Blondie and Redbeard

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

The opportunity to practice painting from live models is so valuable to me. These two portrait sketches in oil paint are from this week's portrait sessions. The one shown above is from Wednesday evening's session at Howard Lyon's studio.

8" x 6" Oil on Canvas Panel

This next one was painted yesterday at Casey Childs Studio. Both were painted with a palette of yellow ochre, cadmium red, and ivory black, plus white. One of these days I'll start throwing other colors onto the palette for my portraits, but for now, this simple color combination works. It's a limited palette, but it's not really all that limiting for portrait studies.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

New Group Show at Evergreen Gallery / October 21st

Tomorrow night, Friday October 21, is a new gallery stroll / artists reception for a new group exhibit at Evergreen Framing Co. & Gallery, Inc. There will be lots of new work by lots of painters, including several new paintings I've recently delivered to the gallery! Click here for more information. Here's images of a few of my new paintings at the gallery:

       

        

I'll be at Evergreen Framing Co. & Gallery, Inc. from around 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM tomorrow night. Hope to see you there!

A Short Hike in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon

Sometimes I simply need to get out into the wild and enjoy the benefits of being in nature. I used to do more long, all day hikes, but these days a busy schedule restricts me to more shorter hikes. Sometimes all I have time for is a walk. The hike these photos are from happened in late September. The canyon is the same one I posted about in May, but this hike didn't go nearly as far. In spite of that, it was a well spent and enjoyable evening.

There had been a lot of rain the day before, with snow in the higher country. The rain continued throughout the night and tapered off in the morning, giving way to a beautiful mild autumn day. Much of the little-used and poorly-maintained trail I used for the hike up the canyon goes through thick brush. That brush held a lot of rain water from the previous day's storms. I tried using my hiking stick to knock water off of the the bushes and overhanging tree branches before passing by, but I still got plenty wet.

Much of the trail passes through thickets of scrub oak, rocky mountain maple, spruce and fir, plus a lot of different kinds of shrubby plants and weeds I don't know the names of. The farther up canyon I went, the thicker it got. Thick brush notwithstanding, The trail provided several spectacular views of the canyon.

Someone put this trail in a long time ago. These days, the trail isn't used very much at all. It's hard to find in the first place, and hasn't been maintained. As one hikes up canyon, the trail becomes increasingly difficult to follow. It eventually fades away completely. At that point I follow a scree slope down to the bottom of the canyon and the main trail. 

It was late in the day by that time, and much of the narrow canyon's steep slopes were in shadow. I paused to enjoy the glow of sunlight on higher peaks and ridges, and the bright red of a few maple trees. 

Daylight was fading fast. One more camera shot looking up canyon before it became too dark for taking pictures, then I headed down the the main trail. The rest of the hike was in the dark, but it's a relatively easy trail that I'm very familiar with.

It was a very nice day for a good hike, thoroughly enjoyed. I really must insist these hikes get scheduled into my busy life more frequently.

Pink Hair

7" x 5" Oil on Panel

I don't know if Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, or John Singer Sargent ever got to paint a model whose hair wasn't a natural color. These days, however, those who practice the old craft of oil painting from life have plenty of opportunities for the challenge of painting from models who's hair (or even skin) is an artificial hue. Of course it's irrelevant to the quality of the painting, but it is different, and can throw a little fun into a painting session. The model for yesterday's portrait session had pink hair. An unnatural color, but one I could still approximate with a modified "Zorn" palette of cadmium yellow, cadmium red, ivory black, and white. Such a limited palette works for me at these sessions, but if one day a model shows up with neon green or electric blue locks, I'll have to break out another color or two for the ol' palette!

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Charcoal on Watercolor Paper

Charcoal on Watercolor Paper

When I got to the portrait drawing session last Wednesday, I discovered that none of the different kinds of paper I like to use for charcoal or pastel drawing were in my sketch box. There was some watercolor paper, though, even though I don't really do watercolor and had no watercolors with me. So I did charcoal on watercolor paper. The picture above shows the result.

This evening's portrait session starts in just a couple hours or so. I think I'll go check my sketch box and restock it now.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Mount Olympus, Early Autumn

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Mount Olympus, as viewed from Olympus Hills Park. Painted from right field in the south side softball field. Nobody was playing ball so I painted en plein air. I've wanted to paint that mountain when the trees turn bright red. Technically it's still Summer, I suppose, but Autumn colors are really coming on strong now in the mountains, on the downhill side of September.

Girl with Ponytail, Also a New Show Opens Tonight!

12" x 9" Charcoal on Paper

A little break from landscape paintings this week. This is a charcoal sketch of a woman who modeled at Howard Lyon's studio last Wednesday. It would have been good to get out the paints and do an oil sketch of her, but after a day full of driving halfway across the state and running errands (including delivering new paintings to a gallery and buying new picture frames), by the time I got to the portrait session I had only enough energy for a simple charcoal sketch. Of course, that's much better than not doing anything at all, and I'm glad I made it there.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Also, there is a new art exhibit opening tonight! Logan Fine Art Gallery's "Fall Salon" begins tonight and runs through October, I believe. I've had a preview of the show and can tell you there's a lot of really good paintings and other pieces of art in the exhibit. One of my plein air landscapes is in the show. For more information about the gallery, click here.