Truck Stop

I added white gouache to the lights in this watercolor. The rest is transparent watercolor.

8" x 6" watercolor on paper

Nocturne painting

My nocturne sketch from the Mineral Point plein air event. I forgot to take a picture of the finished oil painting hope this sketch will do. The location was the entrance to the rental unit above the L and L Public House. One of the patrons from the tavern kept coming out for frequent cigarette breaks and would check my progress. Several of the patrons then came by to look and ask questions. One customer started telling me his complaints about the politics at work; I think that is the bartender's job. I welcome questions about my painting and enjoy promoting the event. One of the customers was a volunteer with the plein air event and told me to come on in after I finished painting and he would buy me a drink, which I took him up on. The place was sort of a "Cheers" kind of bar. They introduced me to Spotted Cow beer which is only available in Wisconsin. The owner of the establishment even bought the painting and encouraged me to come back and paint inside the bar. I may take him up on that next year. 

6" x 12" watercolor. Finished painting was a 6' x 12" oil on panel.

Cattle Piantings

After the last plein air event I thought I should brush up on painting cattle. For the time being these are from photos. The ground for both of these paintings was an pale orange which shows throughout the painting.

12" x 9" oil on panel

This was a little more difficult forcing me to edit the original photo of the cattle to break up the herd.

6" x 8" oil on canvas.

Mischievous Smile

A commission with the request for a smiling toddler.

11" x 14" oil on canvas on panel

Sunset Over the Cornfield

Always keep a camera in my car for those times after a good storm that produce the most beautiful sunsets. I started this with a ultramarine blue with a little bit of raw umber. 

12" x 9" oil on panel.

Paint the Point

This week I participated in Mineral Point's Paint the Point plein air event. A town of historic stone houses and a lot of hills.

The Amish owners of a local farm allowed me to paint their horses. By the time I got set up these horses moved out of site to the other side of the barn. I then moved and got this view. I had to work fast to capture the form that stood out on the hill. I first blocked in the shape with the dark and added the highlights on top of that. 

14" x 11" oil on panel -sodl

I did not have the same success with some cattle the next day. They were close to the fence when I started to set up but quickly moved over the hill and just stared at me half hidden while I ended up painting the landscape. 

For the quick paint I set up on a bridge. It started at 8 and I started at 8:15 and had to scramble to finish it by 10.

9" x 12" oil on panel

Quick paint 

9" x 12" oil on panel sold

Plein air painting of one of the rock outcropping that are scattered throughout the area.

10" x 8" oil on panel