Reporting from the Field...

This is the last weekend of the Boulder Parks and Open Spaces Plein Air painting portion of the event. Artists were given special permits to some areas that are not normally open to the public. I have been very busy producing my pieces, this is a photo taken last Sunday at Hall Ranch in Lyons. My wife and son accompanied me and hit the trail while I painted. This also shows my compact gear: It all fits in a backpack, but I took a portfolio as well as I am using some larger panels.
Painting on site is always such a joy! In some of the outings, I joined other painters, which made it even more fun! I'll be sharing some of the resulting sketches and paintings in upcoming posts.

The Greens of Summers Past

The Greens of Summers Past, watercolor on Yupo, 20x26

Nowadays, Summer arrives with the sound of children on vacation playing in the neighborhood... Thinking back of younger years my summers were also filled with the sounds of friends playing in the back yard or on the streets, but also the loud noise of cicadas, the warm, humid air of southern Brazil and the intense, unforgiving green of the landscape. It was in this nostalgic, peaceful mood that I painted my latest creation on Yupo synthetic paper, of a scene in a park near my sister's home in Castro, Brazil. It was based on a study I did on my sketchbook. Simpler days that can still inspire...

This painting was done with only four colors, and only one green. I took advantage of the variations allowed by the color green apatite genuine from Daniel Smith to create a range of greens. When applied very densely, this color is very dark. I layered a thick coat all over the colored areas, and later painted back into some sections with clear water, diluting the pigment to lighter, warmer greens to create the main tree and other features. The sky and the house and the highlights in the water reflections were all lifted back to white, in a negative shaping process akin to carving. I'm including below a detail, to show some of the textural effects of the color on Yupo, some intentional, some less controlled.

Boulder County Plein Air Art Exhibit

This a recent plein air study done on location in North Boulder, celebrating the fact that the weather is more friendly nowadays, and that I have been accepted into the first Boulder Country Plein Air Art Exhibit. The 16 selected artists will be doing their paintings in June, and the exhibit will be held from August 1st to September 3rd, in two different locations, in Boulder and Longmont. Four guest artists will also add four paintings each to the show, for a total of 80 pieces portraying the beauty and variety of the local open spaces, from lakes to museums to mountains.

The painting above was done with a single brush, a squirrel mop size 6, on a 18x12 sheet of Fabriano Artistico rough paper. All the colors are M. Graham: ultramarine blue, cobalt violet, yellow ochre, cobalt teal, viridian, burnt sienna, permanent alizarin crimson, and burnt umber. I used a lot of drybrush to bring out the textures of bark, ground and rock.

Hazy Lazy Morning Light! (Part 2)

In my previous post, I told the story behind the painting Hazy Lazy Morning Light. I painted it on my birthday. I didn't have a lot of time, so I had to work very fast, which explains why some things didn't go as planned. Here's how the process of painting it went:

1. I started with a light drawing on Fabriano Artistico 140lb rough natural white paper. I wetted the top of the sheet, placed a light wash of Indian yellow (Daler-Rowney) and dropped in some quinacridone rose (M. Graham), cobalt turquoise (W&N) and permanent olive green (Schmincke).

2. I applied cerulean blue (W&N) mixed with some quinacridone burnt orange (Da Vinci) for the background trees, and mixed some ultramarine finest (Schmincke) with the previous colors to create the darker areas, trying for a continuous shape.

3. I painted the boats and the reflections in one go, using varied mixes of the same colors as above. I worked around the white details of the top of the boats. I overworked the reflections, they should have been simpler.

4. I used some masking tape to cover some areas, applied water and lifted a little with a moist brush, to indicate the light through the trees.

5. I overdid the lifting, should have been only one or two areas... At this stage I also darkened some of the areas around the house with ultramarine finest and added more Indian yellow.

6. Throughout, I used only two brushes, a squirrel mop #6 and a kolinsky round #12 for the details. The planning and concept took quite a while, but the painting was completed in a few hours, just in time to get ready and head over to Golden for the opening reception of the CWS State Show.

Hazy Lazy Morning Light! (part 1)

A year ago, I was in Ireland on a business trip and took a side trip from Dublin through the Wicklow Mountains, on my way to Kilkenny. My intention was to see some sights and do some paintings on site.

I spent the first night in the beautiful village of Graiguenamanagh, in an Inn by the river Barrow. I woke up very early in the morning, and opened my third-floor window to a wonderful view of sunshine through the mist and boats lined along the river all the way to the old stone bridge. I don't know how long I spent bent over the window sill looking in every direction, snapping photos, taking it all in. By the time I did take notice, I was freezing in the March morning air, in my shorts only, I could not feel my ears, my fingers could hardly press the shutter button anymore. I had to make some hot tea and get back under the covers to warm up again. As they say: Beware of wonder... Later that morning, after breakfast, much warmer, I went out and completed a painting on site.

The reference for this painting was one of the many photos I took from the window that morning. My next post will include the step by step progression of the painting.

Hazy Lazy Morning Light, watercolor on paper, 16x12

Award at WAS-H 34th International Exhibit

I learned I received the Board of Directors award at the Watercolor Art Society - Houston 34th International Exhibit, which is currently being held in Houston. This is a great incentive, and even greater honor considering that the juror was John Salminen, whose work I hold in the highest regard. The awards ceremony was last Friday, unfortunately I could not attend in person. The list of winners is now posted in the WAS-H website. The show is open until April 15th.

CWS 2011 State Exhibit Opening Reception

My painting "Grattan Bridge" (detail on the left) will be featured in the Colorado Watercolor Society 20th State Watermedia Exhibit, which opens this Friday at the Foothills Art Center, at 809 Fifteenth Street, in Golden, Colorado.

The exhibit showcases 80 Colorado artists, selected by juror Soon Warren of Fort Worth, Texas.

The opening reception will start at 6:30 and is open to the public.
It is also my birthday... an extra reason for you to join us and celebrate!