A Day Up On The Bench

18" x 24" Oil on Canvas Panel

This is one of my favorite places to go for a walk. It's a section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail near the base of the Wasatch Mountains. No matter how many times I come around this bend in the trail I think, "I've got to paint this!" - even though I've painted it several times before. I've done versions of this scene in nearly every size from 5" x 7" to 12" x 16" and in nearly every season. On this hot day in July I brought along the portable easel and my biggest painting panel size - 18" x 24" - and painted 'till the sun went down. 

Bolivian Woman

This weeks post is about a portrait sketch I made a week and a half ago at a drawing session. The woman who modeled for us is from Bolivia, and fits well in our tradition of drawing or painting people from all over the world. This was the first time she's modeled for our little drawing group and I hope she models for us again. The sketch is in charcoal and "charcoal white" on 14" x 11" toned paper.

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

Convoluted Trees

12" x 16" Oil on Panel

Trees are some of my most favorite things to paint. They provide an endless variety of patterns and shapes to explore. In the painting shown above, a group of old trees along a property line seem to form a procession of dancing green and bared limbs in front of snow-capped mountains.

8" x 10" Oil on Panel

The second painting shown here is of a tree that looks like it's exploding. It's with other groups of trees near where a creek flows into a large lake. Despite it's proximity to larger stands of trees, this tree seems to stand apart from the others, doing it's own thing. I enjoyed studying the intricate shape and patterns of this tree against the background of mountains and scattered clouds.

A Charcoal Sketch and a Video

14" x 11" Charcoal on Tinted Paper

It's about time for another portrait sketch blog post, I think. This sketch is the beginning of a larger project I have planned. It's a project that'll involve more people and things than I've worked with before, and I'm excited to finally get it started. I'll write more about that project once I get a better handle on it and it begins to take shape. In the mean time, I thought you might enjoy seeing this sketch.

The sketch is of film producer and actor Paul D. Hunt, of Mainstay Productions. He was kind enough to sit in as one of the models for my project. Here's a sample of one of the many films he's worked on or been in, "Finnick and Annie":

For those whose operating systems won't open the video, you can try this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_MNmhZvYeg

Wasatch Plein Air Paradise 2014

This is where it's happening!

Midway's plein air competition is underway. Tonight was the opening for the show. Painting for the main competition opened last Friday. I managed to finish four paintings by Monday night and get three of them (three is the maximum number allowed for the main competition) entered by the 2:00 PM deadline this afternoon. 

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Friday the weather was unsettled and I was rained on a couple times. The painting shown above was made at the Soldier Hollow train station that day. I like the painting, but I decided to put the other three paintings into the show instead because those three paintings go with each other the best.

The rain wasn't the only challenge that day. I had to take a break from painting when a train pulled into the station and blocked my view. I was, however, entertained as an old west style train robbery was staged at the station for the entertainment of tourists riding the train. The train didn't stay very long, and I was able to get back to painting in good time.

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Saturday the weather was great, and I went to the North Fields to do the second painting shown in this post.

Heber Valley is one of my favorite places to paint. Not only is it a very scenic place with endless opportunities for plein air painters, but there are lots of opportunities to view wildlife, too. I was able to get photos of a couple of the local wild residents:

Marmot

Mule Deer

Monday was a perfectly cloudless day. I was able to get a couple more paintings finished that day:

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

The show continues through early Saturday, but if you want to see the paintings you should visit sooner rather than later. Paintings begin to disappear as the show gets older and more and more buyers walk out the exhibition's doors with their new acquisitions. 

There are a few more smaller events in conjunction with the main show - paint outs and a "quick paint" - throughout the week. For more information you can go here.

Be Prepared

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

The title of this post (with a nod to the Boy Scouts of America) is admittedly advice I've never been able to fully achieve. Try as I might, occasionally something will come along that catches me completely off guard. Sometimes more than occasionally. Maybe I'm being increasingly prepared to be surprised.

