New Spokane River painting

I've had out of town visitors so doing more photography than painting. Finally finished this image of downtown Spokane, Washington. Did an earlier version and didn't like it and still had a lot of trouble with it but finally brought it to a reasonably satisfactory solution. It's 16x20. Th scene is the falls which run through town as the river comes into a power plant.

Have enrolled in an outdoor painting group for August, the best bet for good weather here in Seattle, so hoping to produce some good studies on-site and then turn these into some nice larger works in the studio.

New Kauai Painting

Here is a 12x16 new oil painting of a valley in Kauai. I did a somewhat similar scene with the palette knife and now this one is brushed in with a lot of detail. Almost done but might do a few touchups again to get the light and dark contrasts a little stronger.

Had jury duty for a day and a half and ended up only waiting around so finished a Chuck Close art biography. These stories of successful artists really motivate me to get to work.

Nihau Island Painting

Did a trip on Kauai to Waimea Park and from the top you can see Hihau Island in the distance. There is red dirt and gray dirt on the hillside as the topography is mixed. The market the red dirt T-shirts but I guess no one wants grey dirt.

This is a 12x16 oil where I'm using brushes again after a period of palette knife painting. This one is more toward the realistic side versus the more impressionist works I often do. Each subject speaks to me differently and I go with the flow.

New Hawaii Painting

This is a 16x20 painting from our trip to Wailua falls. Part was by kayak, then we walked along the river to the falls. This image caught the light shining through the trees along the river. I have several more images from this trip to work on that I like so stay tuned.

Kauai Valley

Another painting from my Kauai trip. This was a valley seen from a viewpoint between Poipu and Eleele, where we went to the gym. It's an 8x10 done in the thick style I like for such scenes.

Kauai Paintings

Back from a short vacation and painted a few images from the trip. First is an 8x10 oil sketch of the beach where we went swimming. Next two are further down the beach where it was rocky. These are both 12x16, one using brushes and the other mainly palette knife. Wanted to try both techniques on the same image. Both are almost done I think except for some final touchups once drier.

New Tulip Study

A small, 8x10, tulip study trying out some canvas pads that I will use when I travel to save weight. These are a new product with primed canvas in a pad of 10 sheets. If the result is good, I can then glue down the canvas to a good backing board to save it. It's a cheap way to do quick studies and experiment too without worrying about wasting materials.

These are rows of white tulips, then yellow, and another row of white in the distance against some nice white barns. Not sure if I will do a larger version. The front 2/3's is done with the palette knife while the sky is painted in with brushes. I'm going to an art critique class that doesn't like my palette knife work as much so am alternating with brushes although the first result was poor in that my canvas was too porous and rough so I destroyed the result although it was good practice getting back to the brush work again. Amazing how different the two techniques, brush and knife, are. Almost have to relearn the brush work again. It's all good though as long as I keep working.