This painting comes from a hike this past winter in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The vividness of the moss in winter is so striking. Much of the park was settled, logged and in threat of being clear cut before it was made a national park. I love the idea that the trees have taken back their land.
Tag: landscape
Here I am participating in Dubois County Art Guild’s Plein Air Event in May. I got third place in the quick draw-that painting is not shown because it sold and silly me forgot to take a photo first- and also third place in the Plein Air contest. I always wanted to paint the bright yellow fields in the spring before the farmers planted the them; however springs are busy, and I never got out until now.
These two paintings come from the same hike in Shenandoah National Park. It was a misty, foggy morning so we did not get a view from the top, but there were some wonderfully moody and atmospheric settings. I really liked the gnarly old trees and waist-deep ferns on this hike.
Cloudview
I am wrapping up this new painting I did for a pilot friend getting married this weekend. I wanted to honor his hard work and determination in becoming a fighter pilot with the subject matter. I also liked the light, soft whites for a wedding present.
The Wetlands
This is another quick little plein air painting I did near Patoka Lake Dam Saturday afternoon. I exaggerated the orange of the cattail plants along the water’s edge to add a little interest to the otherwise very green scene. The reflections in the water changed before I even got a quick blocking in of the main shapes-dang the challenges of painting plein air. I had originally wanted/observed uneven bands of sky, distant hill, dark green reflection, and light sky reflection. In this finished sketch, however, the distant hill and dark green reflections are too close in size.
I walked a bit into some tall weeds to see if I could get a better vantage point, and a bird flew out of the weeds in front of me, making me jump and stifle a small squeak. I was already on alert to snakes that might like the swampy area. In the end, I set up my easel in the cut grass next to the taller weeds so I could concentrate on the light and not the snakes.
A pleasant little bonus to the day, we saw a bald eagle flying low over the flooded waters of reservoir while searching for a place to set up to paint. It did a couple of loops and dipping low to the water.
Follow Me Here
I set up on a windy, rainy afternoon in a shelter house at Celestine Community Club to paint this little plein air piece. Because of the wind, I was thankful for my Take It Easel; it stayed put, and after using a bungee cord wrapped around the edges of my board, my canvas didn’t budge despite the whipping wind.
I made a bit of a mistake with this composition. I really like that little sliver of grass and sky on the extreme right side. I think it adds little bit of air and space over there. However, once I slipped this board into a frame, the rabbet covered up that part of the painting, and I realized I had not accounted for that when planning the composition! Lesson learned- take into account that the edges of the painting disappear inside a frame, and this makes quite a difference on really small compositions.
Plein Air Painting of Patoka
I have spent the last two days nonstop painting for a plein air contest in Jasper. I set up yesterday morning at a boat ramp overlooking Patoka Lake. The sun was rising behind this grouping of trees, silhouetting them and sending a beautiful dark reflection onto the lake. I worked on a panel toned with medium grey which caused lovely little dashes of silver to poke through where the paint was thinner or absent. I also primed this panel myself using an acrylic gesso which turned out to be really absorbent and enjoyable to work on, almost a chalky feel to the surface.
I actually am lucky enough to drive past this view every morning on my way to work. It can be really magical depending on the fog rising off the lake or the colors of the sunrise. I am going to have to get back here more often to paint. You may see many more of this location.
Waterfall Sketch
I recently went hiking in Shenandoah National Park. This waterfall was on a nine mile hike with nine waterfalls. I did not have a chance to do any sketching on site because I was with a group, but I took many photographs. I did this quick study in the studio after returning. I have been working on getting quicker at establishing a painting and being more efficient. I think I’m going to do more time limit sketches in the future.
I stayed in Gimmelwald, a small village in the Swiss Alps, last summer with my husband. We would get up early in the morning to hike up farther into the mountains on a trail that went straight up from our village. At the top of a steeply inclined field, there was a bench that overlooked the village and valley below. This became our daily breakfast spot before continuing on our hikes.