Black On Red

A new figure work, Black On Red 16x20, oils on board.

As we come into fall, I am going to start doing some more figure work again ........

along with some more fall landscapes!

Distant Glow 11x14 inches.

From late summer. Plein air out at Sauvie Island, 11x14 inches oil on board.

Another new work, Summer Gold.

This piece is 30x48 in oils on canvas. Soft tonal atmospheric painting.

I am going to keep painting these; for personal pleasure if nothing else.

New work, Summer Oaks 18x24.

A new painting. The main part of this was done plein air and then finished in the studio.

This one is 18x24 inches in oils on board.

Another large plein air, Warm Summer 30x40.

Had a chance to get out again and work on a large plein air painting. This one was out at Sauvie Island where I worked with the block in on a hot 92 degree afternoon. I was able to get most of the basic painting done that afternoon outdoors. I finished this in the studio adding in the detail work and the sky where I could take my time.

Plein air, LARGE!

Summer Light 24x36.

My large plein air set up out at Sauvie Island, Oregon.

Went out with my new BIG easel for some large outside painting.

Worked all afternoon on this one and added final highlights and field flowers after it dried.

Going back out for another large one soon.

New plein air from last week

Cooper Mountain View, 12x16 oils on board.

This painting was done at the Cooper Mountain Nature Center. The park has beautiful valley views looking south and I hope to return to do some more of these.

I did the majority of this piece plein air, to get the overall colors and composition then finished the details in the studio.

New plein air from last week

Summer Green 9x12.

Summer Farm 11x14.

A couple more new ones, both oils on board.

More plein air works

Summer Day 11x14
Looking West 16x20
Morning Light 9x12
Lavender Hills 8x10

Recent paintings from my field trips.

Outside painting

From my plein air trip a couple days ago.

Hope all you local Portland painters are getting out there too!

Poppies!

June Poppies, 16x20 oils on board.

Well this is a rework of one of my earlier plein air pieces. Sometimes I go back in and just change everything! This was the piece titled "Clover Fields" from a couple weeks back. On this one I decided to go with some brighter more dramatic wildflowers for the foreground. I also redid the trees, changing the overall shapes and adding more detail.

Another plein air from last week.

Looking South, 11x14 oils on board. I like the way the small ditch leads you through the scene at this spot.

New plein air ...... in between rainy days

Green Spring 12x16 oils on board.
May Gold 11x14 oils on board.
Peaceful Valley 12x16 oils on board.

Well more rain today, I am sick off rain. Did I mention I am sick of the rain. Anyways, we had some nice weather over the last weekend so I was outside painting. Did these three at various local places around the Banks / North Plains area west of Portland. I try and work fast outside, just getting enough of a block to bring back to the studio to finish.

My goal in the finish is to add as little as possible to get the plein air painting complete. Of course can I change or add whatever I want on them. As some big haired painter guy on PBS TV said, "it's your world, you can add as many happy trees and clouds as you want".

Anyways, I have been working on green earth tones lately, trying to them soft and natural but still rich and beautiful.

Color work in the field

From today's afternoon plein air. Working on greens in nature, these are much more warm and earthy than we think. In this piece I am trying to get the field colors as close as possible to what I was seeing. With my painting set up high on the easel, I am able to step back and compare the colors I put down on the edge of the board with the actual colors in the field. You can see the distant green grass on the right edge of my painting almost blends right in with the actual field. This gives me a nice close green which I can then use for the rest of the field. Same with the foreground grass on the right side. Give it a try some time.

Cheers, Don B

New figure painting, Trance

Recent small painting, 9x12 in oils on board.

From Salon L' Orient tribal dance performance in Portland.

This is a painting of performance artist Irish Collins who always looks like a work of art when she performs.

Plein Air Steps Golden Field

I found these beautiful golden fields and decided this would be my plein stop for today.

The start of this painting was same as always, laying in the basic shapes and general color tones.
This is about 20 minutes later, still working with getting the colors and layout correct.

At this point I have the foreground base a bit more saturated than the actual filed. I did this on purpose because I wanted to lay in the softer golds and white flowers on top of this brighter base, letting some of the underpainting show through.
My block in is complete and now I have put another layer of paint down over parts of the base painting. The golden fields in the foreground now have some more neutral golds and off whites placed creating more color harmony in the painting. Decided not to add the barns, my main focus was the golden fields and I'm just not a big barn type guy anyways. I will stop and do the final details back in the studio. My total time on this one outside was around one hour and thirty minutes, just enough to get the basic color notes and composition down. The studio finish will be a snap from here!

New plein air paintings

Clover Fields 16x20, oils on board.
Distant Yellow 14x18, oils on board.
This is a photo of the canola fields in bloom now near my home.
Canola Fields 16x20, oils on board.

More nice weather last week, of course this week it is raining again!

So here are few plein air pieces from last week.

Ceramic Vases

Something new for me. One of my collectors wanted a set of urns showing winter and early spring as a circle of life theme. They are also into birding so I did a blue jay for winter and a goldfinch for spring on the lids. Painting on these worked out well for me and it was fun once I got the hang of it. So now I am thinking of trying a few more of course.

Both of these are in oils. The urns are about 14 inches tall.

Peach Lace revisited

New figure painting, Peach Lace 12x16. This time in oils on board.

I did the original version of this about a year ago when I was just starting out on my figure painting journey. I though it would be fun to do a new version a year later. I used a slow build up of thin layers to bring this piece to finish.

New portraits.

Tiare 12x16 inches, oils on board.

Sivonna 11x14 inches, oils on board.

Kara 11x14 inches, oils on board.

Some new portraits from the last month.

New figure painting, Soft Light

This one is acrylic, 9x12 onboard. Working with soft lights and tones.

I want to paint like George Innes damn it!

One of my favorite painters is George Innes. Everybody loves Innes landscapes and so do I. But I want to paint like George Innes. Not just do the same style compositions but really paint like he did. All that tonal texture and light to make those wonderful dreamy landscapes. So every month or so I do a few small paintings to check on my progress and my need to try and paint like .... well, George Innes.

Here are two from this week both in acrylic, for now.