26 x 45" watercolor
This painting couldn't be more different than the other paintings of the month. I had to work at the gallery that day and so I decided to revisit this one. I started this painting probably two years ago and couldn't quite decide how to finish it. So it sat for the last year unfinished. This month of painting has given me the confidence to give it another go. I worked on it on the 30th of April and again on May 2 and 3rd and it still needs a bit more work but it's getting there.

The April paintings taught me many things and one of those is, the value of a sketch, a painting that is done directly and in a limited amount of time without reworking. After each painting I'd see things that I was tempted to go back and rework or tweek but usually refrained. I recently saw a painting by Monet in which he put his shadow of a raven in, in reverse. I saw a Cezanne stillife in which the perspective was obviously off on the lip of a vase. My daffodil painting had a book in the background which had inaccurate perspective.

I've also pondered the Malcolm Gladwell phenomenon from his book, "Outliers" in which he says a person must devote 10,000 hours to their task to master it. The painting a day averaged about 3 hours a day which would be about 90 a month 1080 or so, a year....so nearly ten years at that rate. Hmmmm, I guess I need to pickup the pace.

A couple of other things that I learned in this process. Each painting doesn't have to be great....some are just average, accept it and move on. But total loose 'spontaneity' rarely results in success. Planning and care make a difference, even if it's taking a few extra minutes to get the proportions drawn in accurately first.

I often tinted my board and I was asked why I did that. There are a couple reasons, but primarily for me, it helps me with the color values (lightness to darkness). If you put paint onto a bright white board, no matter how light it is, it looks darker than it is due to the contrast of the light board. Also my palette is medium brown mahogany so when I mix the paint on a surface that is similar in value to the board I can better see the value relationships. The other reason I tint with Red Oxide is because it's a warm color and that warmth come through in the final painting even when it is dry first. Even though we think of oil paints as opaque, they do have alot of transparency if not applied to heavily. One of my favorites which really show this is the "Old Barn Foundation" painting. That painting was a bit of a 'hump' painting; done about two and a half weeks into the month, I started to literally GET THE FEEL for oil paints. When to thin with solvent, when to add some walnut oil to the paint, whether to use a bristle brush or a soft sable. I still feel like I have a lot to learn. For example, palette knives are still a mystery to me. I ordered some new ones, which just came; much better quality ones than the ones I was using.

A couple of the highlights of the month were: putting a few finishing strokes to the Tainter Lake Wall painting (2) with a sick baby grandchild in my arms, all the birds that visited while I was painting, painting the old barn yard with Mary, the first crocus' of the season to paint, and discovering Spring Creek.

Thank you for following my progress this month. I may have to do this again next year! And I'm thinking I should commit to a painting a week maybe for awhile, although I've had some catching up to do this week. I got some of my garden planted this week.

11 x 14 oil
This being one of my favorite sites to paint at this month, I wanted to go back and do another to see how differently I'd treat the subject after learning a few things . The palette: White, Burnt Sienna, Ultra Blue, Cad Yellow, Pthalo green, Magenta. The board was tinted Red Oxide.

9 x 11 oil
This subject was drawn one day last week when I had a little extra time. Then I went back and painted this from the car on a rainy day. It became a study of greens

9 x 11 1/2 watercolor
Painted at a friends house on another cold grey Wisconsin April day. But it was so damp, the air-that is, that the watercolor would not dry and I couldn't finish it until last night. Who'd think that a watercolor would take longer to dry than an oil. With watercolor, some points in the painting must be painted onto dry paper and others onto wet, and if you force it ahead of the correct dampness it 'bleeds' where you don't want it to. This is a rather tight representation but what I found the most interesting was the texture of the material under and behind the fruit and how the shadows were affected by it, with the higher threads catching light (esp. in the shadow under the right fruit). I love the color of these red pears. Blue has always been my favorite color but over the years I have learned to appreciate red in it's watermelon range.

