Ron's Artwork

Out Looking

2012-01-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

Size on this is about 12 inches by 22 inches; on light cream colored Canson mie-tients paper. All I used was a single bit of willow vine charcoal, kneaded eraser, and blending stump. I wasn't sure if I could pull this off with just a single value stick of charcoal. These good ole fashion charcoal drawing have always been some of my favorite artworks, and good practice for color paintings. I just dont like white paper, and I think the cream colored paper give this an old time feel to it..

Now I have to make a custom frame for this since its such a odd size. I normally do standard size pieces, but those just wouldnt work for this composition.

A couple things I kept in mind on this:

1. Anchoring my darks to the edge of the picture window, i.e. the cast shadow

2. Saving the color of paper for brightest lights, making sure not to get charcoal in those areas

3. Not smearing charcoal in background, keeping clean paper around the subject

4. Using very few "lines", just shapes of very subtle values, like in oil painting

5. Making sure to have the viewer "feel" the light

Cowboy Portrait

2011-12-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

8x 10 inches, willow vine charcoal on paper. I dont consider this a quick sketch, or an elaborate finished piece. Just practicing, if you will. I am pretty happy how this turned out for a couple hours work and a single stick of willow charcoal and a bit of white charcoal pencil.

Some Quick Sketches

2011-12-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

Its been so long since my last painting, I've been producing a bunch of quick sketches as a means of getting myself back onto the "artsy" state of mind. Here's a couple of what I consider my better ones. Remember these are done quickly (about 20 minutes each), so I dont consider these "finished" works.

First one is 5 x 7 inches, charcoal pencils, and pastel pencil for highlights. Sorry, I just realized this photo is a bit blurry.

This second on was done using copic pen on canson mie tientes paper. 5 x7 inches.

Im Still Alive

2011-12-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

Its been forever, it seems, since my last post. We sold our house last fall and purchased a new one. So, all my art supplies have been packed since September.

I have unpacked some art supplies and have completed a few quick sketches. Boy, Im I ever rusty, for not painting for several months. Not sure any of these sketches are worthy of being posted on blog.... maybe I'll post them... we'll see....

I am also in the middle of some remodel work at our new house. New paint, floor covering, new doors, etc.

Thanks to the new followers, appreciate you stopping by. I promise to get some painting (artwork!) soon.

Heres a couple photos of the new porcelain tile I installed in our kitchen and dinning room. 18 x 18 inch tiles, which I installed in brick pattern.

Talk at you all latter.....

Let 'er Buck!

2011-08-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

I thought I would try another abstract, surrealist, type pastel painting. Not everyone likes this style, but a surprising number of people do. I think this makes for an interesting change from the oh so common, more realistic style that is so prevelant in western art.

Let me know if you like this stlye or not, I am curious.

16 x 20, pastel on primed masonite.

Going crazy with color

2011-07-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

I started to paint the abstract snow patches on the distant mountains and next thing I knew I ended up with this crazy painting! It was fun to do. And I may actually do some more along this style. Im interested if people like this kind of style or not.

Note: no mind altering stimulants were used in the making of this painting.

16 x 20, pastel on primed masonite

Bringing 'em In- pastel with work in progress photos

2011-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

I decided I would show the steps of how I paint using pastels. This piece is 16 x 20 inches on masonite. I first put 2 coats of Colorfix primer on the masonite, then swiped the bright orange pastel around, then "set" the pigment by brushing on some rubbing alcohol. I then decided I wanted a rougher, grittier surface, so I added a coat of Liquitex gesso/primer.

Next, I blocked in my lights and darks. I was careful to be light handed, and I didnt want to cover up my sketch lines (at least not at this point)

I then started applying pastel, starting at focal area and sky. Focusing on values and shapes. Just slapping on blobs of colors. Keeping things loose.

At this point, I dont like the sky, its too dark value wise and is just plain ugly. So is the foreground. So I take the painting outside and brush off most of the pastel to get back most of the tooth from the primer. Below is what the painting looked like after brushing it off.

