Summer landscape - wrapping up an old plein air, pastel

I have finally happened upon my next "subjects" to paint:  last summer's unfinished plein air paintings...

Creek Crossing
12x12 inches - pastel on Strathmore Artagain

This painting dates back from July 13, and was the second (unfinished) plein air of that day's trip.  A dirt road leads off of Hwy 550 and drops below the highway to this crossing of Lime Creek.  If you've got a high-clearance vehicle, you can easily cross it, but not in a Civic.

As soon as I saw this view, I knew I had to paint it.  Wayne crossed the creek to fish upstream a bit, and I worked until he came back, getting it probably 75% finished on location.   I'm not sure why I didn't finish it up promptly; I think I was worried about ruining it.  In the interim, I also purchased some additional pastels, including my now indispensable Ludwigs, which I employed here.

I feel a great sense of satisfaction having completed this painting, and am now motivated to try and finish the others that have been patiently sitting on my shelf.

Winter landscape - river shoreline, pastel

Winding down the "winter landscape" series with another river scene (and a plein air)...

Winter Shoreline
12x16 inches - pastel on Strathmore
© 2012, S.Johnson

I had the realization a few days ago that I'm pretty much done with winter now, both the season and probably most of the paintings.  As enjoyable and successful as I think they've been, it's now time for me to move on to something new.

I checked my blog archives, and it was just around this time that I wrapped up my winter painting series last year - for the same reason.

Earlier this week, I also confirmed my suspicions that I'm probably not ever going to be a winter plein air painter:  the PAP4C, of which I am now officially a member, met on Wednesday to paint the Animas around town.  I was actually excited to get outside and try to get some painting done.  Temps in the mid-40's, with no wind.

The paint-outs usually start at 9AM, but it was in the low 20's then, so I waited until 11:00 to head out.  Things were fine at first - I selected a location just north of the library, which is where we met for the critique.   I was less than an hour into the painting when a slight breeze kicked up and some high thin clouds crossed the sun.  I have some thin gloves for painting during colder days, which I've used when the temps were in the mid-50's or so, and they were fine.  However, it didn't take long for the fingers of my right hand to get cold and start going numb; they are the weak link in my ability to be outdoors in low temperatures, particularly if I'm not moving.

At that point, I knew the session was over, as I couldn't concentrate any longer;  it felt like my right brain just turned off.  At the critique session, all whopping 6 of us who showed up were all complaining about the cold.

Anyway, in the spirit of "pictures, or it didn't happen", here's the painting as far as it got, after an hour of painting.  There is a flock of mallards that reside in the area, and if this doesn't end up in the trash, I may play around with adding some in there, just for kicks, because the composition is sort of boring:

Plein air interruptus
12x16 - black construction paper

Winter landscape - side creek, pastel

This afternoon's painting, switching to a portrait format, of a small creek, water reflections and shadows...

Along Lightner Creek
16x12 inches - pastel on Strathmore Artagain
© S.Johnson

Lightner Creek is a small drainage that enters the Animas River right near the Hwy 160 bridge passing through town.   This is near a small footbridge that leads to the local dog park in town, and the photo was shot the day after our winter storm 2 weeks ago.

These small streams that have the meandering edges against the snow - I just love them.   Aside from the interesting abstract shape of the stream itself, I liked the balance provided by the horizontal shadows and the vertical winter trees.

This painting came together so effortlessly it was almost eerie, and it was just plain fun to paint.   I realized that it's actually been a while since I've worked on the Artagain - probably almost 2 months - and it does handle better than both the cardstock and the el-cheapo construction paper (and much better than the Somerset Black Velvet!).

I've been busy-busy framing paintings for a guest artist exhibit I was invited to for the month of February.  I'll post more about that later, but I did this painting specifically to go in a silver plein air frame I have, to be on display downstairs when people walk into the building.  I'm hoping it will entice people to make a trip up the stairs to the gallery to see the rest of the paintings (and photos by the gallery owners)!

Winter landscape - an urban nocturne, pastel

And now for something really different:  a bunch of man-made things, after dark...

Snowfall After Sunset
14x11 inches, pastel on black construction paper
© S.Johnson

So, the other night, as I was working on my last post, I looked out of my window, and saw this.  It was just after sunset, and it was still snowing.  The streetlight was casting the most amazing light on the freshly fallen snow and the still-falling snow was catching the light of the street lamp in an almost dreamy glow.

For whatever reason, I found it amazing, and got out my camera to get some quick reference photos.  I've always liked the house across the street (it's two, actually) with its very cool design and double pointed roofs.

Okay, you can tell I don't paint buildings that often, and I usually find telephone poles and lines to be a bit of a visual blight on the landscape.  But, this was different.