8 x 10 oil
Painted on another cool rainy day in Wisconsin, from my bedroom window. This river birch volunteered on the edge of our lawn. It has bright peach colored 'paper'. I had to stretch to find the color in the landscape but the rain actually saturated any color that was beginning to appear. I tinted the board, red oxide, let it dry and used the following palette: Black, white, cad yellow, red oxide, med blue, yellow ochre light and cadmium orange.

11 x 14 oil
Our little grandbaby had a fever and couldn't go to daycare so I took my paints up to my son and daughter-in-law's yesterday. Between naps, feedings and such I managed to get this in. The rocks are sunstruck in the morning and I finished this about noon so things did change, but that just makes it interesting! Palette: tinted board with red oxide (dried), white, black, medium blue (classic), cad yellow, yellow ochre, red oxide, cad orange. Using black is a new concept for me since watercolor doesn't usually incorporate black paint, instead you mix your darks with things like, viridian and alizarin crimson and that makes for interesting darks and it's what I've done all month, but I thought I'd give black a go....it cools the light mixtures and warms the darker ones it seems.

8 x 10 oil
I only had about an hour to fit my painting time into, in the middle of the day, waiting for my Easter dinner guests. The clouds were just begging to be painted. This sort of cloud is fun in watercolor and I've never painted them in oil before, so it was a good lesson for me. Painted in my yard in the Big Coulee. Palette: Medium Blue (Classic Oils), Cad Yellow, Black (first time this month), white, Yellow Ochre, Permanent Rose.

8 x 10 oil
This still life was painted in my studio at the Accola Gallery. I tinted the background with red oxide hue and while it was still damp, I painted into it. It is a bit of a study of green pigment....thus a tube of green paint at the bottom of the comosition. The colors included: Chrome oxide green, sap green, cadmium green, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, white and red oxide. The book was Janson's History of Art...!

~8 x 10 watercolor
Another cool grey day in WI. I ran out of canvas for oil painting so I did this watercolor from my home looking eastward. The blue hills in the distance are the Chippewa River.

8 x 10 oil
This was painted at my son and daughter-in-law's home. They have a spectacular view across the lake of a sandstone face. Again this time of year the colors and shapes are definitely subtle but I enjoyed the palette. I tinted the board a rather bright transparent red oxide, and used the following pigments:
white, permanent red medium, cerulean blue, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow dark, pthalo green, burnt umber and terra rosa. Again another inside painting day, but I was fortunate to have this great view and then when I was finished I cleaned up and was able to enjoy the evening with family, especially our wonderful little baby Ian. He now treats us with belly laughs at 3 1/2 months.
Technical jargon alert: For you painters, I used an approach that is quite disciplined but seems to work well. I taped a string grid onto the board with 9 equal rectangles. Then starting in the center I painted the lightest value of which there wasn't much distinction in the middle! Then I moved to the top center and did the same, moving around the center clockwise. Then I went to the center again and painted in the darkest value and moved to the top center, did the same and worked again clockwise around. Then start adding middle values. About 2.3 or 3/4 of the progress of the painting is worked this way until you remove the strings and tweek the values and details. Or you can leave the strings in until the end but they do tend to get in your way when you're trying to pull all those rectangles together and render the finishing details.

8 x 10 oil SOLD
Oh, the luxury or nasty weather that 'forces' you to stay in your pajamas and set up a still life and paint all afternoon. Need to mke a few adjustments to this but it was a pleasure to paint. Reminded me of my mentor Marge Mason's still life work in oil. The subject matter are some of my favorite things in life, flowers and books!

8 x 10 oil
Regardless of the sleet outside, spring IS sprung. These willow shrubs growing behind our home reminded me of a copy I did of a small painting by VanGogh of pussywillows in a jar of water. Though, this treatment is more ispired by Matisse.
Palette: transparent red oxide, white, yellow ochre, burnt umber, cobalt and ultra blue, hansa yellow and venitian red.

