landscape class

                                 9x11

This week's scene in Bill Rogers's Zoom landscape class at Chesapeake Fine Arts Studio. (I think it's on Prince Edward Island?)

I have been taking a lot of online classes and I think some important lessons may be finally starting to sink in.

1. Plan ahead. Do a preliminary drawing or value study. Try some colors. Have some idea of how you'll proceed: where do you start? where should you wet the paper first?

2. Put the paint down as freely and boldly as you can; don't worry. Try to find the large shapes. (E.g., while I was painting it, I thought the grasses were a mess. Look fine to me now.)

3. Keep an eye on value and edges.

And yet I still mess up.

Here's a painting I did recently on my own.

Going to try again, channeling Bill's approach.

squares

                                  8x8

                         Delaware Bay

Trying out some square formats.

Next: double square!

                               8x8

                       Persimmons

house sparrows

                                @6x8

Feeling frustrated with my landscapes of late, so back to birds!

I've been going through my files to find paintings for a studio tour I'll be participating in next month. 

Also found a few pieces of paper, and drew these sparrows on one.

But, when I went to paint them, discovered the sizing was shot--the paint sunk right in and wasn't manipulateable.

This would normally cause me to chuck the whole thing. But in this case, perhaps because the shapes are small and simple, I decided to keep going and work with the difficulties.

Except for the feet, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

zoom landscape class

                                 11x15

                                    4x6

This morning was the first of the four fall sessions in Bill Rogers's landscape class at Chesapeake Fine Arts Studio.

Unfortunately it coincided with my current slump. I feel like I'm painting in a panic; overworking everything, not thinking. Telling myself it's because I have an event coming up: a "studio tour" sponsored by a local art group that I'm participating in for the first time. 

Wasn't too engaged by this subject, but I started with the sky and was kind of pleased ... 

Should say the 11x15 version was the main painting. I've begun, while I'm doing the quarter sheet painting, to also, with less, or no, drawing, work on another, smaller sheet simultaneously. Not sure why exactly. Hoping for something less strained? To fill the time in the class ...?

The yellow halo on the middle cloud on the top painting, in the middle, just happened: that's how the paint settled on the page! Now that's the kind of thing I love ... that's what I want to get in every painting.

plein air: cape may harbor

                      unfinished 10x14

                         unfinished 8x8

                     sketchbook, 9x12

A little afternoon plein air down by Cape May Harbor.

I got out and painted so that's a plus.

But I couldnt really make my paintings work.

In the first I planned to paint the big area of marsh grass by just keeping it all wet ... It got confused- looking but I still think that's a valid strategy.

In the second I planned to paint a lot of undefined shapes to convey all the stuff in the boatyard, but it got too choppy. I think I could make it better by connecting the shapes, painting a lot of it as one shape, changing colors, but without the hard edges.

The sketchbook page--to me the most successful painting I did today--took about 10 minutes!

birch tree class

                            10x14 sheet

              Birch Trees with Paul Oman

I have been signing up for so many online art classes that I have to watch the recordings of some as they conflict with other art classes!

This was one session with Paul Oman, paulomanfineart.com, and I learned so much!

I'm looking forward to signing up for other classes with him.

two bird painting classes

                               11x15

        Parrots painted with Nadine Dudek

I follow Nadine on Instagram and am in awe of her bird paintings, which are beautiful and elegant.

She occasionally offers a 1.5 hour class based on one of her paintings.

I have taken a couple and always learn something wonderful.

Nadine's website is here.

                               11x15

            Varied Thrush painted with 

                      Ronna Fujisawa

Very wet and humid here today but I plunged a head anyway and so wound up overworking it a bit. But I did enjoy painting it.

Ronna has a very intuitive and loose approach, which I love.

She also encourages students to keep a book of swatches ... which I am starting to do!

Ronna offers online classes that you can purchase one at a time or in bundles. Ronna's website is salty water art.

plein air: stites ave., cape may point

                                  8x8

A little afternoon plein air painting today.

We decided to find a shady spot and then paint whatever was in front of us.

This path to the beach was lined on both sides by thick and unruly shrubs, vines, and trees. And I spent about the first hour just trying to figure out how I could even approach the subject.

The best decision I made was not drawing the fence (though I did indicate where the vertical posts would be). I had tried to draw it twice and was not happy. So I decided to plunge ahead and paint them negatively ... which turned out to give them an appropriately rickety look.

local scenes

                            @9×11
Painted from photos I took of the Delaware Bay near where I live.

Trying to stay loose ...