is not as promising, chance of rain each day except Monday.



Will return on Fri afternoon.

Here are some images from past trips.









Saturday, October 1, 2011

Heavy Fog

My wife and I visited Marsh Creek State Park to do a little fishing. On the 45 minute drive there we  experienced heavy fog making it hard to see in front of you. When we arrived at the lake all you could see was fog. Finally at 10:30 the sun started to show, all you could make out was a white dot in the sky and underneath that was a bright reflection in the water from the sun. This is my impression from that morning.



Peeking Thru 6"x6" oil

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Autumn Landscape Valley Forge National Park

This is a studio painting done from pictures taken at Valley Forge National Park.  Last fall my brother and I went there at dawn to photograph the wildlife and get reference material for future paintings.  Knowing the full moon was out that night I wanted to get there early to do a sketch of it, but I would have to use the light from the back of the truck so I could see what I was painting.
                         5x7 sketch

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Neshaminy State Park ,plein air


My brother Chris (pictured above) and I got out this morning for a few hours of plein air painting.
We went to Neshaminy State Park  to paint the wild growing fields and the view of the Delaware river. We had a bright overcast light and every once in a while the sun would peek thru.
Its been a while since we got out so it felt good to be painting outdoors again.

Sunday, August 7, 2011


On our way thru Wallmarts plant dept.we spotted these catus. They had a variety of colors and shapes but this red/green color combination caught my eye, I couldn't resist. We ended up buying three.
You never know where your inspiration will come from.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Bluebird at The Box

I see this bluebird box on my walks thru a local park, this time I caught the bluebird at home.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Almost plein air

My wife and I decided to spend the afternoon along the Delaware river in Washington Crossing. I brought my paints along to do some painting since we were going to be there for about four hours. While we were eating lunch I was looking around to see what scene would make a good painting. It was overcast already with possible thunderstorms later on. The scene I settled on was a house across the river and its long reflection in the water. I did a verticle pencil sketch to emphasize the long reflection from the house and indictated the value pattern of the scene. I did a quick sketch to see what it looked like horizonally.
I sketched the scene on the canvas and no sooner I started squezzing out the paint when we hear a rumbling in the sky. Maybe eight seconds later a bolt of lightning hit right across the river from us.When I looked up Maria was already packed and on her way.
On the way home the weather improved so we stopped off at a local park to finish the afternoon. Now removed from the scene the painting has to be finished from the pencil sketch and my memory from studying the scene during lunch. I got halfway through the painting when the skies opened up...afternoon over.
When I got home I finished the almost plein air painting!! This is the result.


Friday, July 1, 2011

Finally Finished

Flyfishing,  A Jumper ,  16x20 oil

I finally finished this painting, it sat half finished for months while I started and finished other paintings. It gave me time to look it over and make neccessary adjustments that I didn't see the first time around.
A self portrait of sorts, being in a place like this is good therapy for the body and mind.
Thanks for looking,
Pat

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Blogger Problems

I have been experiencing problems with my blog lately. I have not been able to leave comments on anyones blog, and my followers list and everyone elses followers list dissapeared. I reported it and now waiting for the fix. Anyone else having this problem?
Pat

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Food Painting Pancakes and Syrup

A still life of a Saturday morning breakfast. What caught my eye that morning was the reflected light from the syrup bottle. I debated about putting in the other objects and decided the pancakes and mug  would help complete the story.
Thanks for looking,
Pat

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Cars in foggy landscape

I enjoy doing landscapes with a little mood in them. This shows cars negotiating the fog on the morning commute. The reflections from the car lights on the wet road is what caught my attention and added a little sparkle to a subdued landscape.
.An important question I ask myself is why would this make an interesting painting. I also wanted to create the slight tension one feels driving in the fog and I like the way the road curves into the foggy unknown.
Thanks for looking,
Pat

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Mermaid

Mermaid 5x7 oil  (SOLD)

I wanted to try capturing the graceful motion of swimming in water. My pratice in figurative work continues.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Making Bubbles 8x10 oil

This is one of my grandaughters having fun making bubbles.
I want to concentrate doing more figurative work this year, painting people going about life, whether walking their dog, or standing in line waiting for water ice.
I usually paint landscapes and things dealing with nature.  Now I'll branch out a bit and try painting human nature.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Moonlight

I like trying to capture the mood on moonlit nights. This image was from a  flyfishing vacation my brother and I take every year in Northcentral Pa. When you don't have to go to work the next day you can afford to stay up all night making sketches of the landscape as the moon works its way across the sky.
Once your eyes adjust you can see remarkably well by moonlight, enough to walk all around the park taking pictures and sketching.

Moonlight  8x10 oil on Gallery wrapped canvas.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Tree Reflection

Tree Reflection 12"x12" acrylic on cradled wood panel.
This is a stream that runs thru the state park we stay at when on vacation in the fall. 

The second picture shows the sketch I did on location that day -sorry about the white line going down the sketch, I accidently painted on it while doing another painting months later.
And me sitting on a blowdown where I did the sketch. The cigar paintbox is convienent for when you have other things you are doing (fishing) besides painting but you still want to do some sketches during the day. You carry it on shoulder and its out of the way until you need it.