Even More Outdoor Work

Because the weather is still great, much of my painting time has been spent outdoors--as noted in other posts. And again this past week I've spent a lot of time outdoors, either sketching here along Druid Hill Creek or at other locations.

Even though it is late September, Druid Hill Creek remains lush with foliage--leaves, stems, vines, roots--tangling along both shores. The trees are almost invisible behind the curtain of leaves. This watercolor is about 5x9. Working on the spot outdoors I painted the abstract patterns, going from larger to smaller to tiny shapes until gradually the creek emerged from the jumble of shapes. After the entire thing dried thoroughly I went back and added texture with a .05mm black technical pen. A lot of shapes are intended as suggestions of foliage masses.

Not far from my studio the Raccoon River winds its way though the center of the city. The river tends to be untamed and the surrounding flood plain has not been developed. One morning last week I worked on a 9x12 oil along the bank of the river. Because I had less than two hours it was critical to me to make each brush stroke count. I toned the canvas with a thin wash of an earth red and then painted the bend in the river, beginning with the cool light of the sky, then the distant trees, followed by the river bend in the lower left, then finishing with the trees and undergrowth on the opposite bank. I scratched the distant bridge into the paint and then added faint lights for the steel trestles. In each area as I progressed I tried to paint the darkest dark for the area, mindful of the light from the southwest and the distribution of shadow and reflection in the river. Capturing the abstract patterns in each area of the painting were important to me too.

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Previous posts on this subject:
Thoughts on Painting Outdoors
More Thoughts on Outdoor Painting
More About Plein Air
Equipment for Outdoors
Plein Air on Druid Hill Creek
The Great Outdoors