Below is the final piece after repainting sky and foreground. The colors are better in real life. I had a hard time getting the colors correct for this photo.

Catch yall latter!

Cold Shadows

2011-06-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

5 x 7, pastel on masonite.

I feel a litte bad about bringing up winter again. However, in order to get back into the flow of painting again, these small 5 x 7 work great to revive the creative juices. I just happened to have this already rough sketched from last winter. So it was easy to just grap it and start slapping on some pigment.

Summer activities are in full swing, so the only painting time is at night (as usual). However, all this summer fun, leads to hundreds of photos and potential paintings ideas. My mind is just overflowing with ideas. Lots of fun, and presents so many fun challenges to keep the ole brain a workin.

Catch yaall latter....

Evening Bluff

2011-06-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Finally got some time to do some painting. I hate it when the day job takes over and I'm too wiped out to paint at night after work.

This one is 9 x 12, pastel, on colorfix pastel paper. I also used an alcohol wash underpainting.

Sunset Reflections

2011-05-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

A quick pastel piece. 5 x 7 inches.

Life has gotten busy. Work has gotten more busy. Add to that, a new computer. Result.... not much painting time as of late. Just too tired at night.

I am dedicated, so I will not be detered for much longer!

Friendly Competitors- oil

2011-04-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

My latest oil painting. 8 x 10 on canvas panel. I've had a pencil sketch for this laying around for months, and I finally got around to painting the scene. Hope you all enjoy it.

Into the Wilderness

2011-04-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Another landscape using oils. 9 x 12 inches. I was contemplating opening up an airport since there are so many planes in this scene! Ok- bad artist joke. This one took a lot of mental energy to do. There are some things I like, and some I'm not too thrilled with... but thats just how it goes sometimes. I do like how the distant snowy mountains turned out.

The ref for this came from the March monthly challenge, in the sw/western forum, in the wet canvas website.

House and Barn- oil

2011-04-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

8 x 10 inches, oil. I'm still plugging along, working on my oil painting skills. This was from a photo posted in the Johannes class in Wet Canvas.

Golden Trees- oil study

2011-03-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting my blog duties lately! Continuing with my landscape painting in oil series, this is a study painting focusing on using all mid values. I wanted to see if I could produce a painting that is colorful without using any extreme lights or darks.

You can see in the black and white version how the yellow trees are almost exactly the same value as the background blue mountain. In the color version, you would never discern that the yellow and blue would be same value.

Im happy with how this turned out, even though it was never intended as a "finished" painting. Because all the colors are mid value, this painting glows with light, even in the corner of a dim lit room. I will definetly incorporate this mid value technique in my future "finished" paintings.

Spring is Near- oil

2011-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

My latest oil landscape. 12 x 16 inches. Yes, more snow in the painting. LOL. This was a tough one as far as getting the light right. The foregound and midground were under cloud shadow. And the far mountains and hill had direct sunlight.

This is based on a photo I took last May, when there were still some remaining snow banks left here and there.

I wasnt concerned that much with an actual focal area. In these expansive scenes, I like the idea of taking the viewer on a trip through the painting. Starting in the forground, moving into the distance, while enjoying a few treats along the way.

Photo of the week- flower on Battle Creek

2011-02-15T21:58:00.001-08:00

Seeing how all of my paintings of late have been snow scenes, I figured it would be a good idea to post something green. A reminder that summer will return.... I think LOL.

I took this photo while camping. Its along Battle Creek in southcentral Wyoming in the Sierra Madre mountains. Enjoy.

Sagebrush Drifts- oil

2011-02-08T20:45:00.001-08:00

Another quick snowdrift scene. 9 x 12 inches. Something small that I can accomplish in one setting after work in the evenings.

I did this in a little different style from what I've been doing. Just experimenting and having fun.

