Through the Wind Break (watercolor 11 x 15) $200.00

I’m just back from an extended vacation that took  me across eastern Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, The Black Hills of South Dakota, Montana, and  the northwest corner of Nebraska.  These paintings come from that northwest corner of Nebraska,  at Fort Robinson State Park, where my Mother’s family held its family reunion this June.

The cavalry fort was once known as the country-club of the army because of the polo field, golf course, swimming pool, gymnasium and horse trails in and around the camp.  The swimming pool and the horse trails remain for the use of  park visitors.  My paintings depict what was once the polo field and is now pasture for both horses and long-horns.  We hiked into the bluffs and I may do some more detailed painting of them this summer.

I made my first sketch of the field from the shade of our house (0nce the officers’ club and lodging for 65).  I made a short job of it as the wind wanted to carry not only the paper, but also my palette, brushes, and everything else away.  My main objective to was to capture the hills as reference for later paintings.   I removed a number of trees from my line of vision.

Sketch of Nebraska Bluffs at Fort Robinson (watercolor 10 x14) $50.00

Back at home, I decided I liked the trees and set about recording them as the main subject.  They reminded me of the view from numerous parks and rest-stops across the plains states where the view is pleasantly interrupted by a wind break.   Here is my first attempt:

The View From Fort Robinson (watercolor 11 x 16) $150

I wasn’t entirely happy with it although various people visiting the gallery while I painted it liked it.  I have trouble with trees.  Either I put in too much detail, or I put in so little they become bland.  The painting also suffers from lack of punch.  There isn’t enough value contrast and the fence interrupts the view without adding to it.  It is unclear whether the trees or the view are the subject.

For my second attempt I let go of realism and tried to paint the feeling of the cool trees with the dry view beyond.  To do this I placed most of the attention on the trees.  I began by masking everything expect the tree shapes.  Then I got out the large brushes and began adding wet juicy areas of raw sienna and new gamge to the tree tops.  I brushed the trunks with burnt sienna.  Then I washed over the damp yellows with cobalt blue, phthalo blue, and French blue (much like cobalt only darker and not as transparent).  I took the blue down the trunks too.  I allowed back washes and other water marks to form.

The resulting trees are less real, but much more interesting, and though they have a flat feeling to them, they convey the sense of light passing between the leaves and branches.

After removing the mask, I added a light cobalt blue sky.  I added some darker patches of blue around the edges of the leaves too.
Then I used the same palette to add the bluffs and grass working carefully to keep the distant hills blue, pale and receded.   FInally, I added a few small touches of orange mixed from burnt and raw sienna to the edges of the trees to bring out the green of the leaves.

I like the results.

I will do the bluffs again later, closer and in more detail.  They were beautiful to hike in.

I may do the Fort itself eventually too.  It is steeped in history beginning in 1873 when Camp Robinson was established to  to protect the Red Cloud Agency.  The agency was then home to some 13,00 Lakota Sioux most of whom were unhappy with the accommodations and the treaty which led to them.    Crazy Horse died during a rebellion there.  About ten years later, the 9th Calvary, an all black unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers were stationed there.  Eventually the Fort became a remount station in WWII, a prisoner of war camp, and a K-9 training camp.  Pieces of all these permutations remain on the site.

Fort Robinson Paintings

Sketch of Nebraska Bluffs $50.00 The View From Fort Robinson $150.00 Through the Wind Break $200.00

Or purchase prints from my Fine Art America Website.

My first attempt show the full height of the falls.  like the sense of scale and the horizontal lines of the upper rocks, but I thought it lacked visual punch.  After looking at it a while, I decided that part of the problem was that the amount of area covered by  medium value rock and the amount of high key fall are almost equal.  Also the falls are almost dead center in the painting.

For my second attempt I came in closer and worked darker for greater contrast with the white water.  I also reversed the image right to left, thereby clarifying the entrance to the painting.  Finally I moved the falls to one side of the painting.

