New plein air from last week.

Warm Afternoon close up.

Warm Afternoon, 16x20.

Spring Path, 11x14.

Afternoon Shadows, 9x12.

A few new ones from our sunny days last week.

California Poppies

California Poppies, 16x20 oils on board.

Outside last week

Sunny Day 16x20, oils.

Small Pond 11x14, oils.

From last week painting outside in oils with thick paint and palette knives.

Thick paint 16x20

Spring Runoff, 16x20 in acrylics. Using A LOT of paint and my set of knives for some heavy texture on this one. Actually starting to sculpt the paint in the foreground field. I am still working out how to handle the edges.

Plein Air from last week

Country View, 9x12 oils on board.

Another one from this week, Down The Road 9x12

More thick paint with a palette knife out in the field.

Down The Road, 9x12 oils on board.

Soft Day 12x12 plein air

From this week, Soft Day 12x12. Another piece from this week painting with a knife for the main foreground and the sky.

Spring Trees plein air 9x12

From this week out at Sauvie Island. Spring Trees, 9x12 oils on board.

Working on nice natural greens out in the field. Again painting a lot of this with a knife and adding heavy texture where I can.

Plein air from last week

New 11x14, Spring Blossoms. This was mostly palette knife and thick paint again. Detail highlights were added later back in the studio. I also made the road a nice country meadow, I do this often in my plein air paintings. Sometimes I like to make the setting more natural.

Plein air, dodging showers and moving paint

Another from a few days ago, Springtime, 11x14 oils over acrylic on board.

Well I needed to get some even thicker paint down and it was going to be another day of dodging rain showers so I brought out some acrylics today and out down some PAINT.

You can see from the outside photos how things can change fast when painting plein air. Started out fairly nice with some sun out. Ended with a storm cell coming in for a visit but I had most of what I needed in by then. Speed painting at its best, well for me that is!

This one was also mostly knife work. Back in the studio, I finished this with oils.

Plein air fast before the rain comes!

From last week, Distant Trees, 9x12 oils on board. Had move quick on this one as a storm front was moving fast. I was able to get most what I needed before getting rained on and I finished up back in the studio the next day.

This piece was mostly palette knife in the field using thick paint for a heavy texture build up. I always think down heavy paint but the next day it looks medium at the most. Don't get me wrong, this has a lot of paint texture and nice juicy areas but I think I might have to get out the small shovel soon. I want to do some HEAVY work, need to buy the BIG tubes of paint.

I use sticks and stuff I find in the field for my brushes these days too. Hard times yeah, but it is more of a finger you to all the hard correct academics and staying in bounds! And galleries that don't pay and all that stuff. Don't worry, I still like all those beautiful technically correct paintings ..... and the artist that paint them. I'll go paint with anyone but I might end up pushing paint around with a bunch sticks that day!