"Three Rings"

"Three Rings" 5 x 9.5 acrylic

I wasn't really expecting to like this little study as much as I do! I'm very pleased with the results. I may have to work this into a larger painting sometime in the future.

"After the Storm"

It was with a fair amount of trepidation that I began work on this large (20x30) painting. My last attempt at a big one was a 6 week disaster that left me angry and frustrated. Still... I needed to push forward.
After drawing the composition (with white charcoal) on a neutral gray primed board, I started blocking in some of the darks with a thin mixture of warm browns and grays. Working quickly while the paint was still a little wet, I smacked in some of the lighter areas allowing the colors to overlap and blend. This isn't easy with acrylic, but it keeps me working very fast.

Going back over the blocked in areas after the paint was dry, I started to refine things and push the shapes closer to what they would be in the finished painting. This took a considerable amount of time and effort. I wasn't really sure how I wanted to handle the reflections of the trees on the water in the foreground and reworked this part of the painting several times.
After almost a month of steady work, the painting was nearing completion... but there were still a few things bothering me.

The reflection of the large group of trees wasn't doing anything for the painting and I needed to reconsider that entire area again. In fact, nearly all of the stream was going to need repainted. It was close, but not quite right.
That awful clump of snow in the lower right corner was going to need some attention as well. The shape was odd and I needed to think about making it flow into the painting a little better.
So... I put the painting away for almost 2 weeks and worked on another project. Once I got it back on the easel, the solutions became relatively clear and I was able to finish the piece in less than 2 days.

"After the Storm" 20x30 acrylic

Detail from "After the Storm"

Wood Duck Drake Study

I'm not a big fan of this type of motif... the profile "field guide" pose. It's been done thousands of times and I usually make it a point NOT to paint things like this. The pose itself is pretty boring and the bright over-the-shoulder lighting in the reference photo wasn't really adding much. There are however, some redeeming qualities to this image that made it worth taking on.

"Woodie" 6x8 acrylic

I was immediately drawn to the iridescent feathers on this wood duck's head. I knew it would be a challenge to get this to look "right" and would likely make or break the painting. The subtle transitions between blues, greens, purples, and blacks also give the head some volume and hopefully keep the painting from looking flat.
There were a few issues with the head and neck in the photo I was working from... mostly the outstretched neck with the head upright and alert. This is a problem with a lot of reference photos (especially of waterfowl). Our mere presence is enough to put the birds on edge and they always seem ready to flee. I wanted the duck to appear more relaxed, so I tucked the head down and back a bit, all but eliminating the neck.
The biggest challenge and the main reason I didn't dismiss this image as a potential painting was the patterns reflected on the water around the bird. I knew if I was successful, the water would be a subtle, yet powerful element to the painting few people would notice. If I was not successful, it would be a glaring miscue and EVERYONE would notice.

"Passing Through"

"Passing Through" 8x6 acrylic

This small study is another in my series of sky paintings. It also is the 3rd piece I've done using Golden's "Open" acrylics. The longer drying time is taking some getting used to, but has allowed some interesting brushwork. I've also noticed I'm having a bit of trouble photographing the open acrylics. I haven't quite figured out how to get the hues quite right. In other words... the painting looks a hell of a lot better than the image above!

"Early Arrival"... the Process

This small painting tested me a bit. I composed it more than a year ago and have been putting off starting it due to some of the challenges involved. I knew exactly how I wanted the finished painting to look and quite often, that narrow minded focus can stall the process of making art.

I started with a quick (maybe 30 minutes) underpainting. That underpainting took on a look of some of my plein air oil work and had some qualities I was particularly fond of... especially where the taller trees meet the sky. I wanted to keep that loose brushy feel, so I was very careful when adding the next layer of paint to that area.

I was determined to put goldeneyes in this painting to contrast their stark black and white plumage against the colorful background. But that posed a problem. Goldeneyes are cold weather ducks and are rarely seen in such a setting. My solution was to add some snow to the scene and in my mind, tell a story of a freak October cold snap that drove this small band of ducks down from their northern haunts. That happens often enough to be believable and is where the idea came for the title of the painting. So my next problem was actually adding the snow patches without screwing up the rest of the painting.

Next, I quickly blocked in the flying ducks taking care not to paint too much detail. I wanted the birds to have some movement, so loosing the edges on the wing tips helped to accomplish that. Goldeneyes fly incredibly fast and their wing beats are very rapid. By blurring them a bit, I feel I've portrayed that adequately.

"Early Arrival" 5x12 acrylic

As it turned out, the piece came together quite well. I'm not sure if it's because I took so much time thinking about the challenges and solutions, or because I simply overestimated those challenges in the first place. In any case, I'm pleased with the results... and yes, it looks exactly how I'd imagined. Nice :)

"Sign of Spring"

"Sign of Spring" 6x8 acrylic

Just off the easel, this is one of my final few paintings headed for the Waterfowl Festival in Easton, MD next month. Now... time to get busy on something a little bigger! Stay tuned...

Working Through it

Sitting on a hillside watching deer in a soybean field a quarter mile away, the sun began to turn the sky amazing shades of pink, orange, and purple. I knew I'd spend as much of the next hour watching the sky as I would the deer. I also knew from the photographs I shot, there would be a painting soon to follow.

block in stage

Once I decided on an 8x10 format, I began to block in the basic tones trying to get the basic shapes down as quickly and accurately as possible. There was a brief moment just before I shot this image when I considered leaving the painting like this. It actually rivals some of my plein air work and it took me less than 45 minutes to get this far. That leads me to believe I need to work faster when painting en plein air, but that's a topic to be tackled in another post.

Stage 2

I began to refine the sky working in small blocks from right to left (not that the direction matters). As the painting moved forward, it became even more appealing to me. This was one of those paints that, like a good book, I just couldn't leave it alone. I also knew it was going to need some birds... a small flock of mallards perhaps. So I painted them in at this point knowing I could move them if needed.

Stage 3

Refining the sky further and pushing the middle ground, the painting starts to give the illusion of depth. As I look at it now, I may have gone a bit dark on the treeline on the far side of the field. I can adjust that as needed later. I added two more mallards to the flock so the formation seemed a bit more believable.
Finally, moving forward in the composition, the corn field and the weeds in the foreground moved along rather quickly. Again, I see I've gone a bit dark in the foreground, so that will need to be adjusted before this piece gets a frame.
The hues in the sky have also been adjusted to add a bit more drama to the scene.

"Harvest Glow" 8x10 acrylic

"Snow on Willow Bay" 20x30 acrylic

Here's the piece I've been working on for the past month. It's been an all-consuming task, but the end is in sight. There are still some tweaks that need to be made before I can call it "finished!", but it's 99% there. Below is a detail crop from the painting. I think I'll let this one sit for a few days before I make the necessary adjustments. Besides, there are dozens of other projects that need some attention soon. The grass needs cut, studio cleaned, laundry, dishes...