Ring Side Seats (watercolor 14 x 20) reserved for La Salles Show

To create the falls themselves I used a lot of liquid mask.  I began flipping tiny drops of mask onto the falls.  Then I washed the area with highly diluted phthalo blue.  When I removed the mask the area looked white, but the even whiter dots gave it some sparkle.  Then I masked the white areas of the upper falls and began painting in the water and the rock behind it.  I used burnt umber, burnt siena, raw sienna, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, and phthalo blue.  I let the blues predominate.  I worked much darker on Ring Side Seats II than I did on Ring Side Seats I.

After removing the mask, I continued working softening edges and adding paler washes.

I used the same palette for the rocks but emphasizing burnt sienna and raw sienna.

Ring Side Seats I (watercolor 16 x 21) $450.00

Or purchase prints through my print shop at  Fine Art America.

Queen Anne Nods to Shirley Jackson (11 x 15) $150

I set a challenge for myself this week.  The idea was to paint a single subject in a variety of moods.  The subject I choose was Deepwoods Estate, here in Salem.  I took all of the photos for the painting in the same light and although the various aspects of the building gave me different ideas, the photos don’t convey much feeling to me.

Its Greener on the Other Side

Porch reference photo

I began with the front porch. I aimed to emphasize the softness of the light and the romance of the building.  I also wanted to draw the viewer into the painting.

As you can see from my reference photo, my depiction is a little fanciful.  I limited my palate to yellows and blues to mimic the soft shadowy light under the porch and the golden sunlight beyond it.

I think the painting works.  The most common comment about it is that the viewer would like to step through the porch into the garden on the other side.

Turret and Cupola

Turret Reference Photo

Next I painted a detail of the roof-line from in back. This time I tried to contrast the harsh glittering light with the shaded parts of the building.

Because I intended to include many hard lines and less subtle variation in tone I looked for a place where the contrast between light and shade was particularly striking. But I didn’t want it to look like graphic art, so I poured this painting to ensure that the solid expanses of color were lively rather than flat. Once again I exaggerated, the light in the reference photo is not nearly as stark as the light I painted.

I like this painting, but it turned out rather softer than I had intended.  I may try it again with an orange and blue palate.

House Reference Photo

The latest painting in this series is of the whole house.  I’ve always found Victorian and Queen Anne houses a little creepy.  Like wrought iron, they can be both sinister and charming all at once.  On a bright sunny day there is nothing really creepy about the Deepwood House, but it does have a swallowed by the woods feel to it.  Despite a generous lawn, there are few places where you can see the whole house.  Instead what you see is patches of house through the trees.

So in order to bring out the sinister feel of Queen Anne archetecture, I pulled the trees in closer to the house and darkened the edges where the trees and house meet visually.  I also distorted the shape of the house stretching it upwards to about fifteen percent more than it’s real height.  Finally I chose a very earthy palate for such a pristine white house:  burnt sienna, raw sienna, yellow ocher, phthalo blue and cobalt blue.

I poured this painting too because I wanted a lot of variation in tone. But pouring produces hard lines at the edges of the mask. The result had too many hard lines for the shadowy woods.  I did so much scrubbing of the edges, washing over, and detail work that painting doesn’t feel poured to me.  But the more I painted the darker it got.  I finally had to stop for fear the house would no longer read as white.

I showed the finished painting to my husband yesterday.  He said he really liked it, but then added tentatively, “Isn’t it a little eerie?”  Yes, yes it is.  But I don’t think it’s so eerie that it’s a caricature of the house.

Or purchase a print from Fine Art America.com.

A Little Wind and Water (5 x 7) SOLD

Twixt Wind and Water

Yet another little painting I did at the fair. This one is a smaller version of one of my favorite paintings, Twixt Wind and Water. The only thing I didn’t like about the original was the vertical format. I thought the painting would look better with more sea and waves to her left. So I played around with that idea in this smaller version. I do like the extension of the the sea, but I think I made a mistake in showing too much of her right side. If I do a full sized painting of this one again, I will keep the extended horizon but still crop-out most of her right shoulder.

Reference Photo

As you can see, both paintings show a complete change in compositional thinking from when I took the reference photo. Taking the photo, my thoughts were all about the shape of her figure and the rock. But when I looked at the photo up close, I fell in love with the hair spilling out of her braid. That required some rethinking. Looking at the photo again, I’m tempted to include more of her body to increase the feeling of movement.