My Father's Iris

My Father's Iris

 

6x6 oil on panel

 

I love these iris, they bloom every year at the end of May. I took step by step shots to analyze my progress.  Sometimes you can't see what's wrong until you step away.  There is nothing like posting to see every flaw and missed brushstroke.

charcoal and oil sketch

 

initial block-in

 

added color

final version again

 

I like the looseness and the composition.  I am not happy with the lower petals but I did not want to fuss with them.  I am tempted to wipe it out and paint over the ghost image but I think I will try it again later with a toned panel using some of the purples for unity.

Maudsley Path

Maudsley Path

8x8 oil

 

Spring is the perfect time for a trip to Maudsley State Park in Massachusetts.  It was a pleasure to finally see all that green.

 

I painted a similar scene in pastel and thought I would like to try lots of different methods using the same reference photo.  This is my oil version and it is almost finished.

Maudsley Light

"Maudsley Light"

11x14 Soft pastel

Lisa Regopoulos demonstrated her waterfall painting technique at the PSNH meeting last week-end. 

She used black canson paper and a very limited palette. Other than a note of the lightest light to remind her not to go lighter, she methodically worked from darkest dark, middle values and saved the lights for the last. Throughout the painting she maintained a very light touch.

I decided to practice what I learned and bought a sheet of black canson.  Before this I always thought pastels on black paper was like Elvis on velvet. This was fun to do, maybe I'll get more black paper!

The Chocolate River

"The Chocolate River"

Soft Pastel 8.5 by 11.5

 

Day 2 of the workshop with Jeanne Rosier Smith, we worked in the studio from our own photos. This reference photo is of a river in New Brunswick and was taken on a trip to Nova Scotia. I liked the fact that the overcast day created lots of atmosphere.

 

I liked using Jeanne's underpainting technique of deep red violets with an alcohol wash. Her suggestion to include some violets in the foreground really helped to pull this piece together.

Lake Massacupic, en plein aire

Lake Massacupic

 

I recently joined the pastel Society of New Hampshire and attended a landscape workshop with Jeanne Rosier Smith. The first day was plein aire (because it was forecast to be the best of the week-end) Jeanne demonstrated and shared her underpainting techniques as well as many hints and methods to paint plein aire. I set up by the lake to paint this early spring scene.  I was glad the day was overcast so I did not have to deal with changing light. We all had a great day followed by an informative critique.

Summer Fruit

"Summer Fruit"

6x6 oil

 

This was painted a few weeks ago.  I bought some beautiful golden pears but it is the little cherry in front touching its shadow that steals the show.