Clouds over Kiawah

A high school buddy of mine has a place on Kiawah Island and said I could use her photo of a marsh as a reference. I toned the paper with orange and allowed some of that to peek through. Still using the oil paper but I computer it down to 8 1/2 x 11. I know that isn't a standard size for paintings, but I accidentally bought some diploma frames (nonreturnable at this stage) and thought the oil paper paintings would fit in them perfectly. I am still using a palette knife, too.

8 1/2 x 11

Oil on Arches Oil Paper

 

 

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"The Barrier"

I played with my pastels recently and used a homemade surface with last weekend which was Art Spectrum pastel primer on Gatorboard.  I haven't found the best way to cut the gatorboard though.  It's more heavy duty than regular foam board.

Electric Marsh

I wish the vibrant colors would show up in the photo, darn it.

Marsh Exercise

This was my first weekly exercise for the mentoring program. I received terrific feedback from Karen. The horizon needs to be straightened out, but over all, I was happy with it. We used her photo reference and were provided with set by step instructions on her approach. First I did a four value sketch with markers, an under painting with (Nupastel spruce blue) with odorless mineral spirits, let dry and then the painting.

 

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Tiajuana Estuary - SOLD

There is an estuary near the California/Mexico border. I made some changes to the shapes that appear to be trees in the distance. They actually are rows of houses, but I didn't want to get too fussy with it since the assignment is to limit the painting time to 30-45 minutes.

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Maine Tidal Marsh

I've never been to Maine, but loved a photo (copyright free) I found on wetcanvas.com.  Wetcanvas.com is an incredibly useful website where an artist may post their work, obtain Q&As as to their art ranging from sculpting to painting and a whole lot more.  Also, wetcanvas.com has a image reference section which includes (and certainly is not limited to) animals, still life subjects, street scenes, people, etc.  The great thing is that the images are copyright free and the owners of the images must accept that before posting them.  I used an image posted by user "Colin" who posted an awesome photo of a tidal marsh and river in Maine.  I painted it this morning and am still using that fun app "Frame Builder".

Painting:

Painting in Frame Builder frame: