Something about Rushes/Reeds...

RI don't know....there's something I find very complete about a small crop of silent reeds on an obscure piece of water...even perhaps a small edge of a creek or wet area off a road.  Seeing this grouping of reeds in open water here yesterday, in December, the sun shining...I found quite alluring.

The painting is not finished...just begun today, a little more than an hours effort thus far...but, here's where its at for now...

10"x 8" oil on oil primed linen...

Wetland...duck weed & reeds- Gouache 6"x 8"

A small gouache study tonight...6"x 8"
on blackdrawing paper...

Afternoon at the Mill Pond...two plein air Oil Paintings

9"x 12" oil on pumice panel...



















Was a gorgeous sun-filled afternoon today, and of course the beckoning to paint was there. Went to one of our local lakes, a river...emptying into the mill pond...and first did a study of shore grasses. You can see a bit of duck weed vegetation coming to some life with the warmth...

available to purchase...(Contact me...)

- - -
...and with left over paint, I scraped to the side into
a neutral gray mud...and used it to do a quick 5"x 7"
study of a backlit shore...

Marsh Grasses Plein Air...wintry slush..Plein Air Oil Painting

9"x 12" oil...on pumice/gesso panel
available to purchase...(Contact me...)




















Last week, it was golf in short sleeves, tonight
it was long underwear, a thermal waterfowler's coat,
wool fingerless gloves, two hats, and my winter
boots!!! We got nailed with 6-9 inches of the white
stuff overnight...and one-half hour north of us they
got a foot!!! Yikes. Here you see my truck parked,
and I walked across to paint the same area of marsh
reeds I painted last week...


















there was a slushy surface to the water, offering
some nice color of neutrals...hints of greens,
some violets...very lovely...


















Here you see my set up, and I'm near finished
at this point. Just to give you an idea of the
moment..

















On the palette above you see the beauty of oils allowing
work in quite inclement weather. Note the beaded up
water on the palette...as it was a drizzle/sleet for much of
the time painting!

I had to end before I wanted to...as the water was building
up making it a bit more difficult to maneuver about. I'll
look it over and perhaps will take just a bit of small work
on the reeds and then sign it...

As always, clicking on the images brings them up larger.
Enjoy...

7"x 5" plein air oil...study, Spring Marsh Grasses

Last day of spring break, back to teaching art
tomorrow. Not exactly an inspiring spring day
with its overcast cool breezy weather, but a
small study like this is always possible and one
is without excuse to avoid painting. Just needed
to get out regardless...and I rather enjoyed the
subtle values and color the overcast day provided.

This was what I was seeing sitting on a five gallon pail,
(must be getting lazy)...

















Began with a simple toning of the panel, some
indications of some darks...and you can see very easily
imitated is the light reflection in water that allows using
the negative space concept to suggest the reflections of
the marsh reeds....
























One thing that really irritates me is when jerks (that
I would probably lump into that REDneck category) have
absolutely no pride in the area they live in, no decency
to pick up after themselves. I tend to bring a garbage
bag along with me to pick up an area I'm painting. Today
I only had my five gallon pail...

Spring Wetlands of Mill Pond...landscape oil

9"x 12" oil

Had a rare opportunity, and that was to return
to the same location to paint TWO days in a row!
With our weather fronts (Cananda from the north;
Lake Michigan to the east, and Lake Superior to
the immediate north) we have developed a saying
in Wisconsin..."if you don't like the weather,
wait around for fifteen minutes!"

So...most my paintings by nature outdoors are
alla prima, which means to start and finish in
one session. But...it has been very dry. We need
rain very badly...and it could happen tonight.
Or so we hope. At any rate...the dryness and sun
two days in a row meant I would get a chance to do
more and bring this to the state I wanted it to.


This work now on sale on my "Will Paint for Gas!"
blog...follow link above.

Late Day Spring Mill Pond- Oil Landscape Painting

9"x 12" oil

Went out about 5pm tonight, lovely late
afternoon light, and set up along a lake which
co-joins our small town.

Used a neutral mud midgray block-in once
again...with a slight reddish leaning, to
build my masses, then color added to mix up
the dark and light values. Seems a quick way
to go about nailing last light painting on
location.


To see this work larger or purchase-
(Click Here)

Experiment Continues with the Mill Pond

To see this work larger or
purchase (Click Here)
oil 9"x 12"











You can see by my head gear, this afternoon
though sunny was yet quite a chilly day to be
about painting. Bundle up to endure and
you find great opportunities to produce some
interesting paintings in Wisconsin's north
woods.

This painting represents an ongoing
experiment whereas I began by counting
my brushstrokes. After 110 strokes were
counted, I had achieved enough of an
aesthetically pleasing structure that I
abandoned the count to finish with full
focus on the subject, bringing my focal
points to greater finishing. Hope you
enjoy!