As an outdoor painter, I try to be prepared to paint whenever the opportunity presents itself. I always have something to sketch with. As much as possible I keep painting supplies in my car, ready to go. Some painting trips are planned. Some are spur of the moment opportunities.

The day the painting shown at the top of this post was was made, I really was just out for a late afternoon walk by the lake. Much of last year's marsh grasses were flattened, and one could walk out on marsh grass mats over shallow water without getting your feet wet. So that's where my walk took me. While out on the bunched phragmites mats, I saw some trees growing on slightly higher ground near the marina. Deciding to paint those trees, I walked a few minutes back to my car where I retrieved a tripod, a 5 x 7 pochade box, and a couple other pieces of painting equipment. Back out on the marsh I set up he painting gear and got to work painting.

The phragmites mats make for unstable "ground." The thickness of these marsh mats varies. If you step on the thinner areas, your foot can go right through and into water. If you stand in one spot on the thicker patches of marsh grass it slowly sinks until you suddenly discover you've acquired damp feet. Walking around on the mats after setting up the tripod and paintbox caused the painting gear to wobble around and almost fall over a few times. In spite of having all this "fun," it was a great afternoon to be out painting. I'm glad I could do more than just wish I had brought some painting gear along.

Clouds, Wind, and a Rattlesnake

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

What a difference a day makes. The evening I wrote about in the last post had been such a pleasant experience. The very next day was... different. The painting that starts off this post was made the very next day.

I set out with a small paintbox expecting the weather to be just like the day before, but found instead very windy and cloudy conditions. Disappointing, but not reason enough to stay out of the mountains. Arriving at the place I had been the day before, I decided to leave the trail and head up the steep mountain slope several hundred feet to an area of outcrops, cliffs, and cliffrose. The weather, however, wasn't showing much concern for my painting aspirations. The wind was at times blowing perhaps forty miles an hour. Dust in the air made distant scenes look gray and washed out. A grimy film coated my skin and clothing. There was grit in my teeth.

I explored around, stopping to consider several painting possibilities. I also thought I'd try a little free climbing on some of the smaller limestone cliffs; ones only around ten or twelve feet high with ample handholds. I'm not a climber, but since I'm in the mountains a lot, a little practice could come in handy someday if I ever find myself in a situation where I absolutely have to do that sort of thing. Besides, it was a little fun.

Making use of a large crack in one cliff face to find handholds and foot placement, I climbed to the top of the twelve foot high cliff. Before hauling myself completely onto the top of the little precipice, I made a quick scan of the immediate area to be sure I could do so securely. With a surge of horror I suddenly realized I wasn't secure. A few inches from my right hand was a coiled rattlesnake! With a gasp I jerked my hand away from the snake! I hung there on the edge of the cliff, breathing hard and staring at the rattlesnake to see what it would do. My immediate concern was that it might flee for cover into the very crack I was using to hold onto the cliff. The rattlesnake did... nothing. It hadn't struck at me and was now staying perfectly still. It was a small rattlesnake, about a foot long. It was in fact the cutest little terrifying sight I ever did see. After regaining my composure, I could see no safe way to continue past the rattlesnake so I quickly and carefully climbed back down.

This is the guy I'm talking about!

Finding another way up around the cliff, I then hiked back down to the cliff's edge and found the baby rattlesnake still there. I snapped a few pictures of the snake and crouched, examining it. As I hovered over the rattlesnake, it slowly began to move. It first crawled into the crack I had earlier used to climb the cliff. Then the rattlesnake came back out of the crack and headed up slope. I followed it for a short distance, then let it be. This wasn't my first encounter with a rattlesnake. I've seen dozens of them. But it's the first time I've known myself to be within striking range of a rattlesnake, and the thought was unsettling.

After walking a few dozen yards away, I set up the paintbox and painted until sunset. I hiked back down after dusk, tired, dirty, and with rattlesnakes on the brain. What a difference a day makes.