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Egrets Flying: acrylic painting
Read more: Egrets Flying: acrylic paintingI decided to paint some white egrets flying over the marsh in northern Michigan, since these birds are beautiful and have begun showing up in a small town I was staying at in recent years. First, the painting, then the photos I took (I also used several others out of the dozens I took for…
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Fawn in the Grass
Read more: Fawn in the GrassLast week I was at my friend’s house in a remote area, and a baby fawn came and lay down in a grassy section near some trees. I snuck up on the little fellow, and took a picture; this week, I painted him in acrylics. This took time to do, but I was able to…
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Pumpkin Patch: acrylic painting
Read more: Pumpkin Patch: acrylic paintingI have a friend who loves pumpkins, collects all types of pumpkin figurines, plushies, etc. She commissioned me to create a pumpkin patch for her, and this is the result. If you look closely, you will see a tiny ladybug that I put on one of the leaves in front!
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Canadian Geese Family
Read more: Canadian Geese FamilyEach morning, there is a family of wild geese that visits the shoreline near where I am staying. I couldn’t resist painting these beautiful birds. Geese on Lake Huron, oils, 11 X 14″
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Egret in Wetlands: acrylic painting
Read more: Egret in Wetlands: acrylic paintingRecently, I decided that a smartphone was not adequate for taking bird photos, so I decided to buy a DSLR (Canon) with an extender lens (until I can afford a real telephoto). I then became a bird stalker. Specifically, I began stalking one of the egrets who stays around a nearby marsh. Day by day,…
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In the Canopy: semi-abstract
Read more: In the Canopy: semi-abstractI have been experimenting with going a bit looser and more abstract in some of my paintings. The other day, I saw the sun filtering through the trees in the woods, and decided to try to paint how the light affected me. This is one of my first attempts at abstracting somewhat what I see.…
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White Daffodils
Read more: White DaffodilsThe daffodils have been in bloom for several weeks here in north Michigan. This is a painting I just completed, done in acrylics. I love these harbingers of spring, which I painted in my usual palette.
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Red Wing Blackbird: acrylic painting
Read more: Red Wing Blackbird: acrylic paintingOne of the signs of spring in Michigan is the red-winged blackbirds calling as they nest in the wet areas. This inspired my painting of one in acrylics. I combined a photo I took a few days ago of some wetlands nearby, with the blackbird to show him in his native habitat. The palette was…
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Plein aire sunny day study: Garden Statue
Read more: Plein aire sunny day study: Garden StatueIt is a sunny day in Northern Michigan, so I decided to do a quick acrylic study of my friend’s garden statue. The daffodils are up; but my acrylics dried really too fast (even with a Stay-Wet palette). So, there were a few lumps in the paint in the end. But I love the garden…
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Learning to Paint Impressionism: Sunny Day block study
Read more: Learning to Paint Impressionism: Sunny Day block studyI am in the pursuit of color. That means that I am doing what is considered a basic study in art school: block studies. Because I want to learn impressionism (a la “Charles Hawthorne” method) I am following the suggestions in Lois Griffel’s book, “Painting the Impressionist Landscape”. So, I decided to do the sunny…
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Painting Impressionism: color block study
Read more: Painting Impressionism: color block studyI have been reading an outstanding book by Lois Griffel, who follows the methods developed by Charles Hawthorne at the Cape Cod School of Art (where some of the outstanding American impressionistic painters have studied). She shares the importance of doing studies with color blocks, so here, I will share how to do a simple…
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Hope
Read more: HopeI decided to paint a friend of mine in a meadow (I love meadows, and am currently on a kick painting them), portraying the emotion Hope, which is what I am calling this painting. It represents the need to take time to look up, and see that there is hope during this time. This was…