"Olive" is one of the commission paintings I did recently. They own another really nice Porsche named "Roberto" and I painted that one too.....but, evidently,....I took no picture of the finished painting in the rush to get them in the mail!!...Rats!!..
Next in the Arboretum series. The challenge was painting the glow of the leaves in the indirect , suffused light of an overcast, Northwest day. I had to dial down the background values enough so that the application of the cad. red and yellow leaves would pop. Sold
I did a 6x8 oil sketch of this runner to work out composition for a larger painting.....maybe 16x20.....I'm loving all the rich color in the fall leaves and grass.
Just before we went to Hawaii I spent the day walking all through the Arboretum by the University of Washington. It was a cool, overcast, Northwest day and I took lots of images to work from. Well,....it looks like I'm going to do a series of paintings from those photos. I have completed three so far. This is the first one ...of the Mountlake Cut , where they have the rowing competition in the summer.
Finally back in the studio after some time off to honeymoon in beautiful, sunny and WARM Hawaii...We had a blast!...=]....I'll be working from some of my pictures taken on the island of Kauai soon but wanted to finish this painting of Clear Lake that was on the easel before I left. This image was taken in July, at Camp High Rock when Annie and I served as cabin counselor and nurse at a camp for the kids off the Yakima Indian reservation.
The full scale sketch done with markers on white paper.
Not sure if I improved this painting....the original was a bit dark and without a real focal point so I threw it on the easel after a cup of strong Starbucks coffee and started to play with it...(Don't try this at home!)....I think the new version has more for the viewer to work with.....
The original version
Some of you may remember this painting from 07......I have pulled it out of the closet ....finally!.....and finished it. I have been spending some time finishing or reworking old paintings and I will share those in my next few posts......Kinda got behind with the blog....what with shows, commissions, ...being sick...=/.....AND THE BIG WEDDING!....Annie and I will be married on Sunday!!=].. In fact, this painting was from an image that I took on one of our first dates before Ann went to Uganda.
I love this coffee pot and have painted it several times. The reflections of light are always a challenge and a joy to paint.
Loving the beautiful fall colors.....they are brief here in the Pacific Northwest...and rain is on the way. I would love to seize the moment but am committed to Arts in the Woods second day!...=]...Come on over if you can , it will be a beautiful day to tour art studios..
I received such a good response from "Bell Town" I decided to try another smaller study from a different angle.
I tried another little painting of the field outside and it just didn't work.....so I scraped it and just played around until this happened ........I think it's interesting........
Sometimes I spend the whole day at the studio without a plan of attack or any inspiration. I usually end up walking in circles and not getting anything done. One day this week was like that.....At the end of the day I sat down, prayed briefly and then turned my easel towards the window and painted the field outside. I consider this insignificant little study an answer to prayer and a confirmation from my Best Friend.
My son Maury is going to school at the Art Institute of Seattle for game design. This little sidewalk cafe is in Belltown near AIS. When I am walking through the city ...or just about anywhere......I snap pictures with my pocket digital. I don't even look at what I'm taking till I get home and then go through and delete all the junk and keep anything that looks promising. I liked the perspective of the red umbrellas in this shot.
Me and Annie were sitting in the sun watching a gentleman feed the seagulls on the ferry to Seattle awhile back. I pulled out the ever ready pocket camera and took some shots of the seagulls in flight. The images were really blurry but that's OK! I'm not a photographer, I'm a painter...=]
I did a small study for this painting awhile ago. The Ohio series is done for now and I'm back to painting cityscapes for an upcoming show in the Frodel gallery at Westsound Academy that will be in December.
We spent a few days with my aunt Carol in Lansing Ohio....This was a view from her back stoop of the alley behind the house. My Grandma and Grandpa lived a few houses down the same street.
I have one more Ohio painting to post and then I'm done with this series......pretty sure.......Cows are just too much fun to paint! These are Holsteins.....ready for milking!...hanging out in the green pastures of southwest Ohio. The challenge was adding interest in the foreground grass by varying color, texture and brush stroke.
