Catching up on outdoor painting posts

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.