MOTTO FOR 2011

Life is full of magic . . . find some

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

"Couples"


8 x 10 (plein air)

Painted at Lake Ella which is small park in downtown Tallahassee. There is a loop around the lake that is slightly more than a half mile. Almost any time of day there are tons of walkers exercising or cruising around the lake. I like to paint there. It's always challenging and there are lots of friendly onlookers. Perhaps the biggest issue in plein air painting is editing. When you paint outdoors you have to simplify. Everything is right in front of you. The whole wide panorama. What do paint and what do you leave out. Here, in reality, there are multiple bushes, walkers, ducks, and trees. In the background there is a four lane road, cars, a restaurant, and a helicopter. (Yes, no kidding -- a helicopter). So you change things around and keep the central idea of a path around a lake with a couple walking. As I was finishing this a white duck swam up and I added the ducks as a balance for the composition. KISS. Keep is simple stupid. I like it.

Thanks for looking.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

"Sparkle"


14 x 11 (plein air)

This was painted under the bridge to Singer Island while on vacation last month. The bridge is one of my favorite places to paint. One thing you must consider when painting outdoors is trying to figure out how to get your canvas and palette out of the direct sun. Being in the sun makes it really hard to judge values and colors. It is also really hot in the sun. So there is this great little park under the bridge with sailboats anchored close by and lots of people swimming and enjoying the gentle ocean breezes. My wife calls these paintings “boat butt” genre. I can’t help it that the tide flows the way it flows. Here I’m trying to concentrate on the color of the water and the sparkle of the light in the reflections. Hope it worked.

Thanks for looking.


Thursday, August 05, 2010

"Palm Beach Pumphouse"


11 x 14 (plein air)

I did this one during the annual family vacation to Palm Beach. I write "Palm Beach", but I should actually write Singer Island. It is Palm Beach Gardens and it is really nice. This is what we call "the pumphouse". It is at the jetty on the Singer Island side. The pipes that run into the wall of the jetty actually go all the way across the channel to the other side and move sand from Singer Island to Palm Beach. It has something to do with the jetty messing up the natural flow of the current and the sand. Anyway, it is a giant "thing" and it is not easy to paint. Its like a big cube that doesn't belong in the picture. I decided to tackle it this year and I like how this came out. I also decided to work on putting more figures in my landscapes and I was able to do that here and also in some other pieces I did during the week. Here, I think the figures are essential. The two guys on the catwalk were workers from the county. After I started they turned the pumphouse on and opened the doors. They stood up there talking about something. (I'm sure it was work related.) One of the gentlemen was retiring from the county and had been in charge of the pumphouse for a number of years. He asked about the painting, but I forgot to get his name and number before I left. This would make a nice retirement gift. Maybe I should do some research.

Thanks for looking.