"LaConner Dike" plein air , oil, landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"LaConner Dike" 8x8 oil on panel        Sold

After I finished the Irrigation Ditch there was still time and the light was getting better so I just turned the easel around and painted in the opposite direction. This was the last Skagit County painting I did on this trip...but....I headed back a week later to do a workshop requested by some of the PAWA painters who live in that area!  So I still have some Skagit paintings and adventures to share.

 BTW, If you live in The Pacific Northwest and are interested in taking a workshop from me , it just takes five brave souls to make it happen!. If you can get five passionate painters together (beginners welcome!) I will come to your area and share all my tips on plein air painting!..=]
Email me at    robinweiss@earthlink.net    for more info.

Happy painting!

"Irrigation Ditch" LaConner series, plein air, oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Irrigation Ditch" 12x16 oil on canvas       Sold

I'm still on my LaConner series and having trouble finding time to post consistently because I am off on other plein air painting adventures! But will try again to get current!  This is a spot Mark showed me and we both set up to paint in different directions. I chose this irrigation ditch as a nice lead in to the scene. I also punched up the color in the field to make it a little more juicy....I had my french easel too and tried a larger canvas. In fact, I used an old painting and worked this scene over it. You can do that if you lightly sand the old surface so the new paint adheres.........One thing I hate to do is store old paintings that don't sell and I have moved on from..

"Evening Grace" Church in Conway, plein air, oil painting by Robin Weiss.

"Evening Grace" Conway Lutheran Church  10x10  $425

Mark Bistranin painting the church in Conway

After the group show at the Seaside Gallery, I got to spend some time with Mark Bistranin. Turns out we have a lot in common besides painting.  One of the great bonuses of participating in PAWA events and traveling around painting in new places is the potential of meeting people and making new friends. Mark liked the Conway Church painting and we decided to go out and paint it again together .....Another great bonus of making new friends in new places....they often know the best locations and the folks that live in the area.  Mark knew the folks who own the field behind the church and they gave us permission to paint the view from that direction!  

"Skagit River View"  8x10 oil on panel         SOLD

As I have said before, I love the Skagit valley! There are paintings in every direction!  After I finished the painting of the Conway Church, all I did was turn 180 degrees and start this piece of the Skagit river right behind me. I was drawn to the atmospheric distance of the far hills, the reflection in the water and the vertical element of the cottonwood trees in the middle ground.
 I'm starting to get a little routine going after these painting trips, one of which is to set the paintings up when I get home and study where I can improve each piece ..or not...In the case of the Conway Church, I did very little.  In the Skagit River painting,  I worked it over adjusting value and hue problems pretty extensively with the photos I took on location.
 I also thought at the time that this would make a good location for a workshop with parking and different subjects to paint ...As it turned out I was able to come back a week later and teach five eager students at this spot!!  I'll post about that adventure a bit later.  BTW, postings on my blog are currently running about three weeks late..my facebook postings are more recent...=]
  Suns out!   I better get painting!

"Conway Lutheran Church" LaConner plein air oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Conway Lutheran Church" 12x12 plein air, oil on panel  $525

I headed back up to LaConner after the group show to connect with Mark Bistranin and to do some painting on my own.  This church in Conway was my first stop. I had been passing it frequently and knew it would make a great painting in the morning light.

underpainting

  There was a perfect spot for me to pull off the road and set up on the dike for a good view of the church.  In this picture you see my underpainting to sketch in the composition and set value transitions.

Step two

In this pic I am filling in the color. Starting with the darkest values of the roof and shadow areas and along the entire horizon line. Then I come in with the lightest sky values and paint around the darks paying close attention to my edges and keeping the color clean. After that I will move down the painting , modeling the grasses and using the drive into the parking lot as a lead into the painting.

"Rosario Beach" Deception Pass State Park, plein air oil painting by Robin Weiss

Rosario Beach 8x12 oil on panel    Sold

One of the state parks we went to was Deception Pass, which has several areas that you can enjoy. We ended up at Rosario Beach. I have never been to this area before and was taken by the beautiful views of the strait.

I attempted two other paintings at the park this day and ended up scraping them both!..One was this boat setting at a little dock which I thought was a good idea at the time..Oh well . Not every painting is a masterpiece..

