Cliche'

Switzer Bridge Study 8x10 Oil

Covered Bridges have been done over and over; even revered painter Richard Schmid has done (magnificently I might add) at least one. Switzer Bridge, in the townlet of Switzer (no traffic light), was destroyed in a flood in 1998 and an exact replica was constructed on the site. Judging from the foundation, it was wisely mounted higher than the original.  Elkhorn Creek, which would have been named Elkhorn River had it been one mile longer, flows under it.   There is a even newer two lane concrete bridge  nearby so you can paint from either side. It's a perfect spot for a plein aire painter to lollygag away a morning, creating yet another, personal, version of this cliche'.

There is Something to Plein Aire

"On Jonabell Farm"

8x10 Oil

This 8x10 Plein Aire was done on Jonabell Farm, Lexington, for a benefit auction for the Woodford County Humane Society.  As usual, I ignored the horses, barns, etc. and went for the water (and the shade). I could have snapped photos and returned to the studio. Staying the course and painting plein aire, I realized, let me understand clearly which trees were in foreground, which farther back, where the reflections were coming from, see clearly the dappled sunlight, in sort, to patiently study the scene. 

I did take reference photos over the course of the two plus hours, and when I looked at them later, I could not make out which trees were in front and which farther back, it was all a 2-dimentional jumble of leaves and branches. By completing the painting on site, I was able to indicate atmospheric perspective more or less correctly. 

While painting, other participating artists came up and we chatted and shared contact information, what else could you want. Cool Beans!! 

Road Trips

Hardin County Snow

9x18 Oil

Making a trip to Nashville on business was a good opportunity, midst a light snowfall and fog, to snap reference photos. Interstates frequently it seems, were carved through farm country affording us all the chance to be suddenly in the middle of sprawling farms.  I've always loved barms and farm machinery, innocently envious of the tranquility and time-worn appeal of buildlings, esppecially those with numerous additions.  It's all grist for the artist's mill. I inserted trees and cows, etc. to complete the composition. Bon Voyage! 

What Not To Paint

Plein Aire painting can be done for it's own sake, to keep one's hand-eye coordination up to snuff, to spend time in the great outdoors, or hopefully to get a completed small painting. But frequently the conditions, expecially light, prevent one from finishing even an 8x10.  It teaches a healthy sense of one's limitations.  When a study comes out strong enough, even in only a few aspects, to urge one to make a larger studio painting, it's exciting.

What I've found is that the more time one spends in front of the subject, the more information is absorbed, albeit much of it unconsciously: direction of light, color of light, shapes, and so forth. Taking reference photos is also important, another source of details.  Pencil thumbnail drawings and an 8x10 study force one to decide what should be included in the painting and what to leave out.

My painting partner and I hiked for almost an hour assessing subjects on a friend's farm, rejecting one scene after another.



This study was painted in full sun and is too dark and the colors too pale. But the composition made it worth using for a larger painting. All kinds of trees, bushes, etc were left out. Studying the reference photos allowed me again to pick and choose, and invent, additional detail and also deepen the shadows and intensify colors.

Ideally, one would like to come back a second time in the same weather and time of day, and do a larger painting. The following day was rainy, so this 12x16 was done in the studio. In the photos, I noticed the low sun streaming through the trees and incorporated this in the painting. It's a good memory of that crisp fall day.

Art "Off the Wall"

Our cooperative gallery, Artists Attic, challenged each of us to create an "Off the Wall" painting or sculpture. A work which was a departure from our normal subjects, style, approach, etc. I responded by doing my traditional landscape but in the form of a Triptych. These traditionally were three-paneled  paintings, typically religious. Nowadays they most often substitute for a single large canvas, which can be hard to stabilize and easier to damage in shipping, etc.

This one recalls our trip to California in July which included excursions to Napa and Sonoma valleys: "South of Sonoma", 12x36 Oil/Canvas.

Big Sky Country

Storm Remnants

12x16 oil (study)

Lexington Kentucky is not known as Big Sky Country, that is reserved for Nebraska, Iowa and points west and north. After recent rains, I was passing by an undeveloped commercial property a half-mile wide and was taken by the sunset. At the easel, eliminating the low buildings and adding some rolling Kentucky farmland nearby and the composition was decided upon. I'm now working on a 20x24 of the same scene and hankering for a trip out west to see more and more of this big sky.  

Everyone's Doing It

Yes, everyone around me is painting cows, spurred on by our resident expert in painting cows. I resisted for months, helped by weeks of rain which put a damper on canvases, paints and my inspiration. So here is my entry in the big sweepstakes..."Knee Deep"  I caught these guys by the side of the road in early morning, backlit to give them more appeal. Of course they interrupted their breakfast and were about to come over and see if I had more of it. Not being a farmer, I jumped back into the car and sped off to the next farm for photo-taking. Altogether a great day!

Knee Deep  oil/board 10x12