I'm working on a large painting: 24x24
I want to start working larger. This is a square format revision of a painting I have been working on for a long time. It is for a local professional and because I was given an open ended request for a painting and I want it to be GREAT, I've "psyched myself out" and have been having major trouble sticking to it through completion. Recently I came upon this nice 24 x 24 canvas, grabbed it and said, I think I'll try the painting for Cxxxxx on this.... and off I went.

Day one was fresh and charming with color and strokes. Later review told me I needed to bring the tree line down and alter the ground shape which was looking very round! The mid bank of trees needed to be smaller since I want to show the power of the larger trees on the left.

Day one: block in shapes

Lighting on the second photo compromises the color. I also don't see that much difference here in the shape of the ground, but in person it's much better; no more feeling that the ground is goofy. I took out a little tree for now, but will add it back in later... now the cluster of small tres looks wrong, and there will be more little trees in the front on the right side too. This is up on Rollins (or Corona) Pass and looks back toward Winter Park Ski Resort...there are ski runs in the distant mountain that I may or may not paint in later.

It's all an experiment, so I'm taking that attitude and will see where it all goes.

Day two: adjust placement of shapes

Cold and miserable day of painting!

Some of us in the local Art Out of Thin Air group met at the Rendezvous development's pond and tent yesterday to paint and create. It was supposed to be an activity for residents and the public who were attending the Parade of Homes. Very little activity. But Rendezvous gave each of the artists who participated a goodie bag that included a pound of their specially roasted coffee and a mug! This was my 6"x8" painting.

This study of "The River Camp" was done yesterday. Bob and I were invited by friends to camp out at a private river camp owned by a local development Saturday night. It was nearby and the promise of real beds was hard to resist. I thought it might be an irresistable beauty..... but not so. Many dead lodge pole pines dotted the property. The fishermen were happy to dabble in the river. I dared to take my guitar and after a few drinks (in everyone!) pulled it out for a few tunes before dinner.

BTW, it may look like I've been on a long vacation, but actually I just needed a break from the computer after working so intensly on our local art group's Member Show that was up through most of the month of July. The show was a huge success! I'll post more on that soon.

Bob and I are on a road trip to soggy Michigan.... can't wait to get back to CO where the sun shines and the sky is BLUE! Anxious to paint!

I think it's done. Did I get the light right this time?

This was in the Robert Genn BiWeekly email Newsletter that came this morning. I found my stomach twisting and my blood pressure rising! What do YOU think?

Yesterday, Colorado painter Tom Lockhart wrote, "I work 50 to 65 hours per week, teach workshops and serve on the Board of a Local Arts Center. I judge art shows and travel to locations to paint. I earn $75,000.00 to $100,000.00 annually--too much to get a grant. I pay more than my share of taxes, expense out what the law allows and still find it difficult to make ends meet. I'm constantly paying entry fees, dues, advertising, framers, suppliers and travel expenses. I can't understand why the public insists on buying cheap, crappy art from poorly educated artists who suffer for their craft. Yuk! There are constantly retired lawyers, doctors, architects, dentists and other professionals who decide to become painters. They put their work in galleries and sell to the unsophisticated, taking sales away from deserving, serious artists. And now with the economic bad times, it's even harder to sell your art. What do you think about this?"

So, I worked on this one again. I know it's not there yet. I'm posting it to compare with the previous version which has been painted over. Two of you caught problems with the light source. Thanks! I'm still struggling with the trunks... but, BOY! did I have fun just digging in there with the dark background color and making some of them disappear! Making them bend was fun, too! Makes me feel like a sculptor ... and takes pressure off of being concerned about the brush stroke.

What do YOU think?

BEFORE & AFTER: "Aspen on Hwy 104" was begun in Mark Daily's class last fall. The point was to quickly capture the essence of the lighting of the scene in the block-in. "Key the painting to white" was emphasized when Mark demoed. He gave careful atention to the lights (values and colors) as they would represent the light source. Above is my field study.

Now, I'm ready to turn it into a painting. Below is the the second version of my efforts. I tried to capture more of the light and improve on the composition. I particularly didn't like the six tree trunks in a row; and the other trees and space behind the aspen was vague. I think this is an overall improvement, but now I want to work on the trunks more.... more variety of thickness and angles.... work on foreground grasses and shadow....

What do you see that I might be missing?

SNOW! hint, It's NOT White!

OK, well then what color IS it? (trick question!)

That depends on the light in which you are looking at the snow! It could be blueISH or violetISH, it could be pink, orange or yellowISH! Often, it's kind of GREYISH, but never greenISH!

AND, it's ALWAYS a darker value than you think! Only the spots where the light (sun) is hitting it directly can be painted with what you might think of as white, which is probably a very pale yellowISH, pinkISH, orangeISH color!

Good Luck! Thanks, I'll need it!

This painting was done on location in Salida, CO last September during the first Colorado Plein Air event there. After a little touch up back at the B & B we stayed at, it went in a frame and was hung at Joshua Been's gallery for the event show. It's been up in my studio since and eventually I got itchy to FIX it. The weather had been stormy and clouds we're moving fast. That afterstorm gloom shows in the painting, but doesn't necessarily make sense with the vivid colors of the fall grasses in the foreground. I thought the big tree was just too dark.

This is the "after" piece. I've lightened the mountains and the large tree/made more sense of the trees and foreground grasses/enhanced the "pond." What do you think?

Now that I think I understand the elements of the image, I think I'm ready to do it larger than it's modest 8"x10" size.

I have donated this painting to an ALS Fundraiser that will be held in Denver this Saturday night.

First Facebook, now blogging! Yikes! Too much thin air at an altitude of 8,800 ft above sea level! I've spent the day photographing older paintings so that I could, maybe, post them to Facebook. I'm thinking a blog may be a better way.... gives light to personal expression and doesn't clog the Facebook format which seems to be about brevity.....I'm not so good a brevity!