I tried one more at the end of the day and just didn't have the gas to get er done.... Too much hiking  and eating and having fun talking to everyone .

Sometimes , when paintings are not working for you it's best to stop and redirect. Just enjoy the awesome beauty of Gods creation. Take a few deep breaths , give yourself some space and trust that the inspiration will come back to you the next day.

After all you have some well "toned" canvases to start with!..=]

"View of Cultus Mountain" LaConner , plein air painting by Robin Wiess

"View of Cultus Mountain" LaConner  8x12 oil on panel  Sold

The LaConner area is a plein air painters paradise!  Not only are there paintable views in every direction , there are also lots of places to pull off the road and set up.  I found this spot just past the round-about at the end of Morris Street.

I came back here twice, once at the end of the day when the late afternoon sun was setting the landscape a-glow....I'll have to try that one from the photo......but the more I paint outside the less I want to use photos!...=]

"LaConner Boats" plein air, marine scape, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"LaConner Boats"  9x12 oil on linen panel    Sold

When we first arrived in LaConner, Ann,  Paula Ensign and I did a quick scout of the town. I decided on this spot. A great view of the boats and the orange bridge from the deck of a building that is not in use.

I used a canvas that was re-purposed from a former failed attempt at plein air painting.....Feel like I redeemed myself a bit with this painting!

"Indian Slough" LaConner, plein air, oil , landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Indian Slough"  6x8 oil on panel. Sold

Since my last post a lot of plein air painting has been happening!! First of all the Plein Air Washington Painters had a group show at the Seaside Gallery in LaConner Washington.

PAWA group show at the Seaside Gallery

The show was hosted by the good folks at the Seaside Gallery.
Mark Bistranin, Mark Conley and Dave Nichols. Each fine artists and great guys!

We all brought a few studio paintings and some plein air work for the show on Saturday night. My painting "Tulip Time" sold among others that night!



The plan for this PAWA event was to have the group show on Saturday, then paint all the next week and have a wet painting show the following Saturday.

 A quick demo for Christine at Bayview State Park

We visited two state parks as a group and then I did some more painting in and around Laconner on my own... I have a lot of paintings and photos to post from this trip so stay tuned!...All in all it was a great week.

By the way,  Ann and I stayed at The Wild Iris  bed and breakfast , which I highly recommend if you want a romantic get-away  in a great little town!...=]

"Window Shopper" oil, crow painting by Robin Weiss

"Window Shopper" 8x6 oil on panel  Sold,.. kinda

I'm always taking pictures of crows....and even though they sell really well I don't often paint them...My friend Leigh uses crows in her artwork all the time and sells a lot of them. I had the photo ref for this painting laying around the studio for a long time and picked it up last week for a warm up piece. As soon as I posted the thing on facebook it sold!.....I can't figure out what it is about crows!....Anyway. I painted another one and if you are interested you can still buy this painting!....It's a little different but pretty close.. How can you  pass up a crow painting!...=]

If I sell this one I'm going to paint another....just to see how far this will go..I may end up painting a "murder" of crows...


What’s a murder of crows?
A group of crows is called a “murder.” There are several different explanations for the origin of this term, mostly based on old folk tales and superstitions.
For instance, there is a folktale that crows will gather and decide the capital fate of another crow.
Many view the appearance of crows as an omen of death because ravens and crows are scavengers and are generally associated with dead bodies, battlefields, and cemeteries, and they’re thought to circle in large numbers above sites where animals or people are expected to soon die.
But the term “murder of crows” mostly reflects a time when groupings of many animals had colorful and poetic names. Other fun examples of “group” names include: an ostentation of peacocks, a parliament of owls, a knot of frogs, and a skulk of foxes.

"Scotch Broom and Firs" oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

Scotch Broom and Firs 12x8 oil on panel  Sold

Heading to the freeway entrance one day last week my attention was arrested (as often happens) by this view of the tall fir trees on the hill surrounded by the scotch broom in full bloom. Some folks don't like the scotch broom....I'm not sure what to think about it except that I almost always use it in compositions for color notes and contrast when it is out in the early summer....I have heard that Washington State has given up trying to eliminate it. Apparently it was introduced from Europe in the 1850's for erosion mitigation and quickly dispersed around the country. 