Prelim sketch
Orville is the little town where Annie's folks live in southeast Ohio. I saw this locomotive parked on the tracks in a side train yard as we were walking to town to find the library .....and a good coffee shop....=].....I'm not sure if someone is trying to restore this train or it has been forgotten and left as a relic of the past.....It was fun trying to paint her as if she were still in service......the lonely train whistle sounding on the way to some distant destination.
From the sketchbook.....
Finally got a decent picture of this painting. Another one of the interesting barns from Ohio.
The big freeze is coming...better paint the flowers while I can..I put these in a vase by the window and painted them for warm ups....=]
I picked a few wild pears from the field outside the studio to do some little warm up paintings. It's nice to get started painting from life before diving in to the larger landscapes when your working from photos and sketches. I attempted to match the amazing green in these pears by mixing viridian with cad yellow and titanium white.
This painting was done from a very vague photograph which I intentionally used to keep the painting impressionistic..I'm not quite sure I have conveyed enough information to make a good painting yet. I will probably go back into this one at some point.
The preliminary sketch. Two Amish boys walking down the road in Holmes county Ohio.
This is a scene I remember flying down the highway through the cornfields in Ohio as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.
I have been preoccupied with a commission painting that is testing my skills and causing me to experiment with some different techniques. I won't be able to share that painting for awhile so there will be some delays in posting. Thanks for your patience.....
We took a side trip to Indiana to stay with my cousin Sandy and her husband Rich. They have forty acres of corn and soybeans.....a small farm by Indiana standards.....We passed OCEANS of corn and soybeans on our way.....and lots of barns!
We spent one day just driving around taking pictures of all the farms. The weather was perfect and the light and shadow patterns kept me clicking away.....More barns to come....=]
This is one of the Amish farms we got to visit in Ohio. They sold beautiful hand made baskets.
There are LOTS of barns in Southeastern Ohio and I took TONS of pictures of them so be ready for a lot of barnyard scenes. This one is in the little town of Berlin.(emphasis on the "Ber") in the heart of Amish country. We stopped at a little cheese factory called "Heini's and I took the reference photo for this painting from the parking lot. ..............Yes......believe it .....Heini's cheese factory.....=]
It's good to be back to my daily painting routine after traveling through Ohio meeting Annie's family and introducing her to mine. Many of the paintings I am working on now are from the pictures and sketches I made there.
The last painting I did from my images from Whidby Island. 8x10 oil on panel
It was wonderful visiting relatives and my new family in Ohio. We spent several days touring Amish country in Holmes county Ohio and I am anxious to get started on the sketches and images I took.
I forgot this little painting from the images taken on Whidby Island this summer when the poppies were in bloom.
I took a break from my island series to paint the bees on the lavender just outside the studio doors. Leigh has done a great job landscaping the studio grounds and I often see her puttering in the garden. Arts in the Woods is coming up in November, the 13th, 14th and 15th here in Poulsbo......Don't miss the Knowles studio!....and the many other fine studios and talented artists on the tour......for more info check the Cultural Arts Foundation website..
This van sits at the boatyard in Port Townsend. It is being used to keep a compressor out of the weather..........Had to paint it.....
A studio painting from one of the images on Orcas Island........Again, drawn to the light and shadow. The color and textures.......There is much beauty in the blight....
Back to the paintings I did on location in the San Juans . This one is on Shaw Island at a beautiful spot the locals call "Cedar Rock", which is now property owned by the University of Washington.
Okay, last watercolor for awhile........This was done from one of the images taken while I was plein air painting on location..........I kept waiting for a clear shot without people in it and couldn't get one........but I think the figure adds interest with the cast shadow...
More from the San Juan Island trip....This is the view from the ferry as you arrive on Shaw Island.
Another view from the dock. The stark white building and boat against the dark water and trees was intriguing to me.....especially for watercolor.
My friend and christian brother, J Matt Miller. We had a great time getting out and painting together!...Thanks for your hospitality Matt! 
Me with my traveling paint gear, heading to location.......My new job!! 
