Thundering, Niagara Falls

Thundering, Niagara Falls 7"x5" oil on RayMar canvas panel 
We got back from Niagara Falls on Friday, had great weather and a wonderful time. A ton of inspiritation there. Did this painting last night as a warmup, I'm working on a 11x14 of horseshoe falls as the Maid of the Mist is about to enter the bottom of the falls.
For Maria's birthday we had dinner at the Skylon Tower in the revolving dining room. What an incrededible sight ,we made reservations to coincide with sunset so we were treated with a beautiful light show.
Looking foward to see what paintings come from this visit.

Summer Sail 8x10 oil on RayMar canvas panel

Summer Sail 8x10 oil

A scene from Marsh Creek State Park. This is a popular lake for fishing and sailing, and on this day my brother and I were here getting material for future paintings.

Coneflowers

Coneflowers 8x10 oil on RayMar canvas panel $118.50 http://patspaintings.etsy.com/

I spotted these flowers while we were working our way around the lake fishing. I liked the way they stood out among the other grasses and flowers there.
Even though we were there to fish my eyes are always looking for little gifts of nature.

Cottontail Rabbit

Cottontail Rabbit 5"x7" oil on RayMar canvas panel $50.00
http://patspaintings.etsy.com/ (SOLD)

One morning I was out painting and this little guy peacefully fed while I painted. I slowly pulled out my camera and got some pictures without disturbing him. It was like he felt at ease being in the shadow area.

Happy 4th of July

Fireworks on the Delaware River  11x14 oil on stretched canvas $224.00 http://patspaintings.etsy.com/

 

I did this painting from sketches I made watching the fireworks being set off on a barge on the Delaware.

Hummingbird and Feeder

Hummingbird and Feeder 5"x7" oil  $50.00

This feeder is on our front porch and when the sun sets the feeder is backlit and seems to glow from within.

Charcoal sketch to oil painting

My brother Chris, his son Eric and I planned on doing charcoal sketches this morning. When I saw this cloud bank getting ready to cover the sun I suggested to Chris to quickly sketch this scene before the sun dissapeared behind the clouds.

This was the scene Eric was working on at the same time.

The sun was gone now but we had our value sketches to work from.

This is Erics painting and our sketch from when the sun was out.

Chris with his painting

Eric with his painting

We learned the importance of value sketches before you paint. If we hadn"t sketched we would have lost the sun before we got the painting finished.

Morning painting session

8x10 oil            (SOLD)


Went out at dawn this morning, I had a couple of hours to burn so I went to Core Creek Park to see what the morning would bring. After looking around a little I settled on this spot. I wanted to try to capture the early morning hazy atmosphere. My brother Chris and his son Eric are going to join me at sunrise tommorrow,we are going to get an early start before Mother Nature turns up the heat.

Spring Morning 11x14 oil

Spring Morning 11x14 oil

Plein-air study for Spring Morning 7"x5" oil

The idea for this painting came from this small 7"x5" study one early spring morning two years ago.

I was at Core Creek Park painting a grove of trees but the painting was not working out (which happens sometimes on location). I happened to turn around and saw this scene of a lone fisherman in this brilliant light with the mist rolling across the lake.

I turned my easel around grabbed a small panel and dashed this study off before the light changed. Its no work of art but it provided me with the information to do a painting a couple years later.

When you paint or draw on location you are forced to look more closely at your subject and you end up retaining the important aspects that made the scene look the way it did.

I switched the couple for the fisherman because I felt it would portray the feeling of getting out after a long winter in a more pleasing way. Everyone can idenify with these feelings after the winter we had.

I hope it was interesting seeing what happens when you paint on location and the thinking process that goes into a painting.

I want to thank everyone who takes an interest in my art and takes the time to read this blog.

Sketching Trip to Valley Forge National Park

My brother Chris and I went to Valley Forge Park Saturday morning to do a little sketching.

This would be his first time working with oil paints so it would be a relaxing session learning how they can be handled.

We were hoping for the early morning sunlight but it never showed except for a minute it peeked out while I was doing a demo for Chris (top picture).

We did a little searching around the park looking for a spot that would provide a range of values (lights and darks) for his sketch. On an overcast day the values are closer together so you have to look a little harder to see the differences in value and color shifts.

The second picture shows Chris working on the scene in front of him. And the third picture is his completed sketch,which turned out pretty good for his first attempt at painting on location.

