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Plein Art in the garden with the dahlias

I’m trying to spend enough time this summer to get a few garden paintings done. They don’t come easy. I have a tendency to put in way too much and not simplify enough. It’s one of the issues with working “Plein Air”. Nature has more than a simple painting can handle. Every place you look is beauty beyond belief. I’ll just keep trying and appreciate every moment spent outside observing. This painting is coming along, started while sitting in these flowers, then worked on for a while in my studio and now back outside. It’s changed so much in a few days that I don’t know it this will help.

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Down our drive the morning light is low and casts long shadows. This shot is a little later in the day than the painting.

I’ve been getting up pretty early for me, and heading outside for the morning light. I usually have a piece of paper taped-off and readied on a watercolor block. If I get to it I might even do a wet into wet sky the night before so the paper will have time to dry and be ready to work on in the morning. After the initial layin out in the field I take it back to the studio to finish.

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Out by the pond for some painting 5/27/20

The spring has sprung and I’m finally getting outside to put down some paint. I took this back into the studio the next day to work out a few areas that I couldn’t see in the sun. Burned the back of my neck pretty good that day. It’s good to work out my kit again when I’m close to home…. where is that water bottle? What, no paper towels!

Posted in Art.

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FertiliChrome 1989 – 1hr 20min

We are having a free, 2 day showing of the movie we made in 1989. It’s really fun appreciating the work of my younger self. All the creative energy that went into the 1 hour and 20 production is amazing. I did spend several months transferring old files, re-editing and readjusting the sound track in recent years and we had showings at the Ellensburg Film Festival last year. FertiliChrome is a crazy ride and I hope a whole lot of people get to enjoy it. Here is a link to the watch on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/Rqghby05ImU

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I’ve been into my sketchbooks lately. Simple tools and always nearby if not in my hand. For a while I was trying to use my tiny watercolor set and add color, but for now a brush pen, a regular drawing pen and a little water-brush pen is all that is needed. I also cut a few pieces of different papers to slide in there for a bit of variety.

Sketches inspired by the great poster illustrators of the past.
A few small pieces of hot-press and cold-press Arches paper add variety.

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I needed some new charcoal for my next paintings. Thought I’d try a few types of our local wood.

Carving sticks for charcoal

The cut pieces were put in small metal boxes and into the deep ashes after a bonfire. I left them for an hour to see how it worked.

Charcoal test

They work great. The pine is a bit harder with a nice gray color and the willow is awesome, very black and smooth. Overall a success.

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Sam sitting by a painting taking notes in a notebook
Note to myself

I have pages and pages of ideas and notes. While working, a technique will become clear as to why it works. If I don’t leave myself a note right then, it may just disappear. These notes are basically for myself, it’s one of the ways I continue to learn. All the great art books I read have wonderful information, techniques from the long history of painting, but If I don’t actually do the technique and discover why it works myself, I won’t be able to pull it up when I need it most.

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I’ve been working out this idea for a while and finally got the under painting pretty close. Then it started peeling off between the gesso and primer. I had to just take the whole thing off.

Peeling off between gesso and primer!

Redid the whole thing in about 2-3 days. Now to let it dry and start the next layers.

The redo of the underpaint