River Reflections

Another painting of more subdued colors in the earliest days of spring.  The only green on the trees was from the weeping willows.


                   

Saturday at the Barn

This painting won  an award at the Scenic City Paintout.  I was drawn to the forsythia in it's last blooming days against the dark interior of the barn.  While I was painting, the green truck drove up and parked so I hid it in the shadows.

Late Winter Afternoon

                              I love when all the leaves are gone.  The cliffs near the mountaintops stand out with their afternoon shadows.  It was a balmy afternoon when I painted this property in the Tennessee River Gorge.  When the weather cooperates, one can grab a calm afternoon of warm light.

Waiting for Warm

It is always a challenge to get cool and warm colors correctly placed.  The snow scene was a fun puzzle to work out.  The light rose cool in the morning and so  the shadows had to be painted as warm.  I think it worked well.   This painting gives the feeling that you can't wait for the sun to come up and start warming things up.   

View Out the Front

                  It was a cloudy afternoon when we painted in north Georgia.  We went to find newborn calves as our models, but they weren't anywhere to be seen.  Instead, I painted three paint horses in the front pasture.  The sun came out for about five minutes and I quickly worked on the light on the backs of the grazing animals.

Painting on the Lake

                                                               Autumn Reflections

The weather was so nice to paint in this fall.  I love this painting of Chickamauga Lake.  The autumn colors were almost gone and the low water level made for an interesting composition.  Winter shadows are much easier to paint because they don't move as quickly and even at noon, they remain at an angle.

Michigan Light

I spent a week in Michigan in June painting the turn of the century cottages and landscapes.  Initially it was so difficult to work.  I spent several days very frustrated having realized that just about every light reference I was acclimated to had changed, and rather than take the time to adjust, I was forcing myself to paint new color and light.   The town was surrounded by water and the light bounced off of every surface.  Add to that extremely low humidity so the blue sky was very intense.  I hardly ever use thalo blue, but it gained popularity with  me that week.

It is good to change painting venues every now and then.  When you paint in the same area, even with weather changes, you can become complacent and it is hard to develop if things are too easy.