8 x 10 oil
I actually painted two paintings yesterday, in part because I heard the weather report and wasn't sure if I'd get out today and tomorrow and also because my Lyster Sister Choir rehearsal ( I play the bass) was sort of cancelled. So I went over to my friend Eva Maria's garden and found this old barrel lying amongst the blue Perovskia blossoms.

8 x 10 oil
This old barn is on Hwy 85 between Durand and Eau Claire. I've often been interested in how old it appears and the beautiful sienna colored sandstone that the foundation is made of . I tinted the board with Transparent Red Oxide and Raw Umber mixed. It was still a bit wet so the sky kept getting mixed with it when I'd apply the lighter blues. The palette included: Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Oxide Green or something like that, Cad Yellow medium, Raw Sienna and white.
My fiend Mary from Eau Claire joined me today. And a man from Excel Energy stopped to tell us that this belonged to them, but that we were welcome to be there. In fact it is part of 4500 acres that go all the way to the Chippewa. There are a number of additional old buildings on this site and it is surrounded by Amish Farms, very picturesque!

8 x 10 oil
This is Lois's Pond, just down the road from our home. Again, trees and reflections. A bit more impressionisticc this time. The palette consisted of: white, yellow ochre, transparent red oxide, pthalo green, cerulean blue, and terra rosa.

The 16th was a cold and stormy day and evening and we attended the Viennese Ball that evening. So I accepted the fact, days in advance, that this might be the one day all month in which I wouldn't be able to do a painting without driving myself sort of crazy. So today, the 17th I did two paintings, Lois's Pond and the landscape below:

8 x 10 oil
I may need to put a few finishing touches to this and photograph again since it is sort of out of focus. Pallette: same as above but added Cobalt blue and Cadmium Yellow Dark. Very brushy and sketchy, possibly it's strength!

Approx. 8 x 10 watercolor
This sweet little being is part of a series of paintings in watercolor to illustrate my friend Eva Maria's story about Lilly Belle, the wild bunny that grew up in her garden. Due to a shortage of time on the 15th and particularly due to very inclement weather I chose to stay in my studio and paint this.

11 x 14 oil
It was too cool and grey and drizzly outside to get excited about outdoor work so I set up this still life in my living room tonight. This is the board I tinted with raw umber and the palette is: Hansa Yellow, Yellow Ocre, Permanent Red, Magenta, Black, White, Pthalo Green, Permanent Rose, and Terra Rosa. I think I could increase the chiroscuro (sp?) by creating greater contrasts with the shadow and highlights. Next time!

8 x 10 oil
I started out earlier today, about 10:30 going back to this lovely little trout stream. This is a slight turn to my right from the painting I did two days ago. I had a 12:30 appointment so I had to be efficient. I started out by toning an 11 x 14 board raw umber and then realized, no I need to let that dry so I pulled out this 8 x 10 and just went after it. Sometimes those are the best, since they aren't overworked. At the end, I impulsively took the rest of the Phtalo Green on my palette and knifed it on top to add the cool dark greens. Still trying to work out how to use a palette knife. I like the spontinaity (sp?) of this piece. The palette is Raw Sienna, white, raw and burnt umber, phtalo green, transparent red oxide, cadmium yellow dark and burnt sienna.

8 x 10 oil
I feel pretty good about this painting. I learned alot from it. Figured out how to scumble (isn't that a great word!) by pushing the brush against the tip instead of always pulling. And I worked out some more ways to represent water. That cna go so many different ways. I like the palette too. It's burnt and raw umber, raw sienna, magenta, ultramarine blue, white, bright red and maybe some transparent red oxide. This creek was overflowing it's banks on the 13th. This is on what we call the low road, or Cty P just across the river from Durand, WI....my way to work. The spring peepers were keeping me entertained. It was painted mid day.

8 x 10 oil SOLD
I came upon this fabulous little trout stream near Durand, WI this week. It was a gorgeous day to be outside painting. I've been trying to figure out a good color mixture to represent this dry grass and I don't think I quite got it here. This is, I think, white with yellow ochre light and maybe a hint of burnt umber. And yes the building was just about that orange.