As with all my oil painting, 99% of the painting is done alla prima (wet on wet paint). SometimesI'll do an underpainting. As I did with this painting, an underpainting of burnt sienna. Tried to "warm up" the snow, if thats possible!

Prairie Drifts- oil

2011-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

My crusade to learn landscape painting using oils has somehow turned into a series on snowdrifts!

This one is 9 x 12 inches. Fun little painting to do. Snowdrifts are fun to paint, by the way, with no two alike and lots of different angels and shadow areas.

Willow Island- oil

2011-01-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

My latest oil landscape. 12 x 16 inches. I still cant seem to get a totally accurate photo when it comes to colors. Blues are slightly greyer in real life (in the sky for example).

Slowly, but surely, my color mixing is getting better. One of those things that comes with experience.

Well, off to find something to paint....

Drifts Above the Laramie Valley- oil

2011-01-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

I'm continuing along with my oil landscape paintings. This scene is looking west across the Laramie valley to the Snowy Range mountains in the far distance.

Depicting distance when the air is crisp and clear is difficult. No heat waves, no humidity, no dust or pollution to cause objests in the distance to blurr or fade out. But, Im determined to figure out how to paint distance on those crisp, clear Wyoming days where mountains 60 miles away are as clear as if you were standing at the base of them.

Looking South

2011-01-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've started a crusade to learn to paint landscapes using oil paints. This painting is 9 x 12 inches. Location is on the Wyoming/ Colorado border in northwest Colorado.

I've been staying up late painting, losing much sleep. I have produced several "failed" paintings, but have learned a lot in the process.

I'm fairly happy with how this turned out. The colors here in this photo are not totally accurate. There is not so much strong blues in the original.

'till next time.....

Meeting of the Mouths

2011-01-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

9 x 12 inches, pastel. I did this focusing on abstract shapes. I also, payed extra attention to connecting the darks and anchoring them to an edge of the frame. I like how this turned out and will definetly pursue this line of painting more in the future. I hope you like it and find it interesting.

Some News....

2010-12-17T09:09:00.000-08:00

I have been accepted to join the Daily Painters of Wyoming blogsite. So many of my paintings will be posted there as well as here. Another way to get my name out there. So far, its just me and artist Mike Beeman (also of Cheyenne) posting on Wyo Daily painter site. I think its fairly new, as many states dont have any artists signed up to participate.

So, maybe you guys should check the daily painting blogsite for your state.

Wyo Daily painters link: click here

You should be to access your state via the Wyoming site (link above)

Talk at ya all later.

Over and Under

2010-11-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

I decided to paint another square format painting. This is a pastel, 9 x 9 inches on dark brown suede matte board. I like working on the suede matte board. It takes a little longer for the drawing portion, however. This is because I do my intial sketch on drawing paper, then transfer that sketch onto the matte board. One advantage of doing it this way, is that I still have a sketch available to use again in the future.

Fall Aspens - (sold)

2010-11-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

9 x9 inch pastel. I did this last night as part of the monthy challenge in the southwest/western forum in Wet Canvas. Thanks to Deb for supplying the great reference photo.

Higher Ground

2010-11-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

11 x 14 inches, pastel on paper. This is my son, Garrett, climbing the gate to reach Junior. Junior is really BIG, has clydesdale blood in him.

I tried a little different approach to this painting. I wanted to use less detail and make things more suggestive. I see these types of paintings from other artists and really enjoy them. I think the reason why is that when paintings are suggestive, it invites the viewer in, engages with their senses, and allows the viewer to use their imagination. This can create some emotional connection between viewer and painting. Hope I was able to make some of that work with this piece.

Riding Proud- quick pastel study

2010-11-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Its been forever, it seems, since my last post. Fall is such a busy time of year for me. This piece is 8 x 10 inches, pastel. Several purposes for this piece. First, as a practice piece, because I havent painted for quite some time. Second, as a study to experiment with an idea, and finally I wanted to get a certain style and look for the face area (which I am happy with on this).

