For this demo did three approaches to come up with my finished still life oil painting of “Onions”
1) Colored Pencil
2) Color Study
3) Value Study with transformed into the Final Piece
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4 Done!
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Still Life Demo
Utrecht Residency
Residency at Utrecht.
Mid September 2010
A few photos in the early morning.
Day 1. I have a great time sitting on out on the sidewalk doing these charcoals, thinking about composition and speaking with the folks walking around.
The next day it was windy so the rest of the pieces are based on sketches
1) Direction lines with pencil 
2) wash 
3) quick study 2.5″”x3.5″
Final 5″x7″ Watercolor on watercolor paper
An impressionistic piece looking at rush hour traffic
Massing the large shapes in Frankin Square during the sunset
Another view of an intersection in DC
Posted in Plein Air Painting, Utrecht Tagged frankin sqare, washington dc, watercolor Leave a comment
Plein Air Street Corner in DC (DAY 2)
Step 5 (7:27am) Day 2: Starting with the filling in the sky …….
Step 5 (7:32am) Day 2: Continuing to fill the the sky, you can see the difference some fresh paint makes.
Step 6 (8:05am) Day 2: Wow yellow! Why not some “yellow”? Experiments will help find the color of the road. I’m mixing right on the board and moving the paint around. The color and placement of the cross walk will play a more prominent role in the painting than I thought because they help anchor the foreground. I’m continuing to redraw and refine but I always try to create large unified color masses first!
Step 7 (8:58m) Day 2: Bright color ascents are slowly being knit together and unified. The cross walk is beginning to be redefined with angles.
Step 8 (9:29am) Day 2: Finished cross walk mass and left most building mass, brushed masses of paint together done for day! Need to let it dry for a few days before another coat.
A nice reference photo if I needed to finish this picture in the studio but it is much more INSPIRING to be outside!
More to come it will get better~!
Plein Air Street Corner in DC (DAY 1)
Step 1 6:25am Finding the large shapes and angles with a large brush…very abstract and lose
Step 2 6:44am Adding White to help shape the major masses in the picture
Step 3 6:59am Large masses set and ready to receive color
Step 4 7:15am adding colors and balancing the piece….. first pass…Day 1 done!
Hiking the “C” Section
Here’s an opening that you won’t often find….a different stretch of popular Billy Goat Trail! You know the Billy Goat Trail the one that runs on the water along Mather Gorge to Great Falls overlook. Most folks know the Billy Goat “starts” about a quarter mile up river from the Angler’s Inn, Maryland and is a Washington favorite weekend day hike.
“B” and “C” Section are there too! But they are down river from Anglers. In total there are three official sections of trail that extends from Carderock to Great Falls.
The “B” and “C” section are equally awesome and usually unpopulated by the hordes that crowd section “A”
The trail follows the scoured flood plan to the rocky granite corners that jut into the river with to the impossibly leaning Sycamores around the corner that give the Potomac River it’s character…(there are maples that like their feet wet but Sycamores with there unique bark seem to dwarf the others in there stature).
Early April takes through a post flood garden with any remaining bushes with a nest of bush around their tops representing where they nested the the derbies in the water.
Late Summer at Plumber’s Island
The whole root structure of this Sycamore is visual I found it fascinating how you can layer mate titanium white over the darkest thinnest coats.
Image turning about 90 degrees from the Sycamore you would be looking up this calm and flat back channel running up to Plumber’s Island.
Sunset on a rock outcropping just off the shore in from Plumber’s Island.
Back bay of Plumber’s Island.
Posted in C&0 Canal, Photos, Plein Air Painting Tagged national park, Oil panels, plein air, potomac, river Leave a comment
Little Falls Outing
Title: Little Falls Outing
Location: Little Falls parking lot by the Clara Barton Parkway
Description: Going out on the rocks to paint on a beautiful fall afternoon
Date: 2009-10-11
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Sunrise on the Potomac
A cold night caused much atmospheric mist at dawn as the cold blew across the warm water. The creeping vegetation clunging to the flood scowered landscape. It seemed like dawn in primeval jungle in the middle of ancient continent and if dinosaur or gigantic amphibian shot through landscape it won’t surprise me. The bird calls seemed to echo off the mist and give and timelessness to the landscape that made me reflect on my insignificance to the processes at work here.
This photo was taken by my cell camera, the sensor is easily blown out by dynamic lighting conditions.
“The search for a place for inspiration isn’t about finding a physical location it’s finding a state of mind.”
-Unknown
A rock outcropping jetted in the river and I was able to setup and compose a rough grisaille.
Note: This piece of primed hard board soaked much of the oil out of the painting resulting me having to apply lots and lots of wet paint. The Ampersand Gesso board does a much better job at grabbing holding the paint and creating a unified surface.
“Among other things, I shall not scruple to discover a new method of assisting the invention; which though trifling in appearance, may yet be of considerable service in opening the mind and putting it upon the scent of new thoughts, and it is this: if you look at some old wall covered with dirt, or the odd appearance of some streaked stones, you may discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, uncommon attitude, draperies, etc. Out of this confused mass of objects the mind will be furnished with abundance of designs and subjects, perfectly new.”
-Leonardo da Vinci
Thank goddess for the National Parks and the fact that realestate has not encroached on this part of the river.
Posted in C&0 Canal, National Parks, Plein Air Painting Tagged national park, plein air, potomac, river Leave a comment
Slow Walk on the National Mall
This was drawing was scanned and you can see the difference in quality between this scan the cell phone image below.
I sat and walked a football game and realized it had been some time since I had done gestures.
Late summer early fall sunset over the US Capitol the weather was prefect.
By sitting sketching I was able to take in the whole sunset and enjoy how the shadows changed accross the relecting pool. Bright orange clouds that look like smolding cotton balls seemed to be brushing the top of the capitol.
I felt in previlaged position over those people that were running here and there just trying to grab a photo or a quick taste of this rich experience. I could sit stationary in one location and watch with a clear and open mind.
I’ve found that in order to be an observational artist you have enjoy the process of relection and the it’s not always about the piece of work it’s more about being at a place in time and enjoying the show nature is providing.
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