I've come to realize one of the secrets to being able to successfully fulfill a commitment like this, is to be realistic going into it about your time and choosing a time frame that is practical for your life. April is perfect for me, besides having a fair amount of free time, it's also a great month for the changes of the season, from snow in the beginning to flowers and trees at the end. Also the days are getting longer, that also works for me.

11 x 14 oil
This is the painting I was working on on that warm stormy Sunday. I didn't get very far into the painting and thunder and wind, chased me away. So I returned to it today. I could probably work on it some more, refining some of the values and edges, but I'll post it anyway so I don't get too far behind on this. I tinted the canvas first with a Transparent Red Oxide and let that dry. I was attracted to that wonderful cobalt blue roof and I tried different techniques to get that weathered look. First I painted it with a thinned layer of Ultramarine blue and let that dry. Then I came over that with Cobalt Blue mixed with alittle white. Trying to get the values correct on the bare spots was a challenge...it works in some area, and not so well in others. I also liked the dark shadows contrasting against the light, especially in the opening of the barn on the right.

8 x 10 oil
Hepatica's are one of the spring ephemerals in the hardwoods of Wisconsin. They range in color from white to deep purple and the leaves have a signature look, similar to the lobes of a liver and are a dark red to green and red mottling. Thus the color and shape of the leaves is where the name is derived.
This was painted Saturday afternoon, with overcast sky. My gardener friend Deanna had a plethora of crocus and Scillia (sp?) as well as a few Heleborus and dutch iris, but the s-shape flower cluster of the hepatica charmed me to paint it. Not sure what I learned from this one other than how to preserve a white shape in a sea of darker colors.The composition was carefully designed, ala Andrew Wykes, an instructor I studied with a year ago.

I've been painting but running into a few challenges getting them uploaded to this blog. The primary difficulty is that I get home too late to photograph them in the proper light. I like to shoot them in the shade of a sunny day or the bright light of an overcast day. Also on Sunday, I painted a barnyard in Buffalo City, WI and if you remember, Sunday was very warm and muggy with scattered thunderstorms. I got about an hour in, at the most, when thunder and wind threatened so I packed up the paints. That painting is now being finished in bits and pieces from memory. The weather has been beautiful yesterday and this morning so I'm looking forward to another session. The snow is gone from almost every last coulee or hollow as they'd say in Kentucky. The spring peepers are peeping. The earliest spring ephemerals are blooming. In fact the next painting to be posted is Hepatica's painted at my gardener friend extraordinaire, Deanna's. Thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement. Glad to hear you're following my painting adventure!

PS Some of your have asked if the paintings are for sale. Yes, of course, that's how I can continue to buy paints and food! They are almost all 8 x 10's on archival canvas board. They are $150 each, first come, first serve.

8 x 10 oil
This painting is best viewed at a bit of a distance. I was definitely influenced by the Russian Impressionists. I first tinted the board with Terra Rosa, let it dry and then did a
three value study. The deeper blue shadows are my favorite color and at one time all the shadow were that vibrant but they seemed to jump off the cnavas...not good for the painting as a whole. I'm still intrigued by the last patches of snow. They add such a dramatic contrast to the composition.

8 x 10 oil
Close to my home, this is a quiet refuge with many birds too. A large loon, eagles on the ices edge out at the other side, amongst many others. Still trying to figure out how to approach the subject of water....maybe I need to study more of the impressionist's works. This looks like ice, but it's actually water!!??!

8 x 10 oil painting SOLD
"Houston we have color....!" Yes, the first blooms of the season. While I painted they were visited by bees and a painted lady butterfly. I love painting flowers!

Just noticed that trees appear as leading players in my paintings. They are beautiful in their season changing robes! So stately and strong.
What to paint today? More trees?

8 x 10 oil
My Back Yard.
Aoril 4, 2011
It was a very beige day: pink beige, blue beige, green beige, ochre beige, umber beige!!!! Thank God it's sunny today