Autumn Comes to the Valley

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

This is a painting made last week at a ranch west of town. Autumn colors in the mountains came and went in a hurry. Here in the valley however, Fall colors are just beginning to ramp up!

Lady Grey

9" x 12" Charcoal on Grey Paper

My drawing from last Wednesday's live portrait session. This portrait was drawn using charcoal and "charcoal white" pencils. It's fun working on grey paper.

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

Back to the Portrait Sessions!

12" x 9" Charcoal on Grey Paper

It's probably been since February that I haven't been to the weekly portrait sessions. It's about time I got back to them, so this week I went to both Howard Lyon's class and Casey Child's class. Shown above is the sketch I did at Casey's studio on Thursday, and below is the sketch I made Wednesday at Howard's studio. Both sketches were made with charcoal pencils and "white charcoal" pencil on grey paper.

12" x 9" Charcoal on Grey Paper

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

Barns, Sheds and Shacks

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

This jumbled collection of ranch buildings beneath a big cottonwood tree has attracted my attention for quite some time. I finally was able to set up my pochade box on a neighboring ranch, from where I was able to paint the scene shown above. The day I visited the ranch no one else was there, but I had the companionship of several head of cattle, a couple horses, a mule, and a bunch of chickens.

It's been difficult to paint en plein aire lately. There's huge wildfires in the mountains not far from here. Often smoke from the fires obscure the mountains, and sometimes makes it hard to see here in the valley. The smoke is unpleasant to eyes and lungs. On this day a change in the wind cleared the air in most of the valley making painting on location possible. 

To date the fires have burned one hundred and thirteen thousand acres. Roads in the area of the fires have been closed and communities near the fires have been evacuated. So far no homes have been lost and hopefully none will. 

A week or two ago I was planning to go up Payson Canyon to the Nebo Loop Road to paint, but most of that is charred now, parts of it still burning. Those plans have also gone up in smoke. For the foreseeable future, I'll be looking elsewhere to paint.

Late Summer Ranch Road

18" x 24" Oil on Panel

The weather's still rather warm, but nights are becoming a little cooler and autumn color is beginning to sneak into the summer greenery. The rancher who owns this property is letting me have access to his ranch for plein air painting. It opens up new places to paint in the valley not far from where I live. On an earlier trip to the ranch I saw this scene and was struck by it, but only had a 9" x 12" pochade box with me. I thought it should be painted larger than that, so I returned earlier this week with a much bigger panel and made the painting shown above. Ranches are great places to paint! I'm looking forward to returning there for more paintings.

Hay Rows on a Ranch West of Town

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

The owner of this ranch has allowed me access to it for plein air painting. That opens a lot of new opportunities for new paintings. Earlier this week I went there with a 9" x 12" pochade box and made the painting shown above. Some of the views on the ranch would work well painted larger than 9" x 12", so I'm planning to go back with bigger panels. Stay tuned!

Hiking and Painting

7" x 5" oil on Panel

All throughout my life I've enjoyed going for hikes into wild country, whether it's forest, desert or mountains. I'm so glad that I live in a place, and my health is good enough, that I can continue to hit the trail for all day excursions. Likewise I've enjoyed drawing for probably my whole life, and am so happy I've been able to develop that into painting. It's wonderful that people enjoy my work and are willing to purchase my paintings from galleries and shows.

For a long time I've wanted to combine those two interests, hiking and painting, but usually find myself doing one or the other, not both at the same time. Much of the plein air painting equipment I've built for myself is sturdy but light, and easily carried. However, the vast majority of my plein air paintings are done either close to my car, or only a quarter mile to a mile away from the car.

Last Saturday I finally put the two things, hiking and painting, together when I took my little 5" x 7" pochade box on a hike up a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.The hike started in the early afternoon at the mouth of the canyon. A few miles and a few thousand feet in gained elevation later, I finally decided on a spot to set up and paint. Though the day had begun with clear blue skies, by the time I'd reached the upper part of the canyon a general overcast had moved in. Grey skies dulled the mountain vistas I had hoped to paint, so instead I chose a small stand of aspen trees near the edge of a meadow. The little oil study didn't take very long, and was finished around sunset. My hike back down the canyon to the trail head was made after dark. The little oil study from that day can be seen at the beginning of this post.