"House on the Hill" plein air landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"House on the Hill" 12x9 oil on linen   Sold

So I organized a workshop and went back out to the property to paint. This time I moved to the other side of the house and down the hill a bit to give a high horizon, which I like and use a lot.

Me with Susan Ogilvie and her  painting

About a week later I hosted the workshop with two eager students, Nicole Galinas and Susan Ogilvie, who made my job easy with their great attitudes and smiling faces even though it rained off and on all day! 


See Susan's artist page on Facebook Here

Nicole at work

See Nicoles website Here

Susan and Nicole

Susan and Nicole went to school together at The Northwest College of Art. Susan is a children's book illustrator. Nicole is a graphic designer and she made a little video of me demonstrating my technique for plein air painting. You can see it on Vimeo Here

"Abandoned House" plein air, oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Abandoned House" 12x8 oil on panel  Sold

I found a great old abandoned house on a perfect piece of property for giving workshops or general painting! Cool old house, old shed, lilac bushes and lots of fields and fruit trees...There was a realtor sign on it with a phone number so I called just to see.....and I got hold of the owner! and he said; "Just email me a release of liability for injury and you can paint all you want" ....... Score!!

I did this painting on the spot and started thinking about getting the word out to do a workshop....which I did....which I will post soon....with video!...=]

"Cloud Study" plein air landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Cloud Study" 8x8 oil on panel     sold

Alison Barry emailed me and wanted a lesson on painting clouds so we went up to the open fields by the Walmart on the hill. This place is great! When the money meltdown happened all the proposed big box stores pulled out and left some great open fields with views of distant bays and even Mt Rainier!


Alison is getting to be a very good painter! Pretty soon I will be asking her for pointers! You can see her beautiful paintings HERE

The clouds were perfect that day for painting and I think we both got some good practice in.  The day was so nice we walked over to the Frog Pond to do another painting. I'll post that one soon...Alison said "Are there frogs in there?"  "You bet!"  "I'll have to bring my boys here!"  And that brought a smile to my face as I remembered all of my frog hunting days when I was a kid.......

"Spring Apple" plein air landscape painting by Robin Weiss"

"Spring Apple"  6x6 oil on panel      Sold

Studio clouds out my window

I have been working at the Knowles Studio for almost five years now. Sometimes I take the place for granted....other times I take a deep breath , look around and thank God for the amazingly beautiful place I get to work and the sweet friends I have made there...who are really like family now. Pretty cool!  That said, this little painting is yet another view out my studio window....It's spring and the apple trees are in bloom...Well, they're about over now...(I'm always running about three weeks late on this blog...if you want up-to-date stuff (real time) friend me on facebook!..=)

"Horse Thief Lake" plein air landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Horse Thief Lake" 6x10 oil on panel  Sold

This is the last painting I did on the Columbia River trip. I'm already looking forward to the next paint-out!

If you get the chance to explore the Columbia River gorge, don't miss it! The river goes through something like seven climate zones from desert to rain forest and has some of the most stunning views in the state of Washington.

"Columbia River Bluffs" Plein air , oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Columbia River Bluffs"  8x12 oil on panel         Sold

I found a spot down on the river to do this study. The day was hot but I was able to keep cool by soaking my bandana in the river and tying in on under my hat.

Paula Ensign's painting of me painting

Paula Ensign did a good job in her beautiful painting of capturing me working on mine!

view from my picnic table

Next day the plan was to meet up river at Columbia Hills State Park .  The rest stop where I parked my van for the night ended being such a good location, with such stunning views of the river that I spent the early morning painting there.

"Rest Stop Wild Flowers" 8x10 oil on panel  $330

This is the painting I did at the rest stop. I couldn't resist trying to capture the field of lupine that were
in full color with the cliffs and mountains behind.

"Beacon Rock" State Parks , plein air , oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Beacon Rock" 8x8 oil on panel     Sold

 After my featured artist show closed at The Harbor Steps Gallery in Seattle, I headed out for the scheduled PAWA paint-out in the Columbia River Gorge. Since it was already about 9:00 pm the plan was to get as far as I could and then crash in the van. I made it as far as Battlground by about midnight and pulled into a rest stop for the night. Next morning , a very pleasent and beautiful drive got me to Beacon Rock State park an hour before anyone else arrived!  Of course I set up to do a painting , amazed at the morning light streaming across the river through the trees.

"Morning on the Columbia" 8x12 oil on panel  $375

At Bacon Rock the river sort of splits off the main current and makes a bend around the "Rock" and then re-enters the main river. Beacon Rock is the old core of an ancient volcano. The river has washed away all but the upthrusting lava core. Facing away from the Rock affords this view of the peaceful river winding back into the Gorge bluffs.

Beacon Rock reflection

Susan painting the "Rock"

in progress

 Not to long after I set up folks started arriving and amazed by the beautiful scenery, quickly got started painting!

Paulette's stunning pastel of Beacon rock

Jane Wallis happily painting

Paula Ensigns painting of Beacon Rock

There was plenty of room to set up under the shade of trees to paint when it started getting warmer....and it was warm! We had sunny skies the whole three days.

At the end of the day I was able to take a shower at the state park facility. Refreshed and satisfied with the days work I headed off in search of a place to park the van for the night.  The rest of the party headed for their digs at the White Salmon Inn.

"Crossing Yesler" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Crossing Yesler" 18x24 oil on panel          Sold

"Crossing Yesler is another painting that is available now at The Harbor Steps Gallery in Seattle. If you are interested in this work,  give Summer a call at 206-681-9321 during business hours and she can give you purchasing information.

I used a number of photos taken on location to design this composition. Again, more than paint some "thing" I wanted to paint the "feeling" of the city.
Looking up the history of the locations I paint is fun for me....so I'll share it with you too!

Henry Yesler arrived in Seattle in 1852 and built a steam-powered sawmill, which provided numerous jobs for those early settlers and Duwamish tribe members. The mill was located right on the Elliott Bay waterfront, at the foot of what is now known as Yesler Way and was then known as Mill Road or the "Skid Road," for the way the logs "skidded" down the steep grade from the ever-receding timber line to the mill. In addition to running the mill, Yesler built the city's first water system, in 1854. The system was made up of a series of open-air, V-shaped flumes perched on stilts that started atop First Hill and ran down past Yesler's home and to the mill. Later on, after complaints of dirty water, Yesler developed a system made up of log pipes buried beneath the ground.

Yesler also built the Pioneer Building on the site of his first home, which burned in The Great Seattle Fire of 1889. You can see my painting of the Pioneer Building here, now the center of Seattles Pioneer Square.

"Big City" Seattle City oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Big City" 50x38   Sold

This is the large studio version of a smaller study I did awhile back. It is available through the Harbor Steps gallery , downtown Seattle..... In fact, if you walk into this painting , past the girl and through the portal....you will be on the harbor Steps.....Have a fun night in the city!

"The Early Bird" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"The Early Bird" 8x6 oil on panel     Sold

Just another late night glimpse of city life. I'll let you, the viewer, compose your own story.

This painting sold at Alki Arts The Harbor Steps , a fairly recently opened gallery downtown Seattle, at the corner of University and Western Ave. If you cross the street from the Seattle Art Museum and walk down to the bottom of the Harbor Steps you will find it on the southwest corner.
  I just recently had a featured artist show there. Among my city scenes were also quite a few recent plein air paintings from around our amazingly beautiful state! If you get the chance, stop in and check it out. This is probably my biggest exhibition of paintings to date.

Harbor Steps opening show 2013

A few paintings have already sold so the sooner you go the better chance to see the most work..=]

"The Last Act" Seattle city, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"The Last Act" 9x12 oil on panel    Sold

Painted from a photo taken late evening as I was walking through Pike Place Market on my way to see Maury...That was a third Tuesday night....the night I play guitar at Bread of Life Mission. People who carry guitars around always get a nod from other musicians or guitar carriers.....sort of like bikers..anyhow, this glimpse of play on the stage of life resonated with me.

Getting behind again and lots going on so I'll try and get posting!.....=]  you're so patient...