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Acrylic Painting, Emerging From the Shadows
Inspired by the dramatic effect of streetlights during an evening dog walk, this painting explores moody lighting through a still life setup.
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What Really Happens When You Stop Trying to Get Acrylics to Behave Like Oils
I have found myself studio-homeless this year. With no space outside my home to work in, I have started painting right in my apartment. While I will admit that it is nice not having to drive somewhere, it has made me think twice about the materials that I’m am using in my shared living/painting space.…
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Orange Reflections
How loose and free can your paint application be at the start? That was the question that I asked myself for this painting. I was curious about what it would feel like to start a painting with some loose spots of color and then pull the image together gradually using layers of transparent and opaque paint.…
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Sunflowers and Silver Pitcher | plein air still life
We have had a cold, rainy spring here in Minnesota. You have to take advantage of the sun where you can find it! This painting was done on a day that started out with dreary grey skies and falling rain. All morning long, I heard from the weather guy on the radio that it was…
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Plein Air Painting in the Park
We have finally had some sun here in Minnesota! Spring is slowly starting to reveal itself. Not weeks of sunny days mind you, and very few May flowers, but the change is underway. Let the fair-weather plein air painting season begin I lucked out with a day off during the week. I couldn’t wait another…
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Recycling a plein air painting and a vacation
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…
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Dappled Sunlight | Sunday morning plein air painting
Dappled Sunlight, 6×8″, oil on linen panel $150.00 Free Shipping in the US Sunday is the best day of the week. Things seem to move a bit slower… I spent my Sunday morning painting on the grounds of the St. Paul Seminary right along the Mississippi River. The weather has been perfect; not too warm,blue skies,…
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Plein Air Painting: On the Park Lawn With My Pochade Box
Spring has finally arrived here in Minnesota! I love painting outdoors this time of year. The branches of the trees are still very visible, with just enough of the yellow-green foliage of spring to soften the edges. It’s like being able to see the support skeleton underneath. For my 30th birthday, last Sunday, my partner…
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Flowers and Pears, One Final Look at an Oil Still Life Painitng
Flowers and Pears is done! I am quite happy with how this painting ended up. From a distance, this still life feels very tight, very detailed. When you get close to it, there is a lot of broken color, strokes of colors placed next to one another on the surface and left unmixed allowing your…
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Pears and Flowers, work in progress.
The image above is a work in progress shot of the still life that I’ve been working on in my studio. In setting up this painting, my plan was to create an arrangement that would allow me to really push some of the visual textures. We have the rough wood of my studio table, the glass pitcher,…
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Backyard Tree, studio landscape painting
The image above is the result of a three day studio landscape painting class that I took at The Atelier in Minneapolis. It was taught by landscape artist and plein air enthusiast, Brian Stewart. This painting began life as a plein air study that I did of the wonderful tree across the alley from our…
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Tea Party
In an effort to push for some new ideas for still life, I decided to try an unusual perspective for this piece, and an unusual format. I set up this still life on my large studio table, and stood so I was looking down at the grouping. I love being able to see in side…
