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Have been outdoors at Fall City, and the UW Horticultural Center, for the past two sessions of the Evergreen Assoc. of Fine Arts Plein Air painting group. Weather is starting to change to fall here in Seattle so it's getting a little cloudier but we lucked out and didn't rain on us the past two Wednesdays outside.
The first work is 6x12, painted after I got home as the on-site work didn't satisfy me but the fog in the mountains behind the farm where we painting at Fall City fascinated me.
The second work is an 8x10 painted at the horticultural center where I emphasized the water lilies at the shore's edge. This is the view looking north from the water's edge. It's a great viewpoint and I did several works last year facing west and south.
I attended the Snoqualmie Arts Commission Plein Air paint out Saturday, August 17. My 8x10 work, Snoqualmie Falls, won the first place prize of a $200 purchase award, and the image will be on the poster for next year's event. My summer of outdoor painting served me in good stead as I did 3 works in the 6 hours so the judges had a good selection. Although I see a spot or two I'd like to touch up, I feel I captured the mists from the cascading falls so it's successful to me in that respect.
The local Seattle weather this summer has been fantastic, some say the best in 40 years, so the outdoor painting has been great. Here are some images from my recent painting trips. The top two are the Snoqualmie River, 25 miles east of Seattle. First is looking north, other west toward the mountains. These two are 8x10, and painted as part of the Snoqualmie Arts Commission Plein Air contest. (See my winner above) Yes, I did three works in the 6 hours of the competition.
It's all in the method. I first block in the composition and large shapes, usually with orange paint where the green of the trees will be. Then, I add blue and white for the sky and river highlights, until all the white of the canvas is covered. I'll put in a few of the darkest areas at this stage too to get the contrasts I need. This quick start, and the fast setup of the water soluble oils, gives me a decent hour or more to put in the details. While the underpainting sets, I mix a range of greens and other tans and oranges as appropriate on my palette. I can then lay in the major smaller color areas, and finish with details and highlights. The northwest has an infinite range of greens in the landscape so I try to work in 8-10 of these variations into these works to show this variety.
Bottom two are the Tolt River, also about 25 miles from Seattle. Both are 6x8.
Took a vacation trip to California and did a couple of small works there, 5x7. The top one is the view out my hotel window in Rincon, Cal. There were vineyards up the hill, the middle ground in this image. Below are two coastal views. I like the color variety I worked into the bottom one.
Our EAFA group was out painting at Lake Joy, about 30 miles east of Seattle. I did an 8x10 distance view of the lake and mountains, but also took a few photos of the lake and since I love water lilies, I did a larger, 16x20, at home the next day. Here are the two images. The top image is a little light, the photographer's (me) fault. LOL.
Have been outdoors painting in the Seattle sunshine, although seems our painting days on Wednesdays do end up with clouds in the morning. Here are some new views.
The top three are views from Edmonds Bracken's Landing, or the Ferry terminal area. I varied the underpainting in top two yet did the same view, with much different color choices. Below that is the bath building at the beach. These are all 8x10.
The bottom work is a 6x8 of another view at Edmonds, a beach cove, showing the cloudy sky.
The 4rd work, also 8x10, is at the Maltby Flower World park.
Here are two outdoor works, one from Eugene, Oregon, of the river running through town, and the other from Bob's Corn and Pumpkin Farm in Snohomish. I finished both in the studio however, but the results were worth it. Both are 8x10.