I made a few adjustments to the composition, but the fire hydrant, well, it had to stay.  Not sure why, but it needs to be there.  What you won't see, OTOH, are any hidden initials on the house or little curly wisps of smoke coming from the chimneys, although you can tell the neighbor peeps are probably home.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's probably just as well.

And, for giggles and grins, here's the reference photo I used.  Not to showcase how much my house is off from the photo, or how I botched the perspective of the road, but to show that yes, even a really horrible photo (I call these "crapshots") can be used for a painting, so don't be quick to toss out the blurry ones if they otherwise contain information you can use:

Winter landscape - aspen tree shadows, pastel - SOLD

Departing from the grass and river theme for this piece to bring you a painting featuring my favorite tree...

Aspen Shadows - SOLD
12x12 - pastel on black cardstock
© S.Johnson

Shot from the passenger window during our snowshoeing trip to Haviland Lake on Thursday, I knew instantly had I had paint it:  awesomely cool shadows and it also leans towards abstraction.

I think this might be fun to try in oils, if I can manage to pry the pastels from my hands long enough, that is.

Anyway, it was a fun challenge.

Winter landscape - river boulders, pastel

A pile of rocks, dead grasses, shadows, and some ice...

Boulders and Shadows
12x12 - pastel on black cardstock
© S.Johnson

Taken a few days before we had our recent snow, this is a small inlet off the main river that, facing north, managed to hang on to a surprising amount of snow.

That serpentine shadow running across the ice and disappearing into the shadowed area?  Wayne didn't much care for it, but it is from an unseen tree, and it fascinated me, so I kept it.  This was a good painting to work with lost and found edges - something I find myself enjoying when I look at paintings.

And, there's black in this painting.  Many artists/instructors will say that one should avoid values 8-10 (with 0 = pure white and 10= pure black), but as with all things, there are exceptions.  Shadows within shadowed areas are black.  Judicious use of black also helps define the relative values of the rocks and gives them proper depth.

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Here are a few photos from some of my recent "duck hunts" down by the river.  I always say that if you're having a crummy day, just go watch some ducks.  You'll feel better.

Mallard pair
He has just finished a "yoga stretch" with his right foot.  How on earth they can handle standing and sleeping in water that is just a few degrees above freezing is beyond me, but they clearly enjoy cold winters.

Common Goldeneyes taking flight
These are very striking birds, but extremely wary; any approach towards the edge of the river and they take off

Balancing act
Okay, not a duck, but this Canada goose and its mate were both one-legging it on some exposed rocks close to shore

Squadron of Common Goldeneye - two males and several ladies
Taken from well above the river, this is the best in-water photo I could get of them.

Winter landscape series - River Path, pastel

After what seems like an eternity on my easel, I finally have something to show...

River Path
12x12 inches - pastel on black cardstock
© S.Johnson

I expected to finish this last Thursday.  Then, I decided I didn't like the original effort, done on light brown cardstock.  It was well into Thursday, and I was much further along when I decided to bail on this version than what you see in the photo, which was shot at the end of the first session.

I originally took the photo below intending to show it as an in-progress for the finished piece, just for kicks.  Working from memory for the second session, when I finally turned my laptop on to view the reference, the colors I had chosen for the grasses were off.  Wrong temperature, wrong value...just plain wrong.  Plus, I thought the whole thing just looked anemic on the lighter paper.

So, I started again on a piece of black cardstock, and worked from the original painting for the first part, vs. the photo, for the final version - similar to working from a plein air study, I guess.  The final version subsequently resembles the reference photo even less - a good thing.

I probably would have had it finished then on Saturday, but my sister came up to spend the weekend, and of course, nothing got done on it.  The storm that rolled through the region yesterday delayed her departure for a day due to dicey road and driving conditions, so after she left today, I sat down and motored through the rest of it.

So, here we are, 5 days later, and it's finally done!

The primary reason I wanted to have this ready to post on Thursday is so I could share the link to a blog post in a timely fashion by Antonia and Fabio DueAlberi  featuring their interview with me.  Antonia and Fabio are fellow Etsian shop owners, and that is how I came about meeting them online, and discovered their blog.  When they inquired if I would be interested in being featured on their blog, I happily agreed.

Please have a look at their blog, linked above, featuring their wonderful floral and botanical photography.  Their collaborative efforts produce beautiful and unique images that always make me ask:  "How did they do that?"  I certainly couldn't create photos like theirs, which makes me appreciate their work all the more.

Oh yes - here's the link to their interview last Thursday with me.  Thank you again, Antonia & Fabio, for your generosity and support of fellow artists here in the blogosphere!