"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not"  (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Top…further work on the painting shown below...almost finished and this is where I'm at.  The way I have it now appeals to me, so I think I'll just leave it alone and let it rest for awhile…. a slight variation from my usual stuff, but then again it's still another small painting at 11" x 14".  Of note:  My wife says the colors in this painting makes her nauseous and it's definitely not one of her favorites.

Bottom…started this acrylic landscape yesterday evening.  I think I'm wanting to do something with less detail…something a little different then my normal...

"I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines."                                                         (Henry David Thoreau) 

Snow in the higher elevations of Utah.  This one was started yesterday and still has some work to do on it before calling it done….But, I think I actually could almost end this painting right here…..  I like the composition….the look of an approaching blizzard.   Acrylic with watercolor on gesso'd #400 Arches' rough paper.

                      Similar to the earlier painting (20 Jan) posted here…acrylic on panel

The small top acrylic painting was painted on stretched burlap that was primed with several coats of gesso….More of my experimenting to achieve a rough, coarse texture.  The other piece of work was painted on stretched canvas.

                                               Watercolor and Acrylic on gesso'd panel

Quick flowing watercolor demos…Using blue Derivan liquid graphite, Walnut Ink, Oil Pastels, and Watercolor on gesso'd 300# paper.

"So will I build my alters in the fields, and the blue sky my fretted dome shall be; And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields shall be the incense I will yield to thee."

                                          (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

                                     Watercolor with some Oil Pastels in foreground

 2nd post…probably close to being a finished painting…haven't decided on how much more to do to the foreground because I'm not sure how detailed I want it…also the even split in the pines with 3 on each side is causing me some concerns, but at this point it's probably too late to make changes there and I certainly don't want a continuous row of pines across the horizon…wondering if I should maybe add a bit more of color on the left side of the painting to get rid of the too-evenly balanced appearance.  This is probably one of those paintings that will set around for a few months before looking at it with a whole new eye….might even start over with a new sheet of white paper….

Almost finished with my next watercolor.  Up in Logan Canyon, Utah there are many opportunities to paint a mountain landscape with large boulders lying around.  In this painting I'm taking some artistic license and combining several photos that I took this past summer to create a scene.  As you can see, the foreground needs more work..  I'll leave it on my painting table and look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes...

                  Northern Utah……Acrylic …primarily accomplished with palette knife..

      This mornings sketches……graphite and pastel.

   

      

Watercolor, Gouache, and Derivan Liquid Graphite.

Bottom:  Small 6"x 6" painting is from a mountainous area east of Malad, Idaho, on Deep Creek Road (Rt 36) in October 2013.

 This painting is a 7"x 12" 0n gesso'd 400# Arches paper using Derivan Liquid Pencil…..Derivan is a bottled liquid graphite that comes in a yellow, sepia, blue and 2 shades of gray…..I use it like I use watercolor…I prefer to paint with it straight out of the bottle so as not to mix it with the w/colors on my palette unless that's my intent.  It can be used/mixed with watercolors quite well..which also lends for some interesting results.  Together, they can be floated/blended right on the paper…..(developing your own technique I think).

These paintings were again accomplished using the Derivan Liquid Pencil on Gesso'd 400# paper…But here, I added watercolor and gouache into the mix…….another variation.

Large shrub and wild grasses

     Watercolor, Acrylic,  and Walnut Ink on gesso'd 400# Arches paper textured with fine sand.  I've used various papers but I prefer the #300 or #400 rough textured Arches paper… I prefer the heaviness and texture of it.                                                                     

               

                                                                                     Trees in field

                                                                   Winter grasses

Snow-Bound

"The sun that brief December day rose cheerless over hills of gray,  And, darkly circled, gave at noon a sadder light than waning moon.  Slow tracing down the thickening sky, It's mute and ominous prophecy, A portent seemingly less than threat, it sank from sight before it set."    (John Greenleaf Whittier)

  Watercolor sketch this evening…..Gesso'd 300# D'Arches rough.  Laid in the distance mountain and sky with a light acrylic wash…..Distant Pines was placed in with Derivan Liquid Graphite with watercolor (yellow ochre, raw sienna) and gouache (neutral grey #3) directly in front of distant pines.  There is some acrylic laid in at the immediate foreground which will likely be overpainted.
Sometimes I'll staple W/C paper down on a board…gesso it, maybe texture it with a little sand, and then sketch something out with a mixture of mediums… I do get some interesting effects which are not the traditional watercolor…..but then again, I usually don't paint in the so called normal fashion…  If this painting turns out, it will be matted and framed….if it doesn't turn out, I'll just gesso over it and keep plugging away at it……maybe I'll just get rid of that very front foreground and leave it alone…sometimes you can overwork a watercolor as we all know……. don't we….

This evenings watercolor sketch……….getting ready to conduct a workshop in Feb, so I thought I'd   better do some 30 minute quick sketches….I like the composition/color (cobalt blue, raw umber, yellow ochre, paynes grey, davies grey) in this one, so It will evolve into a finished painting I think…

    Logan Canyon, Utah  (From a hike around Tony Grove Lake)   Early Summer 2013….cool overcast day with just a hint of moisture in the air….  Used the salt technique in the right side to get a fuzzy wet appearance and dropped in a raw sienna/cobalt blue mixture to get some splotchy color.

   11" x 12" watercolor/Liquid Pencil on Gesso'd paper…Titled "Night Sky"..Utah Watercolor Society (cache Valley) "Best of Show"…October 2013

"The rusty leaves crunch and crackle, Blue haze hangs from the dimmed sky, The fields are matted with sun-tanned stalks - Wind rushes by.  The last red berries hang from the thorn-tree, The last red leaves fall to the ground.  Bleakness, through the trees and bushes, Comes without  sound."             (Joan Mitchell)

6 1/2" x 6 1/2" watercolor titled "End of Autumn"…"Best of Show" in the Utah Watercolor Society (Cache Valley) 2013 Small Works Show….August 2013 

                                                               Watercolor   9 1/2" x 13 1/2"

             A small 6 1/2" x 7 1/2" watercolor  with a 2" mat makes for a nice small painting…..

   Small autumn watercolors 6 1/2" x 6 1/2"..

                                                              Pastel and watercolor