Plein Air Delphinium Study

I'm painting plein air a lot these days - mostly flowers in the studio garden.

Delphinium Study, oil 7x5 inches
SUPER SUMMER SALE sold

When Life Gives You Lemons...

What started out as a SUPER LEMON day yesterday has turned into lemonade for me.

5:30 AM Family medical emergency sets the emotional tone for the day.

9:00 AM Local students for our plein air painting day together DO NOT arrive as expected.

9:15 AM Last minute addition arrives - an artist from FL who is visiting in the area - and we begin a delightful four hour private session of plein air painting together.

Morning Walk, pastel, 7x5 inches sold

The artist I was working with is adept in a variety of mediums. Pastel is her most recent addition and she has identified her challenges with it so that is the medium we focused on. We started out on the back patio facing the studio garden. I use a scene before me as inspiration and let a painting evolve from there. This artist works in that manner also so she understood when my completed painting had elements of the scene before us (overcast but bright sky, Washington State fir trees, a winding path, lots of green foliage) but was not a literal representation.

Melissa painting the lake

An overcast morning turned into a sunny afternoon and we moved to the lake side. Our session together ended with a lovely painting by Melissa and the medical emergency resolved.

In retrospect, what began as a most unusual day has contributed to my decision that private mentoring is the way I will structure my teaching for the rest of this year. So, to those who have contacted me wanting to attend a group plein air session like the one I offered yesterday - instead, please consider one-on-one painting or consulting sessions with me. Email me for more info.

Gallardia Fun

Acrylic underpainting for oil

Gallardia Study, oil, 5x7 inches
SUPER SUMMER SALE sold

Begonia Study with acrylic underpainting

This week I am inviting a few artists for a 4-hour Paint Plein Air with Me session. Artists asked if I would be teaching more Studio workshops this year - this event evolved out those requests. If you are interested in painting with me this summer on a weekday, 9am - 1pm at my home studio in Black Diamond, let me know by email or comment here and I'll schedule more days and invite you. Tell me which day of the week works best for you.

The artists who requested this first session work in a variety of mediums and at least one will have an introduction to oil paint. To speed things up, I will suggest an acrylic underpainting so I took myself through the steps. I used liquid acrylics blue, orange and yellow.

The white you see in the painting is where I have lift acrylic back off of the white Fredrix canvas sheet. This was a really fun process and one that I plan to use again. Next, I brought the image up on my computer screen and sat beside it and painted in oil.

Begonia Study, oil, 7x5 inches. 
DailyPaintworks SUMMER SALE sold

My horoscope and pansy

Love my horoscope today!

Pansy Study, oil, 6x6 inches
SUPER SUMMER SALE sold

Yellow Poppies Study and Set-Up

Yellow Poppies Study, oil, 6x6
SUPER SUMMER SALE sold

Peony and Interior #1

Peony Study, oil, 6x6 inches
SUPER SUMMER SALE sold

Thanks to all who have purchased, bid and are following their favorites on my Daily Paintworks SUPER SUMMER SALE. Your interest is what keeps me painting these.

Even as I contemplate what to paint next for the sale and how I can include other work, I am thinking of Fall and my work for galleries. For years I have taken interior shots but only recently have I begun to get a clear vision of what I want my interior work to look like. It will be oil and quite unlike any work I have to date. Tonight I started interior #1. It is the workshop space of Arts Alive! in Enumclaw, Washington. Here is a detail shot (the actual painting is 18 inches square) of step 1.

Interior #1, oil, 18x18 Step 1

Trying something new

I recently painted from my 6s iPhone. Today I painted from my old 27 inch iMac. Quite a different experience. I'll do this again.

Boat House, oil, 6x6 inches
SUPER SUMMER SALE

In the past two years, I have taken many photos of the old boat house across the lake from us but it wasn't until today that I got around to painting it and the lily pads that surround it. I'm probably the only lake resident who loves it.

When you leave your reference photo at home...

I have an iPhone 6s (pretty small); I want a 7 Plus (bigger, better camera). I have never painted using a reference photos shown on my iPhone...until yesterday.

Yesterday as I prepared to leave for my Friday afternoon painting group, I shot a photo of my black Fredrix canvas sheet and the reference photo for Side Garden 2. Then dashed out the door. I soon realized that I left the reference photo* at home. Paint from memory or paint from iPhone? iPhone.

Side Garden 2, oil, 6x6 sold

* And now, I word about the reference photo: A couple days ago, in anticipation of rain, I cut the blooming peonies from the side garden and brought them inside for a bouquet. Next day, I decided to paint a close-up view of the peonies with the rest of the side garden and house as background but of course, the peonies were in the house. I took a photo of the bouquet, copy pasted a few flowers into the side garden photo just for reference, not placement. And then, forgot to take the reference photo with me to paint.

Side Garden Finally

Painting the flowers on the side of our house sounded like a good idea. But then stuff happened and I didn't get out there as early as I thought I would. Well, that's OK because I'll just attach my plein air umbrella to my trip-pod. Yes, I could have done that but after standing in the hot sun for 10 minutes with umbrella parts in my hands, turning them round and round, I gave up on the umbrella and just started painting. This is the very first (hopeful) stage. It went downhill after that.

Back in the studio today - a lovely rainy day - I finished the painting after wiping it off a couple times. I'm happy with it now and just added it to my Daily Paintworks Super Summer Sale.

Side Garden, oil, 6x6 inches sold

See the Auction

Varnish Day and Virtual Framing

Today was first-coat varnish day for Holiday Creek and Wanderlust; tomorrow both will get another application. I was reminded today about showing DailyPaintworks auction paintings with a virtual frame. Here is how these two will look. Both are currently on auction in my Super Summer Sale with free shipping. You can click on the image to see the auction. Free shipping.

Holiday Creek

Wanderlust Auction

Super Summer Sale Thank You

The first little painting for my Super Summer Sale has a few hours left in the auction. As I head for bed tonight, I want to thank the people who have placed bids on Frosty Morning Abrams Road - it is a warm welcome back to Daily Paintworks auctions for me.

Gesso on Fredrix?

Every once in a while, I stumble across a new art supply in my Studio. At some point I NEEDED it but then got busy with something else. I have Fredrix pads of canvas sheets in white and black. That started me thinking about painting small oil paintings this summer to warm up for larger work in the Fall. But, I don't want to accumulate more paintings so I created my Super Summer Sale. So far I've completed three paintings (shown below). Each of these is on the DailyPaintworks Auction for $25 plus FREE shipping. The auctions last 7 days. Take a look.

Now to the title of this post: Gesso on Fredrix? I'm not a fan of the texture of the Fredrix canvas sheets. I'd like a smoother surface so today I applied gesso to the canvas. It is drying now, I'll let you know if I like it.

Applying gesso to Fredrix canvas sheet.

Frosty Morning, oil, 6x6  sold

Wanderlust, oil, 6x6

Holiday Creek, oil, 6x6