Wednesday, July 30, 2014

new view, old field

8x24 pastel
I am going to only my 3 regular places, same views....every day. My question is what can I do today with the same view? How can I treat it differently?

Monday, July 28, 2014

Queen Anne's Lace


My favorite, Queen Anne's Lace was situated in a tiny grassy area next to Wheaton Mall.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Back to Queen Anne's Lace


Back to the Queen Anne's Lace. This time I not only played with the lace work of the horizon where the  flowers meet the sky, but I also used flowers to lead you through the field. My question  ..how little do I need to paint and still read field?

Friday, July 25, 2014

dusk-a-thon continues with 4 in a row

8:40
Monday night I did four quick studies in a row. I like doing it this way, recording the changes in a stop action clips. The top one is the last one. Each study is only 6"x6." This size makes it easier to just move along and not perseverate.
7:40

8:05

8:20

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Monday, July 21, 2014

Maine Fields


I disappeared for a wee bit. I met my bestfriend in the world, Leah, in Maine. We stayed in a cottage that we picked because of the wonderful field across from it.  There was a path through the field that led to a small beach. Sweet. This is one of my pastel studies done one sunny afternoon. I will post more this week, including a super moon study.

Monday, July 14, 2014

plein air stroller



Last year I met up with my friend Mike McMullin in Washington state. He was sporting a new plein air painting machine, the Cadillac of transports. The magician that he is, Mike took a used baby jogging stroller and turned it into an easel and transport system on the go. Check it out!

He added:

1. a BestBrella #196AB-Z

2. A clamping device for a spotting scope -for attaching the painting box

3. painting box- your choice

4. another clamp- holds the bar that is used to attach the spotting scope

5. cloth bag with rocks if needed for counter balance

This system will transport your pastel or oil box, umbrella, extra easel, camp chair, water, food, and supplies, best of all you can push it with one hand.

Mike's work is beautiful. Here are a couple he created when he was in Washington.
pastel painting by Mike McMullin

pastel painting by Mike McMullin
My friend Christine(right) made her version and we used when we were painting on Whidbey Island. Nice.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

dusk-a-thon continues

6x6"pastel

My dusk-a thon continues. I am considering this to be simply a learning process, not expecting anything from each small painting. At most I may spent 20 minutes on a single one, usually going on to do another (since the light changes so quickly at dusk.) This was done at 9:00pm at the train station.
6x6"pastel
This one was done at 8:30pm. Amazing how quickly and deliberately the light changes!

Monday, July 7, 2014

purple


pastel on Uart
 Recently I was reading about the color purple (my favorite color.)
Did you know that police worldwide quell rioting mobs with water cannons enriched with purple dye?  The semi-permanent  purple "tags" protesters for later retribution by the police.  In the last twenty years, protestors in Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, and (most recently) Uganda have all been purple soaked.
It seems to be a shrewd move by police, but as Slate's Explainer's column explains the tactic can backfire. In 1989 , a group of anti-apartheid protestors marching on Cape Town's Parliament were ordered to stop, then soaked in purple dye. A protestor seized control of the purple dye cannon and turned in on the reigning National Party headquarters and the historic, whitewashed Old Town House nearby. "What about the purple people?" implored a Cape Town editorial the day after the "Purple Rain Protest." Graffiti on the Old Town House provided an answer that became the rallying cry of the ant-apartheid movement: "The Purple Shall Govern!"
If you want more stories and mini factoids about color check out the book,
ROY G. BIV -an exceedingly surprising book about color by Jude Stewart

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

gray

pastel on uart

"For a painter gray is the richest color, the one that makes all the others speak." Paul Klee
You see is when you look at the great beauties in art (my bias) In the later part of his life George Inness was the master of grays. He uses only a small piece of pure chroma surrounded by neutralized color (grays.)