M60 A3 Operations Desert Storm era Tank....11"x 14" oil

Not enough time tonight to finish on location...could go back and add more atmosphere and sky....or leave as is.  Had a blast painting, was a bit chilly tonight...

Full and Flowing- 9"x 12" oil on primed linen...

Finished one this afternoon that I had been working on, and plenty of time to drive to another spot.  Set up on a bridge over this swollen creek.  I undertoned it with blue to get a jump on the cools in the shadows...and you can see a .gif animation at Wetcanvas.com where I have a thread on this painting.  The animation shows the undertone, and a few steps to its making...

Here  is the undertone, and only maybe once or twice have I opted for a bluish undertone.  Went with my gut hunch on this...
 

...and my palette was set up by scraping off the left over paint from my previous painting, then whipped up with the paint knife.  I used a bit of cadmium orange to warm it up, then used it to paint my tag alders (brush) and as a base for painting the water...
 

Finally...you can see my El Greco Trident easel set up on the bridge.  My linen is taped to a foam core board, and I can later adhered the linen to a wood support...

Second Session...Camp 20...Split-Comp Tetrad palette...14"x 18" oil

Mad rush to the site...as I was needed to take down apart our Select Number bed that is having some problems, replace it with a bed from another bedroom...and that done...out to my spot by around 5pm...but, just about the right time...though, only about an hour to do more work on this.  It is for me an experiment and I know it may sound weird, sometimes I paint for myself "the artist"...and sometimes to connect with the teachings of others and better understand as "the art instructor" ...or educator.

I've painted with a good number of strategies, and have played much with the split-complementary palette.  Really feel I have that down.  This "tetrad" is a new experiment...and its been fun.  Think its given me some insights...

Here was what I was looking at for the last part of my hour tonight...or let's just say, why it would be ineffective to paint from a photo reference representing this time of day!  hahaa...

Here then progress, and not yet finished...though, I might be able to finish this returning earlier now...not thinking I so much need the late sun to touch up and paint what I need to...

A Split-Complementary Tetrad Palette...Camp 20 Creek oil..WIP

Working on putting together my second E-learning online session, on understand and putting to use various limited palette strategies as often taught by Edgar Payne, and Emile Gruppe...as well as "moi" yours truly...

Went out tonight...a bit late, and grabbed a large panel which is uncharacteristic of me as I settled into the understanding that this one will take two different evenings at least to finish.

Gruppe advised his students when painting toward the sun to paint a combination of yellow and white paint into the sky first, the painting the cooler blue into it.  Takes less cool color to get the warm color right, than warm color to get cool color to work.  I sensed a slight green in the sky...and thought a strategy that would make use of yellow green might be very nice.  Also sensing some blue-greens as well...and thus decided on the Split-complementary tetrad strategy.

Here's what it looks like on my palette...and color identified-

 

  

Use your regular pigments to create the mixes you need, ideally making enough to work the brunt of the painting.  What we have here...are the split-complementaries of green  (red-violet and red-orange), and the split-complementaries of red (blue-green and yellow-green)  In essence it gives me two reds to work with...the blue-green acts as my blue, and yellow-green becomes or substitutes for my yellow.  Each RYB colorwheel strategy uses each of the primaries.

In Gruppe's teaching...he says that each primary color exists in everything we see because we have three cones that detect the primary red, yellow and blue.  He set up typically a warm and cool of each primary as his palette...plus white.  When you select a strategy, it is something like a game however...but it forces or imbues a unique working color harmony that translates to a mood.

You can see from my shadows here...that the sun was low, I was racing against time...

 ...and to paint outdoors comfortably in the winter, I like to layer my clothing.  I am wearing wool fingerless gloves.  For my torso's warmth, I wear a thermal longsleeve shirt, a sweater over that...a quilted jacket seen here, and a vest.  Note also, I'm wearing rather larger glasses that I had specially made just for my painting.  They cover my eyes well...(its not a fashion statement), and protect from harmful UV...and those that know me, know my habit often to paint looking toward the sun-
 

Lastly, the sun gets to a point where it is pointless to continue.  You frankly just cannot see the subject any longer.  Time to pack up...come back hopefully tomorrow!

