Plein Air on the hottest day in June

Out on the hottest night of June with the Plein Air group of the Portsmouth Arts Guild to paint at Linden Place in Bristol, RI. Found a shady spot, behind the main house, a Federal mansion built in 1810.

Not a big group tonight- but kudos to those who braved the weather.

Plein Air isn’t for the faint of heart, heat, bugs, wind, and on and on. It was 100 degrees at 5:30 when we started; I was drenched in sweat a 1/2 hour in. It felt great to come home to a shower and AC, but so glad the heat didn’t stop me from coming out to paint!

These shadows were what drew me to this scene. But the light changes fast, and soon they were gone. Laying them in right away helps me from trying to “chase the light.”

Ready to go with my 8x10 linen panel. Kept it to a limited palette of Ultramarine Blue, Radiant White, and Burnt Sienna. Only added the greens and reds at the very end.

 

Plein Air Season is Underway

 Sachuest Point is a special place to paint- a National Wildlife Refuge that has grasslands and overlooks both Sachuest Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Trails and beaches, so many places to paint!Here’s my pick.

It was so windy I didn’t even set up my tripod, but braced my paintbox between some rocks and tried to capture the essence of the scene. 8x10 oil on a linen panel. It felt great to be painting outside! When it’s framed-heading to Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, RI.

It’s June

Time to catch up- here’s the finished portrait of my son Seth. I’m slowly going through the family, painting portraits in oil.

Then I got a commission to paint these three sweet dogs. The one on the left, Beau, recently passed and I was approached by my friend’s husband. Finished in time for Easter, where he presented it to her at brunch. Grateful for his trust; quite the challenge as the photos were less than ideal. But painting them, and thinking of the close relationship she had with all of them was truly a labor of love.

                  Me and my sweet friend Sue- the painting was for her.

Stop the Procrastination!

Started up again with my family portrait project-this is my son Seth- will be tweaking it tomorrow and putting in the background. Not sure what; sometimes I put the photo in procreate and experiment.

So I just did that and chose this color, used the Niko roll brush and roughly put it in. I think I like it! This technique can be a big time saver too; when I’m ready to start painting tomorrow I have a plan.

 

Sharpening Skills

Happy to have been able to attend a couple of life drawing sessions here on Hilton Head. Instead of lamenting- “I’m not painting. I’m in a slump. I’ve lost my way.” And, by the way, we ALL have these thoughts.  I’m grateful I can turn it around to-“I’m drawing. I’m on a different path today. I’m learning and discovering new things.” Attitude and how I think about things is everything.

 

January Challenge Complete!

This was such a fun way to spend January- I’ve posted a few in my last post- but here are all 30. 6 different instructors- some of the classes were almost 2 hours, the quickest was 22 minutes! I decided not to continue to work on them after the lesson had ended, so some have a higher degree of finish. Which doesn’t mean it’s any better! Thanks Sktchy for a great month of drawing some fascinating and fabulous muses!

 

Winter Doldrums are Banned

 I’ve seen this #30faces30days on social media the last few Januarys but this year I joined in on Sktchy- it’s a class with 6 instructors who provide their own muse, then a video of them drawing the portrait, which I’ve been following along with. They are all different- in technique, and time, so it’s been a good January project. I’ve been posting each day on IG. Some days it’s been hard to post and I missed the first two days since we were driving down to SC, but I’m mostly caught up now.