Plein Air study

I had a couple of lovely days painting in Laguna. it was fast furious and fun. Now that I have a set up all worked out,  I am looking forward to heading out again. There are so many great places to explore in California.

Two Pears on a Gray Square

 

I have been busy painting outside in Laguna this week and will post the paintings as soon as they are dry enough to scan. In the mean time here is a little color study that I did inside.

IF: launch

A graduation ceremony is a way to launch students towards future pursuits. James graduated last week..i saw it as an opportunity to take a picture of my son wearing a funny hat.

IF: Windswept

I thought that I would paint clouds this week..something easy I thought. Found that they were not so easy, at least to paint with oils.

sitting gal

Another painting from a 3 hour sitting. much better then last week. I don't know if I will be attempting another self-portrait any time soon. Still..it is strange how many things in painting become much clearer after I upload it. The lower left corner feels like it was left behind the rest of the painting..and event he thought he hand is behind the head, I need to something more to articulate it.

IF: Shadow

I am attempting a self portrait. It is not done yet, but I decided to post the first sage. The eyes are a bit high (Ha...so funny to make such a common mistake)

Still-life with banana peel

Another still life study. My son had finished eating a banana and some grapes and thought that the discards looked kind of interesting and so I decided to paint them. I worked on pushing the contrast more and on an sharpening my edges.  I also worked on applying more paint. It was a good exercise.
The grape stem in the foreground needs work as does the ellipse of the plate (aargh..I did not catch the asymmetry till I saw it on the computer screen)