Filter by Category: Sketch
Avoiding Muddy Colors in a Plein Air Painting
Apr 22, 2017
The spring finally caught up with me today and I got outside for my first plein air event of the year. I painted with the Plein Air Painters of Washington at Washington Park Arboretum. ...
Plein Air Painting Finished in the Studio
Dec 21, 2016
Carkeek Shore 2.0 (plein air/studio). 8x10, oil on linen panel. 2016. Back in May of this year I painted on location at Carkeek Park in Seattle. Although the day was really pleasant and there was no time pressure, I wasn't able to get the painting to a place where I was truly happy with it. After a ...
Rain Over Winslow
Dec 14, 2016
Rain Over Winslow. 6x10, oil on linen panel. 2016. As the pile of sketches in my studio can attest, trying to paint the Puget Sound in winter is a recipe for failure. Studio or plein air, it's especially hard to do because there's so little to actually build a painting around. The only thing that br...
A Light Display Over The Kitsap Peninsula
Dec 13, 2016
Dancing With the Light. 6x10, oil on linen panel. 2016 There is something particularly special about the light in winter in the Pacific Northwest. There are many days when the sky is completely overcast and the day is totally gray, yet sometimes the air is clear and the clouds race across th...
Painting Experiences Rather Than Things
Dec 5, 2016
Impressions of the Sunset. 5x7, oil on linen panel. 2016 Despite the obvious challenges, I really enjoy painting from less-than-perfect references. Having to bring something extra to the easel makes the result feel more like a personal statement than a slavish copy of an image. Here, I filled in the...
How Do I Paint a Fishing Boat?
Nov 1, 2016
Blue Pacific (study). about 6x10, oil on linen. 2016 The Fisherman's Terminal in Seattle is potential goldmine of artistic opportunity but the imagery is hard to capture when working on location. A painting partner described it as "the black diamond slope of plein air painting". The problem is...