I wanted him to get used to seeing values when looking at scenes to paint.

We took a drive to Marsh Creek State Park to look around and Chris did a sketch of a point of land sticking out in the lake.

Chris's son Eric couldn't make it today because we started out at 5:00am, but he has been going with us on our sketching trips. Eric shows alot of enthusiasm for art and a desire to learn everything he can about painting, not bad for an 8 year old!

Cross Fork Creek 11x14 oil on RayMar panel

Cross Fork Creek 11x14 oil on RayMar canvas panel

This is a slightly different version from the reference painting "Sparkle". I wanted to add that early morning atmosphere with the lingering mist in the background. Its more about how I feel being on a stream and the anticipation of what the day holds .

Sparkle

Sparkle (study) 5"x7" oil on RayMar canvas panel.      (SOLD)
I did this small painting to work out an idea for a larger painting. This stream is one we fish in Northcentral Pa. We take turns working the good stretches of the stream, while my brother was working an area I happened to turn around and this is the view I saw. The glare on the water had caught my attention and I wanted that to be the focus of the painting. I have a feeling the trees in sunlight are competing with the glare on the water for attention. In the larger (11x14) painting I will try subduing the brightness of the trees a little so the water will be the brightest area of the painting and drawing your eye to the area I wanted you to look at in the first place.

Three weeks ago we were on a stream in the Poconos and I bent over to take a water temperature reading and my camera slipped out of my vest and into the water rendering it totally useless. I had borrowed my brothers camera to shoot this and other pictures of paintings that I have been working on.

Blue 12x16 oil

Blue 12x16 oil on linen

This is my brother Phil's dog Blue, part Husky part Border Collie. He has these light blue eyes and an intense stare that makes people nervous. When you go over his house this is what you see looking out the door. It was unnerving the first couple of times I have to admit. I placed him in an outdoor setting as if he was guarding his territory.

Valley Forge 5x7 oil

Went to Valley Forge Park yesterday to enjoy the nice weather. Took the paints with me in case a scene presented itself to me. I figured there would still be some reminants of snow left behind so I wanted to include that in the picture. I wanted you to get a feeling of spring edging in and winter melting away. I found a parking spot next to this cannon overlooking these fields.

I have been wanting to paint these cannons for a while now, so this is my first attempt. It felt good to be painting outside again.

Peaceful Morning 8x10 oil

Peaceful Morning 8x10 oil (SOLD)

This was from a trip we took to Saucon Creek. The creek is an hour and twenty minutes away, so we head out while it is still dark and it puts us on the stream at sunrise, my favorite time to be out. I like the slightly orange light at that time of the morning and the way the light starts cutting thru the trees. Thinking of spring.

Sunset on the Lake

Sunset on the Lake

We were headed home after a day of fishing and as we circled the lake were treated to beautiful sunset.

Piling Up

Piling Up 8x10 oil

I painted this during the blizzard on Saturday. I liked the way the snow was piling up on the railing. Everything else was was in soft focus do to all the blowing snow.

Moonlit Backyard

Moonlit Backyard 8x10 (oil sketch)

I was awake at 4:15 this morning and noticed the moonlight shining on the wall. I got up and put the coffee on and set up my paintbox next to the window in my studio. I wanted to try to capture the moonlight on the snow in my neighbors yard. The fence that surrounds her yard provided the contrast needed to showcase the moonlit snow.

Its enjoyable doing these exploratory sketches where you don't have to worry about producing a finished painting. They(sketches) help you learn about subtle differences in value without being bogged down in detail. This is an important ingredient for setting the mood in your paintings.

I do a lot of these sketches which never make it to paintings but they are a valuable tool for learning about light. Its the constant pratice that helps you produce finished paintings.

Well, thats how my morning got started. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Cherry Danish

Cherry Danish 5"x7" oil

I wanted to get a little pratice painting food so Sunday morning on the way home from the grocery store I stopped off and bought a danish. I was really looking for something with blueberries in it but I had to settle for cherry.

Oh yea, it tasted good too, after I was done painting it. Maybe I'll find the blueberry next week.

Turkey Dinner

Turkey Dinner 6"x8" acrylic (SOLD)

This was our Christmas dinner. When we took the turkey out of the oven and saw how good it looked I grabbed my camera and took some photos. The turkey tasted as good as it looked.

I put together a demo of the painting below this post.