There are a some problems. Such as the head of the horse isnt quite right. And the flag needs to be better. However, I wasnt concerned so much with these things. I was more concerned with feeling and emotion and motion; not spending a lot of time on drawing.

Things have settled down, so I should be posting again more frequently.

Two New Plein Airs- pastel

2010-08-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

The weekend before last, the kids and I went camping. I managed to do some plein air pastel painting during our trip. Its been quite a long time since my last plein air (since May I think). Both paintings are about 8 x 10 inches. I originally was not going to post these. But my wife liked them as well as my Wet Canvas friends, so I decided to share them with you all. If you squint REALLY hard and use your imagination, you might see what I was trying to show in the paintings. LOL

Sittin Pretty - pastel

2010-08-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hi to everyone. I finally managed to get some painting done. Summers are just so busy. Image size is 11 x14 inches. This is the first time I've used suede matte board as a painting surface.

I purposely did not "finish" the horse. Although this painting is finished. I wanted to give just enough information to show she was riding a horse; however I did not want the horse to attract much attention. I've seen paintings by proffesional artists using this kind of technique, but Im not sure I pulled it off. Hopefully it worked and is interesting.

Suede matte board was interesting to use. Certainly different from normal pastel paper. I can envision many uses for this surface. More difficult to produce soft edges. VERY light touch is needed for fine blending using hard pastels. Im fairly heavy handed so this was a learning experience.

Catch you all later.

Man on a Bicycle- Pastel

2010-07-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

Image size in 8 x 10 inches. This was an experiment for using ink to tone and create a background. Basically, I "borrowed" my wifes ink pads (that she uses for cardmaking) one night when she wasn't home. I rolled a few colors of ink using one of her rollers; dark brown, lighter brown, and rusty color rolled vertically. Applied a couple coats of Colorfix primer over the ink after it dried- which was fast by the way. A little bit of pastel over that, but much of the ink is still visable in the background. The purpose of this background was to have a more abstract background, using "old fashioned or antique looking" colors to go along with the antique bike. And I needed to "ground" the bike by adding the illusion of a road, and added in some slight reflection for fun. Hope you like it.

Tree Frog- Pastel

2010-06-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Just having some fun with my pastels. This is a small, 5 x 7 inch, painting. I have some larger pieces that I am wanting to do, but I need to force myself to set aside the time to do the necessary preliminary sketches and research. Hopefully, soon, I'll get started on those things. In the meantime, these small pieces have kept things going.

Feeding Time- Oil - (sold)

2010-06-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

It rained all last weekend. So, yesterday, to help pass the time, I did this quick painting of one of my parents cows. Image size is 5 x 7 inches, oil on masonite.

Bird Brains- Oil

2010-06-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

Finished this last night. 8 x 10 inches. Had some fun with my oil paints, still learning how to use them. All work was done wet on wet. This was for the monthly challenge in sw/western forum in Wet Canvas. The paint was still wet when I took the photo, so there is a slight glare.

Hereford Calf- Oil

2010-06-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

Was finally able to paint something new. The size is 5 x 7 inches, on a piece of masonite primed with gesso. Spent around 3 hours, completed in wet on wet, in one painting session. It was an enjoyable painting, and I tried to capture the fluffy, youthfullness of the young calf, snuggled alongside the mother. This painting was part of the May challenge in Wet Canvas (southwest/western forum).

Delivery Workers- Pastel

2010-05-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to do anything new lately. I did this about a year ago and thought I would share it with you. 9 x 12 inches. This painting was done as one of the monthy challenges in Wet Canvas.

I have a ton of paintings ready to get started.... in my mind that is! Its just a matter of setting aside the time.

