Poplars on the Mississippi River Sandbar 11×14″ oil on linen panel $400, free shipping in the US A lot of people don’t like painting on gray days. I think they have an image in their heads of standing in front of their French easel in a field of beautiful grasses, the sun shining in from the [...]
landscape painting
So the rain finally stopped. Excited, I bundled up in damn near every article of clothing that I had brought with me. Slinging my bag of painting gear over my shoulder, I made my way down to the lake shore. I surveyed the scene. The blue sky and late afternoon sunshine were peaking through holes [...]
When I was a little kid, and I’d get out my Crayolas to draw some trees, I kept things simple. A straight, brown column for a trunk and a tuft of green for the leaves. Maybe a cloud or a rainbow was added to ensure that I had used every color in the box, [...]
One of the great aspects of living in Minnesota is the drama of all four seasons. It seems like seasons happen all at once here. It’s suddenly spring, or it’s suddenly winter. But in reality, when you finally take a moment to stop and look around, change happens very gradually, over a period of time. We [...]
I have been doing a lot of painting set up on the banks of rivers in the last few months. I have noticed in my own paintings that some days the colors reflected in the water are quite intense. More saturated. Other days, the reflections are a bit more washed out. Still beautiful. Still a [...]
I know what you’re thinking, “Did he do a painting of a pile of rocks sticking out of the water?” And yes–yes, I did do a painting of a pile of rocks. More specifically, a pile of rocks–maybe sandstone–in the St. Croix river. If you grab your atlas, or punch it in to Google Earth, [...]
There is nothing better than a clear morning after a big rain storm. I guess that’s not entirely true. I suppose there are better things, but a great morning is certainly right up there. Last Sunday I made my way back over to the Trial and Display Gardens on the grounds of the University of [...]
I got a call on Sunday morning from my mother asking if I was out plein air painting yet. I was off to a late start, but I figured she wasn’t at church either, so we were even. Neither one of us was doing what we normally would do on a Sunday. It turns out that [...]
It was a great day for plein air painting in St. Paul… at least it ended up as a great day for plein air painting in St.Paul. I made my way to the park this morning, and with view finder in hand, began looking for inspiration and the next subject to paint. I set up my pochade [...]
I just finished a fantastic plein air painting workshop sponsored by The Atelier here in Minneapolis. The workshop was taught by plein air artist, Brian Stewart. Go ahead. Click on over to his site and take a look at his work. I can wait. Welcome back. I geared myself up mentally before the workshop even [...]
