Forgive the delay, been painting...

Ok, Ok, but it's plein air season! When it isn't raining I try to work outside, so, I've been doing a lot of work in the studio. (Sigh) Mostly it's been oil and acrylic, and I have not mastered the art of photographing shiny pictures without getting a flash on them.

Winter - Acrylic 12X16

Now, this h'yar paintin'. . . (cough, wheeze, sorry) This picture is one of a set of Four Seasons to-be. In earlier blogs I have posted Autumn and, well, early Summer. It's not quite finished yet.

North Coast, 6X8 Acrylic

Well, always practicing. The clouds came out OK. The rest needs work. Or not.

With flash.

Bottles, 8X10 Acrylic, no flash

Here's what happens when you try to photograph a shiny picture. This is "source unknown." I think I got a photo somewhere on the web, so I can't give the attribution. Ooops. But it was good practice, I wanted to paint something dark.

Fogged in Fishing Fleet, watercolor

I just got this framed. This is a much bigger piece than usual. I painted it in 2010, but it took forever. Sometimes watercolor is NOT fast. To get the fog effect I ended up doing washes, layer after layer of white, with a little Designer Gouache in it, then lifting it back off in certain places for depth. Sheesh. I was painting it for my brother, and about then he announced he didn't want me giving him paintings for his birthday or Christmas. It seems he figured his walls were already full. What can you do. You'd have to know him.
Well, today's his birthday, and I decided to give him a really big card. In a frame. (schnert, schnert)

Carquinez Straits, 8X10 oil

This is a plein air I started last summer but couldn't finish. This week I dug out the photos I took that day, brushed on a little linseed and went at it again. I have decided it's finished. Ta-Da!

On the Square, Sonoma 6X8 oil

 This too was started late last year, and last week I dug this out too, brushed on the linseed and played with it. The proportions are all wrong, but I've decided to pull out my "Artistic License" and use it.

Garin Pond, 6X8 oil

This is plein air, it's up the hill from my house. After a demo recently by Mark Monserrat, I started experimenting with a limited palette. This came out heavy on the blue-green side. I think it needs more reflections of the darkest of the yellower greens in certain trees to give it better balance. Hey, I think my trees and shrubs are looking less like fluffy balls and more like vegetation! Oh, I forgot, I still need to put in trunks and branches. I'd better do that first and see how it affects the color scheme. Or is it theme?

Work in Progress, 7X14 oil

This is just getting started. It's Coyote Hills Regional park. I went to a Paint Out there last year and this is a view I photographed but had not painted yet.

OK, that's what I've been up to since the last time I posted. I hope to get back to being more frequent.