Field and Trees on a Late Spring Day

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Some days I just drive until I find something to paint, park on the side of the road, set up a pochade box, and go to work. These trees caught my attention last Thursday.

Cottonwoods along a Bank

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

This was painted yesterday. It's a painting of cottonwood and willow trees southwest of town, looking toward the Lake Mountains. It's a warm day in the middle of May, and clouds were building - but not too much. It was a fine day for plein air painting!

Creek Side Shade Tree

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Pictured above is a recently made plein air painting. I've painted this tree before. Like so many other subjects, though, it looks different each time I paint it. Sometimes the same landscape can provide a number of paintings, all different. Different times of day, weather, seasons, or years; also what I'm thinking or feeling at the time, all give the subject a different appearance. If development doesn't overrun these fields and trees, I'll probably return at some point in the future to paint them again.

A Little Practice

Not every painting I make is intended for a gallery wall. At times it's good to paint in ways and/or choose subjects that are out of the ordinary for me. Doing so can lead to discoveries that influence in positive ways the methods I use and things I normally paint. A week or two ago I took one of my neglected 6" x 8" pochade boxes down to the lake. Because of the way this pochade box is made, it will also hold 6" x 6" and 4" x 6" panels. The tiny 4" x 6" panel is a good quick sketch size.

Making little pochades is also a contributing factor in getting out into nature on such a pleasant day!