Bull Creek Take 3

I returned to the same spot at Bull Creek this morning and had another go at this scene. Perhaps I should consider a studio piece using all three plein air pieces as reference.

Capturing a Moment

Since painting the dusk at Blanco State Park I've been wanting to paint some sunsets. We are hitting the 100's everyday -- so to avoid the hottest part of the day I'm trying to get out in the morning -- but it is also cool in the evening -- so also ideal painting time.

This is the view from a near by school as the sun sets behind the suburban hills. Painting en plein air at sunset is a blast. Such a rush trying to mix color, assess the landscape and get it on the canvas before it is gone forever.

Bull Creek - Take 2

I returned to Bull Creek today to again try to capture this scene. I liked some of my knife work in this piece. Still playing, still learning and loving every minute!

Chuy's in Paint

I was meeting friends a Chuy's -- to sit outside under the cool trees and relax over lunch. I took my new little cigar box -- hoping to be able to sit at a table and paint. I arrived early, but didn't get up the courage to pull out my paints. After my friends left I used a piece of uncovered, unsealed birch to capture my first "street life" scene. I started another piece on linen, but it turns out it wasn't as cool as I had hoped. The heat got the best of me and I headed home.

Pondside Zinnia

Since I have lots of scrap birch, I thought I'd play with painting just on the wood. I think the paint is sucking up the oil -- since the wood is not sealed. This little flower is one of many around the pond in my backyard.

Rattan Sun Rise

Jumped out of bed this morning when I woke up at 6:30, grabbed my paint box, a Diet Coke and jumped in the car. Drove two blocks away and positioned myself to watch the sunrise. It was an adrenaline rush to be sure. My bleery eyes tried to mix color and make sense of a composition -- I only had a few minutes. I put down the beautiful orange rising above the trees, then the trees. Tried to capture the sky and clouds. Finally I put in the sun. I headed home and back to bed to catch a few more winks. When I woke up, and looked at my first real sun rise, I realized my biggest mistake. Did you spot it? I painted the sun about 20 minutes after I painted the sun rising! What fun it is to paint in plein air. It's all about improving and that was just the first of several big problems with this little early morning work. Next time I need to have some of my Coke on the way to the paint site!

Summer Stand-out

Just couldn't resist painting the hybiscus on my back porch. It was fun to paint this bright red, especially after all the more muted colors I've been using lately. These linen panels are really nice -- so smooth.

Colors of an Austin Summer

Summer isn't summer for many Austinites until they visit Austin's most popular swimming hole, Barton Springs. It was fun to join my fellow Plein Air Austin painters as we headed out to capture the day in paint.

Fields of No Lavender

My camping trip was timed to coincide with the annual Lavender Festival. The PAA was scheduled to paint at one of the local lavender farms. Unfortunately for everyone, the lavender isn't blooming in the Texas Hill Country because of the lack of rain. In this piece I wanted to capture shapes and colors.

In the Distance

Man is it hot today! As a couple of my fellow painters Vicki and Rae sat down to eat their lunch I joined them under the shade tree. But it was too hot to eat, so I painted instead. This was our view from the top of the lavender farm. Part of the hills were bare of vegetation, thus the sandy appearance. As I was finishing this piece, a nice couple happened by and admired the painting. That made for a nice ending to my adventure in camping and painting the lavender farm. It felt so good to get home to the air-conditioning and nice bed!

Late Morning at the Farm

Now this is painting made easy. I left my Soltek Easel just outside the tent last night. Got up this morning, picked up the easel, and moved over to my view of the farm to catch the late morning sun. The shadow of the tree in the foreground was short lived. Should I have included the tree casting the shadow in the foreground?

Anybody home?

This trip was a great idea. I'm focused on nothing but painting. I was really taken with this birdhouse. It wasn't my first choice of angle. I saw it last night and could have stood in the road to paint it then, but this morning there is too much traffic so I found a spot across the street. I still want to add some barbed wire and correct a few things. I'm also thinking of glazing the background above the fence.

Carol Marine and her family arrived at the campground in the late afternoon. She's a fellow PleinAir member and part of the Painting-A-Day movement. I enjoyed their company and didn't get the birdhouse painted from the road angle.

Day is Done on the Farm

I'm hanging out at Blanco State Park for a few days to paint. I arrived Thursday afternoon, set up camp and painted this scene, just behind my campsite as day was coming to an end. Because of the problems I've had recently painting impasto on loose canvas, I've mounted some of my canvas on 1/4" Baltic Birch. What a difference this support offers as I'm working with my knife.

Bull Creek #1

This little area of Bull Creek is a favorite spot for many kids. We arrived early. I scooped out this spot in the middle of the creek. This was a challenge for me. I want to come back several times to try again. This is progress, the last time I went to an area of Bull Creek I scraped my painting off before I left.