"North Head Light" oil landscape painting, color study for studio painting by Robin Weiss

"North Head Light" plein air study for a large studio painting.  sold

The day was totally socked in. Realizing that I would not be back to this area any time soon I tried to capture the mood of the place. This 6x10 study doesn't look like much but has done the work of imprinting the scene and color in my mind. Now I will work from photos and sketches for a larger studio painting.....starting with value studies to work out the composition.

North Head Lighthouse value study 6x12 oil on panel

This study was from a photo taken the following day .......much clearer as you can see, but lacks a lot of the drama and mystery of the first day . I think I can combine them for a more defined design with some of the original atmosphere.

North Head Lighthouse value study 8x12 oil on panel

The value study shown here is an even better composition with the lighthouse visible through the mist and the drift wood creating movement into the scene and even a sense of danger and mystery.

On another interesting note....We found this debris. apparently washed across the Pacific ocean  from the tsunami in Japan, a few hundred yards up from this spot on the beach at Cape Disappointment.

"Cape Disappointment" plein air , oil , landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Cape Disappointment" plein air oil painting by Robin Weiss  sold

Lots of events are coming up with The Plein Air Washington Painters this season!  One that I am excited to be a part of is the State Parks Centennial Show. Washington Sate Parks are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and PAWA is partnering with them by hosting many paint-outs in the parks. In Oct through Dec. there will be a juried show exhibited at American Art Company in Tacoma of the work generated by the group. The entries will consist of a plein air painting and the resulting studio painting done from that study.  I am considering the plein air study above for a larger studio painting.

I am really excited about painting the state parks this year and am getting more and more comfortable getting out and painting in all kinds of weather. I have found out that , with oil paint, if it starts to rain you can just dump the water out of your palette and keep going!

North Head Lighthouse

We took so many good pictures on this trip that I can't possibly post them all....But there will be paintings!

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

One of the must-do activities at Cape Disappointment is the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. This was especially interesting to me as I had just finished "Undaunted Courage" about the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Happy Valentines Day!

 My wife Ann and I always like to mix business with pleasure...=]  This painting trip was also our Valentines Day get-away!

"Clear Creek Park" plein air oil painting by Robin Weiss"

Clear Creek Park ,8x10 oil on panel  sold

There is a cool little park near Silverdale that used to be a farm with open fields. The county has turned it into a park with boardwalk trails...I drove over on another overcast day to try and get a painting...after much groaning, scraping , pounding my fists on the ground and other useless antics, this is what I ended up with.

I put the boardwalk into the painting at first as a lead into the scene but it just wasn't working for me ....so I scraped it out..

I've been working on doing more value studies to avoid some of these hit and miss paintings ....A lesson that, apparently, I have to learn over and over again

Robin Weiss in the Artists Painting Artist feature in Plein air Magazine

That very issue was mentioned in the mini article in Plein Air Magazine about a workshop I attended in Montana with my buddy Darrell Anderson, Cathe Gill and Bob Phinney.

Did I mention that my plein air piece "Gordon Painting on Kootenai Creek" was published in Plein air Magazine!!

There it is in full color along with a sketch of Bob Phinney in the March/April edition!

More on the value study stuff in my next post.

"Sawdust Hill Road Barn" plein air, oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Sawdust Hill Rd. Barn"  8x12 oil on canvas Sold

Near us is a side road called Sawdust Hill.  My wife runs up it for exercise...I prefer to drive up....At the top and around the bend is this great farm. I pulled off the road and set up by the fence for this painting. Things were not going well until I loosened up and started to be more expressive with my brush work....then the magic started to happen....

Sawdust Hill Barn

The sheep farmer across the road came over on his John Deer tractor to say hi and see what the heck I was doing..He told me tending sheep is a full time occupation....I believe it!  We parted ways both happy with our chosen professions.

"Port Williams" marine scape oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Port Williams"10x8  Marine scape oil painting by Robin Weiss SOLD

There was still some daylight left after finishing my painting on Old Gardner Rd. so I headed to Sequim (pronounced Squim, silent E ) hoping to find the sun. They say Sequim is in the "Banana Belt" around here and gets the least amount of rain. The sun never came out but I found a good spot to set up by the boat launch at the end of Port Williams Rd.

plein air at port williams

The distant point provided a good focal point and the beach with the driftwood leads the eye to it.  I touched the final painting up in the studio using the photos I took on location.



In this case the original field painting may have turned out better than the studio rework...