"The View from Old Gardner Road" oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"The View from Old Gardner Road" 8x10 oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss    SOLD

The weather turned for a few days last week and I got out to the field for some plein air painting. The day started out pretty foggy put cleared up just enough to see some distant tree lines. I love it like this! You don't have to worry about turning your palette out of the sun and the light stays fairly constant until the end of the day which is about 4:00pm right now.

Plein air painting by Robin Weiss

 I headed out towards Sequim thinking about a marsh area by Discovery Bay. On the way I stumbled onto Old Gardner Road and decided to explore. Just what I was looking for! Plenty of room to pull off, nobody around and wide open spaces!

Pochade box designed by Robin Weiss

Before Christmas I started shopping around for a pochade box to give my son Maury. He likes to go out painting with me on occasion and gets stuck with my old french easel....I couldn't believe the cost for these things with all the accessories needed. With the help of my friend Jim Metteer, I designed a box and built two. One for me and one for Maury! It turned out great and uses my innovation of velcro to attach the carry panels to the easel part of the pochade. I posted some of the process on Facebook but since there have been some requests  a pdf of the design will be made available as soon as I get it drawn up...Let me know if you're interested!

"Greg O" oil portrait study by Robin Weiss

"Greg O" 8x8 oil on panel

I've started attending a portrait group on Bainbridge Island with some other talented artists. I feel that Portraits are my most challenging subject and I have procrastinated on it for years.  I am posting this one because it is at least presentable....I've wiped two others.

A book that is helping me right now is "The Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing" by Solomon J Solomon. In it he has very helpful principles for drafting the figure and the head. Of course reading these and applying them are a world of brush miles apart....=]

"The Barn by Egg and I Road" oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"The Barn by Egg and I Road" oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss SOLD

Man, I have been procrastinating on the blog again!  I think it is because I have so much stuff banging around in my head to post about, that I just keep putting it off!  In my effort to get the ball rolling again I will post this warm up study of a photo I took last summer. this is a familiar barn to lots of us who live on the Kitsap Peninnsula.  Its right off the main highway on the way to Port Townsend and right next to a road named for a book that is iconic in our area.

 The Egg and I, first published in 1945, is a humorous memoir by American author Betty MacDonald about her adventures and travels as a young wife on a chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. The book is based on the author's experiences as a newlywed in trying to acclimate and operate a small chicken farm with her first husband Robert Heskett from 1927 to 1931 near Chimacum, Washington. On visits with her family in Seattle, she told stories of their tribulations, which greatly amused them. In the 1940s, MacDonald's sisters strongly encouraged her to write a book about these experiences. The Egg and I was MacDonald's first attempt at writing a book.

First published by the J. B. Lippincott Company on October 3, 1945, The Egg and I received laudatory reviews and soon appeared on the best-seller list. The book was a blockbuster success as a novel, being reprinted on a nearly monthly basis for the next two years.
On September 12, 1946, the specially-bound one-millionth copy of the book was presented to MacDonald by Washington Governor Monrad Wallgren at a luncheon in Seattle

These excerpts were taken from Wikipedia.  I have not yet read the book even though it has been on my bookshelf for about 20 years!  After doing this research I will have to read it!

"Southwest Morrison Street" Portland city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Southwest Morrison Street" 9x12 oil on panel by Robin Weiss Sold

This old building was lit aglow by the afternoon sun....Had to paint it! 

"Powell's Books" Portland city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Powell's Books" 12x9 oil on panel by Robin Weiss Sold

An iconic institution and destination in Portland Oregon, almost everyone who has been to the city has browsed the four floors and almost endless aisles of  books at Powell's. The art books are on the fourth floor. I can get lost up there and just camp out in the aisle..=]...There is also a great cafe downstairs where you can bring your treasures and drink good coffee while you read....That's a satisfying afternoon in my book!

Sometimes it's hard to tell while in the process, just what will bring that extra spark of magic to a painting....but when you get it, you know it...and the gallery owner knows it ...and the collectors know it..Sometimes it is just a stroke or two, maybe a value/ hue change to an area or shadow..I set this one aside for awhile , not sure I could pull off that spark...sometimes I just can't figure it out...Then, while working on another painting I mixed up some pure , intense , color with just a bit of white to heighten the value but not kill the chroma and added it to the tree on the left that is caught in the strong afternoon light...I added some touches to the figures as well.....I think that did it.....?

"Bluster" Portland city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Bluster"  10x8 oil on panel by Robin Weiss SOLD

I still have the "crud"  and I'm still working my way through the Portland photos from our anniversary visit in November.  The first night we were there was just like this, all blustery with rain and wet reflections...I love it like this! ...and then we got sun which is okay too I guess....

I spent about two hours on google street view trying to locate and name the streets where I captured some of these scenes. I found some,.. others remain nameless.....I have no idea where in the city this is...Lesson:.. I need to keep better records in my sketch book!

"Waterfront Park" Portland city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Waterfront Park" 8x10 oil on panel by Robin Weiss   sold

This is my first painting done in 2013!  I'm really looking forward to all the painting adventures coming up this year!

My wife Ann and I went to Portland, Oregon for our anniversary and fell in love again with the Rose City! We had one day of rain and two days of glorious sun! I took lots of photos and am working through them while I am sick with a pretty tenacious upper respiratory thing going on....plus the weather here is back to rain/slush/cold..They say the days are getting longer...they also said December was the darkest month in our recorded history here in Seattle...somehow the weather folks can track the amount of radiation daily...Anyway...It will be nice to sit in the warm sun again!!  Here's wishing you all the best in 2013!

"South on Second" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"South on Second" 20x20 oil on canvas by Robin Weiss  $1000

Still continuing to catch up on paintings completed in 2012!!  Sheesh!  Why didn't I get this done earlier!

Cold and clear today! One of the best times to be in Seattle in the Pacific Northwest!!  I'll be posting my first painting done in 2013 soon....after I tie up all the loose ends!

"Winter Fir" plein air oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Winter Fir" 8x6 oil on panel by Robin Weiss  sold

We did have a little snow in Dec. and I took the opportunity to paint a small study looking out the studio window. I have painted this fir tree before as the scene changes with the seasons. Although I still have a few paintings to post that were completed in 2012 I am looking forward to a new year of creating artwork and meeting new friends in 2013! Wishing you all the best of Gods blessings in the new year!