Mallards white Barn 3-16-12

Here is a painting that I started tonight at 6:30 and finished at 9:10. It is so much fun to get it all done in one setting. I can't imagine using another medium that takes days to dry enough to move on to the next stage. This painting is set on a crisp fall day when the cool wind is blowing the ocre colored grasses in the pasture.

Leo Kerr Family Farm 2-24-12

From these two photographs you see the work in progress and the finished product. I started this painting at 5:30 and finished it at 8:30 this evening and that included a dinner break.

Glenn Winton's Calf Barn 2-24-12

I really enjoyed painting this beautiful little scene. The calf barn is the central focus as the trees on the left and the darker barn on the right keep the barn framed in for the eye. If you would like to buy this painting please go to my etsy sight. You'll find the link at the right of this page.

Finished

Here is the finished and delivered commission paintings. I really enjoyed painting them and looked forward to the challenge.

Work In Progress 2-14-12

I needed to take a break from the large commission painting so I moved on to a small commission. The first photo is the base painting with a couple of initial washes .

This second photo is the painting with further development on the barns and the first white wash to represent snow in the foreground. As I was explaining to a friend these farm scenes are small abstracts using basic building blocks-squares, triangles, rectangles, etc. placed against strong angles-horizen, foreground snow field. Once the painting is finished it all comes together to represent and beautiful winter farm scene.

Work in progress 2-12-12

This is the barn stage , I am getting the red down and the snow on top of the roof, it is looking really good and coming together just fine.

work in progress 2-9-12

The next stage of the painting requires some planning and elbow grease. I determine where to place the building, draw it in with pencil, and begin to scrub off the paint that is in the sky area. This leaves a shadow of the building in the paint that is already laid down but greatly helps when painting in the red tones of the barn. I don't need extra blue pigment trying to change the color of the new next layer of red paint that will go down. I let this stage dry for a day or so then this weekend I'll begin the barns.

work in progress 2-4-12

This is the pallette I'm using for laying down the sky washes on my painting. The pool at the upper left is ultramarine blue, top right is paynes gray, and bottom left is raw umber. Applying them at the right time and amount is where some skill and experience are your best friend.

The trip we took to see family in Nebraska was cut short when we left early to avoid the huge snow storm coming our way. We traveled just ahead of the storm and avoided the 6-10" of snow and now we are sitting in our warm house playing with Charlie our grandson as the snow finally caught up with us.

This photo shows me pointing at the area of the sky where I applied some Prussian Blue into the Paynes Gray. I had two brushes going at once, one in each hand.

The commission painting

The first wash of the commission painting. I am laying down lots of heavy paint to make the sky dark. I will be out of town until Monday, February 5th visiting family.

Work in progress 1-28-12

This work in progress is actually 22x30 inches and is the start of a very large watercolor painting that I have been commissioned to paint. It will be a winter scene with a moody sky at dusk with snow falling and grasses and stubble punching up through the blown drifts of snow.