20080327
Remembered Landscape
7" X 5", oil/stretched linen. Using the limited "grab-bag" palette described under the "Orange" post, I tried this Kevin Macpherson exercise to enhance memory and imagination while painting landscape. Those things are essential, because so much has to be edited when painting plein air. That's tough for a realist-still life painter like me, who's used to painting just what's there. Try doing that plein air, and you'll be out there all day. Imagination and memory help a lot with the editing process; this exercise involves studying a photo of a landscape for a few minutes (actually, he says 20 seconds), then putting it away and painting it from memory. So part of the result is remembered, and part is imagined.
20080321
Famosa Path
6 X 6", oil on stretched canvas. It's been a rough week. Landscape painting is really kicking my butt, partly because it's been a few months since I could do any, and partly because I'm in that mental trap of overthinking everything instead of just letting myself paint. I'm sure that never happens to anyone else, right? :) So to keep the process moving, I'm determined to post the fails as well as the wins, because that's what this blog is for.
Famosa Slough
8" X 6", oil on stretched canvas (SOLD). This restored habitat is less than a mile from where I live, right in the middle of urban San Diego. No herons today, but a pair of ducks kept me company the whole time I was there.
20080313
20080310
Happy Place
8" X 6", oil on stretched canvas (SOLD). Same upside-down technique (different photo), with better results. When the exercise part was done, I put some finishing touches on it right-side-up.