Roses for Steph, pastel

2010-05-04T20:33:00.001-07:00

I decided to try something different from my usual subject matter. This is 9 x 12 inches, pastel. I had fun painting these roses. Tried real hard to keep things loose and "painterly", and not get caught up in all the small details of each rose petal. I will be giving this painting to my wife, Steph, for Mothers Day

Winter Hold Outs - pastel

2010-04-29T18:04:00.001-07:00

Just finished with this one. 11 3/4 by 36 inches; soft pastel. I've been wanting to paint this scene for quite some time. Inspriration came one evening last November while driving home to Cheyenne from Laramie. The colors in the sky were fantastic. The reddish colors near the horizon on the left comes in part from pollution along the Denver front range of Colorado. If your not familiar, these are snowfences. They are built parallel along highways and railroads to catch blowing snow, preventing drifts from forming on the road or railroad tracks. These drifts can get quite large and are often the last snow to melt.

Winter is still hanging on. Got 3 inches last night. "If" or when spring decides to get here, the prairies are going to be green, green, green! Which will be a nice change from 7-8 months of browns.

You can click on the image to view it larger.

Fired Up! - charcoal

2010-04-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Its been forever, it seems, since I did an old-fashion black and white drawing. I spent between 2 to 3 hours on this. Image size is 7.5 x 10 inches, using 2b, 4b, and 6b charcoal pencils. It was fun and relaxing to just sit and do a drawing. I'm not sure if I have the patience to spend days and days on a more elaborate, finished type drawing. But it could happen I suppose. LOL

Old Truck, Oil

2010-04-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while. Work has taken over lately. Finally got around to doing some painting. This is 4 x 6 inches, oil, on gessoed masonite. It was for the southwestern/western forum monthly challenge in Wet Canvas. It was a fun exercise and a chance to work on my oil painting skills.

Tree of Strength

2010-03-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I've started to do some oil painting. This one is 9 x 12. Based on some photos taken near Cheyenne last week. I'm in the process of figuring out the feel of the paint, how to hold brushes, mixing colors etc. Its lots of fun and I have a lot to learn. I'll still be doing pastels as well. So much to paint, so little time! This particular painting would be my second landscape using oil paint. My first was a week or so ago... and will go into the "learning experience" file! LOL

14 Feet, 3 Inches

2010-03-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

9 inch x 9 inch, pastel. Did this last night experimenting with a square format as well as using an alcohol underpainting. If the painting were a rectangle, then the edges of the painting would compete with the rectangle shapes within the painting.

Early Evening Chill

2010-02-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

This is my first acrylic painting. 9 x 12 inches. I did this last Thursday night. I was needing some motivation, so I switched gears and tried something totaly different from pastels. It was fun to use real brushes for once. LOL . One of my goals this year is to produce paintings with "mood" and "feeling", something that photos cannnot do so much. So hopefully this painting conveys some emotional qualities.

First ever oil painting

2010-02-24T09:18:00.001-08:00

For some reason, I'm in a period of downtime for creating new pieces. So, I decided to share my first oil painting that I completed about a year ago. 8 x 10 inches on canvas board. I rummaged through some of my kids toys and set up this small still life. In retrospect, I should have changed the "M's" to "W's " or something else, but I wont be selling or showing this piece, so copyright issues wont be a problem. I am getting the bug to do more oil painting..... so be on the lookout in the future.

Cattle Guard Shadows

2010-02-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

9 x 12 inches, pastel. Finished this last weekend. Based on some photos I took last November while walking off a big Thanksgiving dinner.

Tearing Down the Gate

2010-02-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

9 x 1 2 pastel. Based on some photos from last summer. I painted this as a Christmas gift and finally got it delivered... so now I can post a picture of it.

Back At Camp

2010-01-30T17:09:00.000-08:00

My latest studio painting. Pastel, 16 x 20 inches on masonite. A combination of several photos I took last fall.

Latest Plein Air Paintings

2010-01-24T20:09:00.001-08:00

I managed to get out and do some more plein air paintings last week. This time I cruised the prairie for things to paint. These are scenes from north of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

More Plein Air Paintings

2010-01-19T08:21:00.001-08:00

I went out again last week and produced these two paintings. It was a little windy, but overall a really nice day. The first one is 8 x 10, and the second is 8 1/2 x 11.

