Upper Bear Creek revisted

Upper Bear Creek Meadow, last week, 2012

Upper Bear Creek, first revisited, 2010

Upper Bear Creek Meadow, Original 9x12 2008

This painting has been hanging in our home for awhile and it has been bothering me enough that I finally took it down last weekend. Time to try again. In the bottom photo is the original as painted plein air. The expressive brushstrokes I like but the meadow does not read as a meadow. It is a jumble. The bushes look like I don't know what. I do like the trees on the left but that is about all. I like the blue of the mountains but I don't think they are pushed back enough into the distance.

In the middle version, I can't remember what I was thinking but I can see that I added more color to the meadow and the brush of the bushes but did not necessarily make anything better. I don't like the mountains being purple or the added color in the grasses because it still is not reading as a flat meadow with variations of grasses in it.

Last week, I did have a plan to flatten the meadow, push the mountains back, clean up the bushes, and then I added the deer yesterday. I did not reference the original photo of the painting, but I came back to more of the colors and feel intuitively. The large bush on the right has always bothered me, and so I have put the painting back up yesterday to see how it reads now.

Bold Brush Finalist for March

Just found out that a favorite painting, "High, Wide and Lonesome" is an award winner in the category of a finalist for the March 2012 Bold Brush painting competition. This is the third time I have submitted to this competition this year and the second time my work was recognized. In January my painting "Reflection" was in the top 15% FAV.  Check out the link to the March 2012 award winners.

Forsythia study

Study, 8x6, oil on linen

This weekend I ventured out with my paint box to the garden. It has been too long since I have painted outside from life and the hot spring day called me forth. I wanted to at least make an attempt before the forsythia bush turns green. It has already started as you can see. I opted to start small both in size of canvas and what to paint. Zeroing in on a small area some how feels more doable. It was amazingly hot for late March so I painted quickly just to get out of the sun. There was no convenient place in the shade, and having just had 18+ precancerous spots removed from my face, I am very much aware of the sun again. I do want to make more of an effort to go outside - I had forgotten how good it feels. It doesn't matter how successful this particular study is, I was just so pleased that I did it! There was a blond brick wall behind the bush, in the shade, which helped the yellow pop out from the background.

2012 OPA National Show

Harvard Gulch Alley in Winter - 30x40", oil on canvas

I found out last week that the painting above was accepted into the 2012 Oil Painters of America show, which is not an easy show to be accepted into. This is the second time a painting of mine has been accepted. I was wanting to get into this particular event as the show will be held at the Evergreen Fine Art Gallery. No shipping costs! That is huge. The 2012 Western Regional OPA show will be held in Denver this year as well, so that is of great interest that both of these shows are in Colorado in the same year. It is hard to believe but the two times I have submitted to the regional show, I was not accepted, but I have gotten into two National shows, which have so many more applicants. Go figure. Due to the recession, many well established artists are entering shows more now than before, so that makes the competition that much stiffer. I will post the dates and times as the event draws closer. It is in June.

Cattle Crossing

Cattle Crossing Work in Progress, 12x24, oil on board

Last weekend I started two paintings simultaneously. Neither of them was I able to complete. This one is along the same vein as the painting I posted last week of the cattle in the field. These are both from the same trip to Wyoming, but this one is on the way to Sarasota Springs, so north of Walden, CO. I think the block-in went pretty well, although don't look too closely at the cattle's feet. Talk about a puzzle to work through. I want to keep them as a teeming mass so don't plan on pulling out too much detail. I want the focus to be the main cowboy and his dog.There is another cattle dog that will be at the tail end (literally) of the second cowboy. This has been a nice change from alleys.

Wet Paint

Untitled, 12x24 on board

In an effort to feel like I am accomplishing something I switched to a smaller size and to force myself into having to apply more paint, I chose a plain birch board. Since an unprimed board absorbs the oil in the paint, it means I must paint thickly, which is not my preferred method. I opted for this simple scene that I shot a few years ago on the road between Laramie and Cheyenne. It went quickly despite the fact that I had to apply one dab of paint at a time and I could not scrub my brush to cover large areas. Gives a good  impression of a hot late summer afternoon me thinks.
This painting is in need of a name if anyone is so inclined.

Orange VW Bug - WIP

Orange Bug, 30x30, oil on linen

I am stuck on this painting and not sure if it is completed or not. Either way, it is close and worth showing off if for no other reason than it has been awhile since I posted a painting! I have started a number of posts while this painting has been in progress but I just wasn't satisfied with any of them.
I came upon this scene one afternoon last month while walking home from our local library. It makes me wonder why I never noticed this VW parked there before, being so brightly colored. Maybe it took the bluish snow and purple recycle bin and no leaves on the trees for me to see it as it obviously has been "parked" there for quite some time. I do like the tire marks in the snow and the composition, but if anyone has any helpful suggestions as to what I might be missing, I am open to hearing them. Sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees.