Early Morning on the Lake, Pocono Mountains

Early Morning  11x14 oil on canvas

This painting sat around half finished for over a year, it went through changes with value and color but I was never able to bring it to completion.  Recently I have been working with a limited palette of colors.
I used to rely on Phthalo green  (yellow and blue shade) and I would temper them with different reds but my greens still looked a little too garish. Now I am using ultramarine blue and cerulean blue with my two yellows cad yellow light and cad yellow medium.

This little 5x7 study has been on my wall as a reminder to try a larger version the painting. This is a favorite  lake we fish throughout the year, its a shame its three hours away in the Pocono Mountains.

Sketch at Dawn

Dawn Core Creek Park  8x10 oil

On the drive to work each day I have been watching the landscape start to wake up from darkness to just being able to see the objects out there.
We have been in a warm spell this year so there has been a lot of hazy mornings with blue greys in the distance creating nice atmospheric conditions. On the way to work I'm on a highway so I don't have time to stop and take pictures so I have to try to remember what I see for later use.

This morning I went to Core Creek Park which is only 8-10 minutes away to try to capture the subtleties of dawn. I set up at a favorite spot and did my best to capture what was in front of me, unfortunately I was out of practice and made a mess of everything, so when I got home I adjusted the painting to what I remembered from the morning while it was still fresh in my mind.
The lake and the far shoreline values blended together creating one solid mass, there was a slight mist on the lake making the water ever so slightly lighter. I liked the thin reflection of the sky at the edge of the water separating land from water.

As I was cleaning up this morning an older couple pulled in next to me and the husband asked me where they could see a nice sunset. I told them the spot I use for painting sunsets which is at another park about 7 minutes away. He smiled and said, I told my wife a painter probably knows where good sunset viewing spots are.

A Good Pool  6"x 8" oil on wood panel

This is one of the streams in north central Pa my brother and I fish on our yearly vacation.
A careful approach and long casts are needed to help catch the trout in this clear water.

In this painting I tried to use a loose paint application aiming for correct values and shapes, the right blobs of color in the right place.
I like the trout skipping across the water. The idea for that came from watching fishing shows on TV.
I'll pay attention to the action shots on the show and make notes on how to depict it in a painting.

I have been experimenting with a limited palette of colors to try to bring more color harmony in my work.

From left to right titanium white, cad yellow lt, cad yellow med., Cad red lt., alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue(not shown).
For the darks I'll mix all three primaries to get a dark value then adjust it whatever way it needs to go.
It will be a lot of experimenting and learning.