Full Moon

Full Moon 10x8 oil $315 painting is framed

This is from the trip my brother and I take to Northcentral Pa. every year in October.

We try to schedule it during the week of the full moon, this provides enough light for spotting wildlife, photography and painting all night as the moon travels across the sky. We do get a few hours of sleep in before we head out to the trout streams the next morning.

Rising Moon

Rising Moon 5x7 oil (SOLD)

My wife and I just finished our evening walk and were getting ready to head home when we came upon this scene.

I love painting the moon and the effect it has on the landscape, and on me. I have a 14x18 canvas panel that I sectioned off into 12 small squares so I can keep the moon sketches together. Its interesting to see how the moon shows up under different atmospheric conditions.
The next few posts will be paintings involving the moon.

Thanks for reading.

Slippery When Wet

Slippery When Wet 6"x8" oil 
What a familar scene to any flyfisherman, a trout doing its best not to be caught. One of my favorite environments is a stream running thru a forested area. I like the filtered light you get in this kind of setting, how the sunlight sneaks thru openings in the trees spotlighting the fisherman.
It took alot of years of practice and many failed paintings before I could paint water convincingly. I did everything I could to learn the secrets of water, I took photos, used my camcorder, but the water in my paintings still looked static. Many times I put the rod down and just sat on the bank watching and wondering what makes water look the way it does. How do you paint water thats clear and you can see right to the bottom? Then I started noticing the rocks on the bottom didnt have clearly defined edges they had edges that were soft and slightly out of focus. The color of the water changed as it got deeper and I started noticing what the stream bottom looked like when it was in sunlight and when it was in shade. The soft edges gave me the illusion of the waters motion. Little by little I started understanding WHAT to look for. I started SEEING like an artist.
Wow, its 12:15 am. I got to get some sleep, 4:45 comes quick. I wonder if the moon is out tonite?

Clearing Out

Clearing Out 5x7 oil
A painting from last night 11:00 pm. The last three nights have been overcast so this was the first chance at the full moon this month.

Slate Run

Solitude on Slate Run 18x24 oil (SOLD)

Slate Run is one of the trout streams we visit on our yearly trip in October. Its crystal clear water runs through the valley of these steeply sloping mountains in northcentral Pa.

Sticky Bun

Sticky Bun 5x7 acrylic
The last sticky bun in the box became a still life subject. I had to repaint the nuts on top a few times until they started looking like nuts. It was good practice, I think I will continue exploring food as still life subjects. It sat overnight till I could finish it in the morning. Yes, it was to hard to eat by the time I was done with it.

Homemade Portable Paintbox (cigar box)

I went out today to test a paintbox I fashioned out of a cigar box. The weather was overcast and raining, not ideal painting conditions. But this was one of the reasons I wanted a small portable box. I wanted something small enough to use in the truck or when I take longer hikes thru rough terrain.

My paints, brushes, pallette knive fit inside. I taped a 5x7 panel to the lid (tape on the back of the panel to the lid). I glued two strips of wood inside the box, top and bottom. I cut a piece of masonite for my pallette that sits on top of the strips of wood when painting and also acts as a lid to keep everything inside. To keep the lid in a upright position when painting I put a screw in the lid and side of the box and used hanging wire to hold the lid tight.

The box worked great, I painted this with the box on my lap in the truck. This will work equally as well in the woods sitting on a rock or log.

Evening Glow

Evening Glow 8x10 oil $380 comes framed

Available at Canal Frame-Craft Gallery

E-mail Canal Frame @comcast.net

Peeking Through

Peeking Through 5x7 oil

Thursday morning we had a full moon but the sky was full of clouds so I had to wait for about 8 minutes before a slight opening in the clouds revealed the diamond in the sky. After quickly studying the scene I went up and painted this on a small 5x7 panel all the while keeping one eye on the clock so I was not late for work. I'll try a bigger painting using this as a guide.

