"Aspen Light", plein air oil painting

"Aspen Light", 14 x 11", plein air oil painting
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I did this on a very hot afternoon where the only shade I could find was under this small stand of aspen -so that's what I painted. I was intrigued by the colours of the bark in the sun and in the shade and tried to capture those in the painting. I wanted to get the leaves in as interesting groups of shapes while only giving the impression of many leaves. These too provided a fascinating array of colours. And of course the edges were important -soft on the shadow side and crisp on the hightlight side. All in all, a lot to take in! In learning to see colour, edge and value, nothing beats painting from life.
(to purchase this, or any of my paintings, email me at williams.sharon@shaw.ca)
Enjoy!

"A Fine Backdrop", plein air acrylic painting

"A Fine Backdrop", 8 x 6", plein air acrylic painting
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I decided to give plein air acrylics (regular tube acrylics, not 'Open' ones) another try. This time I made myself a little 'stay wet' palette out of a Tupperware type container and this seemed to work pretty well despite the heat and wind. I used one of my sealed Masonite panels for the support. Sometimes I wasn't sure if the paint would dry on the brush before making it to the panel or not, which made for some interesting brush marks. The acrylics dry quite flat, but after a spray with Kamar varnish, I couldn't tell them from oils. I couldn't resist this quirky composition!

"Aspen Shadows", 12 x 9", plein air oil painting
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This is a much better photo of the post on Wednesday. Taking photos of my work is always a bit difficult. I usually take them in the shade, but perpendicular to the sky so they won't be too blue. This one I took in the full sun at about 6pm tonight and the colours are perfect. I did try to re shoot some others that I had trouble with, but the ones with a lot of blue in them were terrible under this new lighting situation. I should probably take all my shots in my studio with my full spectrum bulbs, but then I need to get out my tripod, which is a pain. But would definitely take less time than I spend trying to fix wrong colour in Photoshop!

Wanted to share with you that I have been invited to join the "Daily Painters International Art Gallery" run by K. Madison Moore -that is their widget that you see on the sidebar -each day it shows the new posts for the day. You can also subscribe to get their posts in your inbox daily. They have 63 artists at present and are seeking out more artists from outside the USA, to make this a truly international site. Please check it out. I will be posting some of the same stuff as here, but it is less of a personal site, and more of an exhibition site, so I will be posting available work in all media, and will leave out the teaching stuff and much of the rhetoric.
Enjoy!

"Aspen Shadows", plein air oil painting

"Aspen Shadows", 12 x 9", plein air oil painting
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I am disappointed in the way this photo turned out -the painting is very rich in colour, but I just couldn't get it to show up in the photo -you will just have to use your imagination! I painted this with painting buddy Ingrid Christensen, who is an amazing painter -I especially love her figurative work. It was an exceptionally hot day and the cool shadows of this group of aspens on the hill looked very inviting.
Enjoy!

"Aspens at Quarry Lake" -plein air oil painting

"Aspens at Quarry Lake", plein air oil painting, 9 x 12"

This is the third and last painting done on the ASA paintout. I just couldn't believe the colour that was there. For this one there was harp music accompanying the wedding held above me.

Thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Enjoy!