Winter Blues

Winter Blues, Oil on Board, 20x16

Borel/Allen Park, Lynchburg, Virginia

Old Town Florist

Old Town Florist, Oil on Canvas, 16x20

This is a new take on a scene I painted a couple of years ago (low-quality photo below). This is a shop called A New Leaf on Wells Street in Chicago. The earlier version was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts National Exhibition in 2009 and sold there. I'm partial to the new version, and I think it shows some growth as an artist since the first version, although this new one is not as loose as I had envisioned. I'm still attracted to this image as a Christmas-time painting, so maybe I'll revisit it again next year.

Chicago Flower Shop, Oil on Canvas, 14x11 (Sold)

November Farmland

November Farmland, Oil on Panel, 11x14

I don't think I've ever composed a painting where the road leaves the scene completely off to one side of the canvas. Possibly a design faux pas, but it doesn't bother me. After finishing this one and thinking about the composition, I decided to do a small piece (below) that is basically a crop of the larger one above.

November Farmhouse, Oil on Panel, 4x6

Ranch Barn, Evening

Ranch Barn, Evening, Oil on Board, 6x8

Main Street Shops

Main Street Shops, Oil on Panel, 9x12

(Lynchburg, Virginia)

My tendency is to avoid difficult subjects for fear that several hours of work will just turn into a frustrating exercise in failure. But of course it is important to challenge yourself and work outside your comfort zone, and I'm glad I did so with this scene. I feel the result is one of my best cityscapes. Even when a challenge doesn't go well, it's still a good learning experience, so I hope to take on difficult scenes more often.

Autumn Light

Autumn Light, Oil on Panel, 9x12

Foggy Hills

Foggy Hills, Oil on Panel, 9x12

I decided to try taking occasional snapshots of my progress through this painting, which took me about two hours. These were taken without a tripod or flash, so the quality is not great, but you get the idea. I start with a quick sketch on a toned canvas, then adding the darkest areas, then blocking in the rest of the areas and refining the color and edges. 

Ivy Lake Houses

Ivy Lake Houses, Oil on Panel, 8x6

Forest, Virginia

Poplar Forest Barn

Poplar Forest Barn, Oil on Board, 11x14

Barn at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest

Forest, Virginia

Quiet Summer Spot

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my space at the Lynchburg Art Festival last month. There has been little time to paint in the past few weeks, and we just welcomed home our new addition to the family via adoption: baby Erik, born on Sept. 30. We shall see if I can still paint a few small pieces between diaper changes and feedings.

In the meantime, here's one I never got around to posting last month. The first one was done on location in a nearby park:

Quiet Summer Spot Study, Oil on Panel, 8x10

Looking at it the next day, I wished I had achieved a looser brushstroke and decided to paint another version, this time on a slightly smaller panel and working as quickly as possible. With the simpler shapes and the addition of a bluer haze in the distance, I'm liking this quick exercise much better than the first version. Perhaps I should try this more often.

Quiet Summer Spot, Oil on Panel, 6x8

Ivy Lake, Summer

Ivy Lake, Summer, Oil on Board, 8x10

Finally got another chance to paint en plein air last Sunday at Ivy Lake in Forest, Virginia. An enjoyable outing. 

Charm Salon

Charm Salon, Oil on Board, 8x10

In my hometown - Jamestown, New York.

Idaho Grandeur

Idaho Grandeur, Oil on Canvas Panel, 5x7

The Wave Catcher/Virginia Shore

The Wave Catcher, Oil on Canvas Panel, 4x6

Virginia Shore, Oil on Canvas Panel, 4x6

Near Virginia Beach. Continuing attempts to paint with more paint.

Evening Sail

Evening Sail, Oil on Board, 11x14

This is a beautiful boat called The Penny Rover on Lake Cayuga, near Ithaca, NY.

Morning at Monticello

Morning at Monticello, Oil on Canvas Panel, 12x16

Kilauea Lighthouse

Kilauea Lighthouse, Oil on Board, 8x10

Kauai, Hawaii

This composition places the lighthouse very near the center, but I felt the shape of the peninsula felt good to me there. So a question for fellow artists - Does this composition work, or is the lighthouse a distraction in the center?