Apricots

Apricots 5x7 oil   (SOLD)

One day while I was getting fruit I noticed how soft the skin was on these apricots and decided they would make a good still life. I was curious to see if I could capture their softness with paint.

Ice Fishing

Ice Fishing 5x7 acrylic

My brother and I went ice fishing on Sunday. Two years ago we bought some equipment but never saw any safe ice to use it, so we took advantage of some mild weather and 7 inches of thick ice and spent the afternoon on Nockamixon Lake.

Tools of the Trade

Tools of the Trade 8x10 Acrylic
I just happened to be walking by when I saw the sunlight spotlighting my brushes and canvases. I grabbed the camera and managed to get a shot just as the light was fading. It happens that quick, sometimes even quicker.

Hiding From the Sun

Hiding From the Sun 9x18 Acrylic
This is the studio painting done from the onsite sketch from yesterday. The patch of snow was what caught my attention, so it became the focus of the painting.

Onsite sketch for Hiding From the Sun

Went up to Washington Crossing this afternoon, the temperature was 33 degrees and a strong wind blowing. I saw a spot to paint driving down River Road but there was no parking nearby so I had to hike about 250 yards to get to it. There was a patch of snow still left in the shadows of some brambles and trees. I knew I was not going to be out there very long so I just put down all the major areas of the scene until my hands froze up. That wind was fierce. Tonite I will start a painting while the scene is still fresh in my mind.

Just a Dusting

Just a Dusting 8x10 Acrylic
A snow shower was just coming to an end when I went out to get the paper this morning. I liked the way my wifes red car stood out against the subdued colors of the morning . I've been in a slump lately,which happens every so often. It used to frustrate me earlier on before I understood what was happening. I would go a few weeks without being able to put any ideas for paintings together,or just lose the motivation to finish paintings I had already started. And then one day everything starts clicking again, today was one of those days. I guess I was just recharging my batteries during these slow periods. I photographed her car from different angles and edited out everything else that didn't contribute to what I wanted to say.

Last Light at Tyler State Park

Last Light at Tyler State Park 9x12 oil $325.00

This is the Schoefield Ford Covered Bridge, one of the 12 remaining covered bridges in Bucks County. On this particular evening my wife and I were out looking for wildlife and decided to take a walk down to the Neshaminy Creek which runs under the bridge. When we left here we stopped at the field I paint at and were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Happy New Year

Fireworks 11x14 oil unframed  http://patspaintings.etsy.com/

Fireworks being set off on a barge on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Pa. I had made sketches while we were watching the celebration on TV last year.

Two plein-air paintings today

After taking care of a few things this morning I got a chance to get out and do a little painting this afternoon. Went up to Core Creek Park and scouted a few locations , didn't find anything right off so I went around to other side of the park and found a spot that had a green field in the foreground,a thin strip of trees and bushes in the middle ground , and a fog enshrouded background. I liked the contrast of colors the scene presented. All the time I was there geese kept taking off just behind the thin strip of trees. I put a suggestion of them in with a few smudges of grayed color. The good thing about overcast days is you don't have to worry about the sun moving before you finish.

After I did that painting I went over to Tyler State Park and went to the field I always visit. I spent about forty-five minutes on this painting too. Both are on 5"x7" canvas panels. I hadn't been out painting in a while, so it felt good to be out. I was lucky the fog stayed out all day, the forecast for tommorrow is heavy fog till 10:00 am. Maybe I'll go out in the morning.

King of The Mountain

King of The Mountain 12x24 Acrylic


$385.00 Comes Framed

Currently at Delaware River Gallery


19 East Afton Ave. Yardley, PA
215-321-3825

Winter Fields

Above you can see the on site sketch I used for my reference and the half finished painting. I decided to add a hawk in the tree in the upper right part of the painting. You almost don't notice him . And thats the way it is in nature, you suddently see a spot of color different than the surrounding color of the landscape and realize its a hawk. Like a gift of nature. A friend who veiwed this painting said she didn't realize winter could be so colorful.

Winter Fields 12x16 oil  http://patspaintings.etsy.com/