A plein air this afternoon....9"x 12" Alderton Road Sun

Painted on Senso Linen, and opted to work with a split-complementary palette strategy this afternoon...blue my dominant color, yellow-orange and red-orange my splits.  Plus white...and a touch of black...(touch!)
 

Temps were 28 degrees Farenheit, sun was shining and quite inviting.  Here was my set up...pulled off the road, behind my truck...
 

Moodlin'...Online Virtual Art Instructional Sessions!

Just finishing up reading thru this near 350 page manual on Moodle...and you probably can imagine how fun reading manuals are!  I've downloaded the Moodle software to my server host, and going thru the necessary steps to build the site, its own separate website site.  A lot of options from lessons, workshops where folks can then go paint, upload their efforts and forums/chat rooms to discuss.  Interactive instructional sessions...using podcasts and power point or .pdf that are seen online as webpages...just many options.  Sessions would have me live, ready to field and answer questions...

With all that is happening in our state as concerns education, and the threat of the arts especially getting cut I'm looking to expand my options and opportunities as an art instructor.  That being said...my hour or so sessions will have a fee, but small...and yet the content and scope of my workshops themselves that I travel and teach.  A nice way to sit at home in your 'jamas with a hot cup of coffee or preferred beverage and not worry about the costs to travel or attend a workshop.

Planning on breaking sessions down to pertinent specifics, or like chapters...the first on "Composition & Design for the Painter"...the next on "Setting Up & Using Color Palette Strategies"

So, while I haven't been painting up a storm of late, I've been busy equipping myself and preparing for this virtual instruction venture.

The sun is shining today...thirty degrees out, and so I will have to get out this afternoon to paint for sure!

New one...Red Hot Tomale...muskie lure...9"x 12" oil on linen

Started one today...not finished...

The "Muskieburger Red Hot Tomale..."

This thing is actually pretty huge...a foot or so in length at least!

Working on Webinars... (virtual online art instruction seminars)

Have been hard at it, putting my first hour long webinar for painters together, over 70 slides this first one, on "Composition & Design for the Painter"...

Have been working on setting up the active interface thru my host server, those that register and attend online will see each slide, hear me speaking from your system. As I understand it right now, participants will be able to ask questions similar to the chat windows that come up on Google or Facebook...and you'll hear me address certainly the most pertinent good ones!

I'll be announcing when this will be available, after I've got everything workin' up to snuff and am satisfied, test running it...

I've already begun working on the next virtual learning session as I break down and explain a half-dozen limited palette color strategies as used and taught by that master painter/teacher Edgar Payne, and for which I myself use quite frequently.  The plein air work I posted today and prior to this post, uses one of those strategies, but I will go into depth and field questions...

So, as they say..."stay tune for more!"

Sun Came Out to Play Today...9"x 12"...

Been itching to get out, but the sun has not been all that cooperative this year.  Today, however...the mood was there, and then so was I...!!!

Just down the road, creeks starting to open up, sure sign spring is around the corner!

Here my set up...

...and with workshops coming up this summer, and some webinars I'm putting together for online art instruction, my secondary purpose is to gather photo references for lessons, and this day...I decided to demonstrate one of Edgar Payne's limited palette strategies using a dark neutral as a mother color, pulled into each color.  Such imbues a natural working harmony, gives one nice control allowing you easily enough to slip into the gut hunch zone...and is one of about a half-dozen palette strategies I use and teach.

Here you see my darker neutral I mixed up, circled in red...and an arrow indicates I've added a bit of that neutral to each of these colors/values mixed.

What you see next, I've toned my linen support, wiped a bit of tone off to lighten values and indicate my subject layout intentions.  Over that, I've mixed a darker reddish/orange with turps and my medium, and have drawn various masses.  I am envisioning a rule of thirds grid in my mind's eye with intent for one bright near snow mass to fall on the lower right quandrant.

Then...the overlay shows I have painted and indicated the darkest accents and brightest...for really two reasons 1)  in the event the light should change, I've nailed those indicators vital to the initial impulse of what caught my attention on this location, and 2) I have set parameters now committing that no other marks henceforth shall be as dark, nor as light/white...

Though I'm not sure about the light I had left to shoot the finished effort, I believe I have adjusted the image to be fairly accurate.  I may re-shoot the work tomorrow under more ideal lighting...but, as said...pretty good...

9"x 12" linen...Early Running Creek....

...and as always, images can be clicked on to see larger image...