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

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 Morning Plein-air

Went to Core Creek Park Saturday at sunrise hoping to see this big whitetail buck I saw there two weeks ago. Been trying to get a picture of him but have  not been successful. On my ride thru the area I spotted these trees lit up by the sun  and decided to take advantage of the situation. I like the way the bright colors stood out against the coolness of the frost on the grass. This is a 5x7, a perfect size for capturing the fast moving light at sunrise.

                                                                                                                                                                                      

 The next painting I did is a 8x10. What interested me in this scene was the frost still laying in the shadows not touched by the sun yet. I finished up about 9:30 and  headed out.
I am going to do a larger painting of the 5x7. I like the way it portrays the winding down of the autumn season.



Sunday morning plein-air painting

 Went out this morning at dawn to see if I could find any color left on the trees. I figured the orange light at dawn would enhance any color still around. With the temperature at 35 degrees I planned on painting inside the truck so I only brought the cigar box setup.

The deer kept my attention until the sun rose to where it started lighting the landscape.

After searching a little I settled on this spot. It afforded me a good view of the trees in front of me.

This is the cigar box setup that fits on the seat right next to me. A piece of foamcore acts as a table top for the setup.

This is the finished painting done in about 50 minutes. Its a 6"x8" panel.

Annual Flyfishing Trip to Northcentral Pa.

We had another successful trip this year. Caught alot of trout, saw alot of wildlife, and got some painting in too. We had good weather this week except for a little rain on Thursday. We visited the new Elk Visitors Center and went looking for and found a herd of elk. In the 2nd picture you see a bull elk laying down on the top of the hill, he has an impressive set of antlers. The skunk visited us most nights probably because we put out hardboiled eggs for him. He had a unique coloration to his fur, it was white on top and black on the bottom. I was within 8 feet of him  and he showed no fear whatsoever. You never smelled him once. A few times he tried coming up on the porch with us. The one picture shows me on a deadfall with my paintbox and the scene I painted in front of me. The small maple that is outside of the cabin is still mostly green. The picture above that is what it looked like 2 years ago in full color. My avatar is me painting that tree. You would think that after doing this for the last 23 years it would be easy leaving but its not, its always a little quieter on the ride home. What a great area to visit and a great vacation.