Chautauqua Afternoon

Chautauqua Afternoon, Oil on Canvas Panel, 8x10

The Miller Bell Tower from the north at Chautauqua Institution on Chautauqua Lake, NY.

Orchard Road

Orchard Road, Oil on Canvas Panel, 8x10

Carter's Mountain Orchard, Charlottesville, Virginia

Rainy Day in Stockholm

Rainy Day in Stockholm, Oil on Panel, 16x12

It's been ten years since we spent a rainy week in Stockholm. We came home with a bunch of gray photos, but as I we walked down this street in Gamla Stan I told my wife that the rain on these narrow streets could make for a good painting. I finally got around to it.

I got a little thicker with the paint than usual on this one - something I've been trying to work on lately. I don't know why it's so hard to get used to.

(Note: some camera distortion makes the yellow building lean more than it does in the actual painting.)

Across the James

Across the James, Oil on Panel, 5x7

The James River, near the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm afraid the grain of the canvas is a little distracting on these scans. I suppose I should just photograph these small sizes. It's a bit less convenient, but at least we're not dealing with film development anymore.

Lahaina Sunset

Lahaina Sunset, Oil on Board, 11x14

Lahaina, Maui. A challenging piece for me, but I'm happy with it.

Looking Toward Molokai

Looking Toward Molokai, oil on panel, 8x10

From Maui

Lunch By the Sea

Lunch By the Sea, oil on board, 10x8

My wife in Lahaina, Maui

Summer in Stockholm

Summer in Stockholm, oil on board, 10x8

Kapalua

Kapalua, oil on board, 8x10

Maui, Hawaii

Pastorale

Pastorale, oil on board, 5x7

Upstate New York

Wood River

Wood River (Sun Valley, Idaho), oil on panel, 11x14

Trees and Buttercups

Trees and Buttercups, oil on panel, 8x10

Mid-Afternoon

Mid-Afternoon, oil on panel, 5x7

Late in the Day

Late in the Day, oil on panel, 5x7

Sittin' Pretty

Sittin' Pretty, oil on board, 11x14

Evening scene in rural upstate New York.

Chicago Schooner

Chicago Schooner, oil on board, 16x20

This is Windy, a 148-foot tall ship with four masts which is docked at Chicago's Navy Pier.

Buttercup Fields

Buttercup Fields, oil on panel, 5x7

I really enjoyed painting this quick small one, a view of the farm next to the ranch (see previous post). I only had about an hour of good light left in the day. Enjoyed seeing the horses come and go in the near distance, and the bright yellow buttercups made for a striking scene. I should have taken a photo of my setup - the easel was on one side of a fence, while I painted from the other side with a small incline sloping back behind me.

El Rancho de Paz

El Rancho de Paz, oil on panel, 8x10

We stayed for two nights at a summer camp and horse ranch outside Binghamton, NY. This was the setting for my niece's wonderfully casual wedding reception. I enjoyed our stay here very much, and did three plein air paintings on the grounds last Sunday.

Chautauqua Rhododendron

Chautauqua Rhododendron, oil on board, 8x10

After spending nearly 3 hours on the bell tower painting (previous post), I moved a hundred yards to capture the sunlit rhododendron at the lovely Arcade building. I worked as fast as possible on this painting, resulting in a looser brushstroke than usual.

Chautauqua Morning

Chautauqua Morning, oil on panel, 8x10

Took a trip last week to upstate New York, where I managed to do five plein airs. This is one of two at Chautauqua Institution on Lake Chautauqua. In a few weeks there will be lots of people and boats there, but not in late May. I found this spot looking at the Miller Bell Tower a short distance from the many bare boating docks.

Trees By the James

Trees By the James, Oil on Board, 8x10
Amherst County, Virginia

Chicago Nocturne

Chicago Nocturne, Oil on Board, 11x14
Wabash Avenue, Chicago

Return to Harbor

Return to Harbor, Oil on Board, 10x8
Wilmette Harbor, Wilmette, IL

Williamsburg Winter Light

Williamsburg Winter Light, Oil on Canvas, 16x20