First Time Plein Air Painting

2010-01-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

My wife, Steph, bought me a Julian French easel for Christmas along with a new set of 72 Great American landscape pastels. Well, I finally got out and did my first official plein air painting. (plein air is fancy French talk for painting on location). The weather was nice, a little windy, but definetly tolerable. My fingers were cold and stiff, but I managed to get two paintings done in about 2 1/2 hours time. Both are 8 x 10 in size, using soft pastels. Location for this was about 20 miles west of Cheyenne, Wyoming , not far off of interstate 80.

Morning On the Roaring Fork

2009-12-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

16 x 20 pastel. The Roaring Fork creek in southcentral Wyoming, the first week of October this last fall. The sounds of the elk bugling were filling the canyon that morning. The mule deer were happily feeding as well. I thought about adding some deer or elk in the painting, but I decided to save that for another day.

Forest Road

2009-12-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

11 x 14 pastel. The inspiration for this painting came from some photos I took back in the fall of 2008 while chasing elk in the mountains of southern Wyoming. This particular area of forest was interesting because it had an equal mix of evergreen and aspens, along with thick brush in the undergrowth. Some fabulous wildlife habitat.

Wyoming Sheep Country

2009-11-17T18:01:00.000-08:00

Pastel. 16 x 20 inches. This is a sheepherder from Peru moving sheep in the Sierra Madre mountains in south central Wyoming last September. This guy told me stories about how the bears have been eating the sheep as well as a story of how a sow with two cubs charged at him. Have to admire these guys living in the backcountry with the sheep all summer.

White Wind

2009-11-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

I completed this pastel about a year ago. 11 x14 inches. I tried to capture some movement and portray the wind and blowing snow. This is a hay meadow about 20 miles west of Cheyenne, Wy. When I took the reference photo for this painting, the wind was blowing over 40 miles per hour with snowdrifts covering the road.

Spirit Of The Dance

2009-10-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

My biggest painting to date. 18 x 24 inches. Pastel on board. I had some extra time to get this finished thanks to our recent snowstorm which shut the city down for a couple of days.

Lady In Red

2009-10-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I thought I should do a portrait, since its been quite a long time since the last one. This one is 6.5 x 9 inches. Pastel on velour paper. This is my first painting on velour paper and first portrait with teeth showing. This painting was part of the October challenge in pastel forum in Wet Canvas.

Texas sand dunes

2009-10-16T15:27:00.001-07:00

This painting was done using mostly pan pastels. The two "bushes" were painted using normal pastel sticks. This was a painting done as part of monthly challenge in sw/western forum in Wet Canvas. 9 x 12 on sanded paper.

Can you hear me now? Final

2009-10-14T18:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I think I'll call this finished. If I keep messing with it, I'll ruin it for sure! 9 x12 pastel on paper. Thanks for looking.

Can you hear me now? update

2009-10-13T16:40:00.001-07:00

Horse and rider mostly finished. Started to lay in the background and create distance.

Mostly finished. Still have to do touch up things and figure out what to do with foreground area, making sure not to do anything that would attract too much attention away from horse and rider.

Can you hear me now? work in progress

2009-10-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

9 x 12 pastel. A combination of two reference photos.

Blacksmith

2009-10-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Finshed this last week. 9 x 12 pastel. Did this painting as part of the September monthly challenge in southwest/western forum in Wet Canvas.

Autumn Tractor

2009-09-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to painting again after all the summer activities have died down. This is 8x 10 pastel. I conbined two photos- one of a tractor and one of a barn and made-up the mountains and aspens just for fun.

Skirting the storm

2009-07-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is one of my older painting, 16x 20 on paper. I have'nt had a chance to do anything new in the last few weeks. But I have tons of new reference material and lots of ideas to keep me busy as soon as I get going again.

Hackney horse and buggy

2009-06-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

11 x14 masonite. Oil paint for background and pastel for horse and buggy. (SOLD)

People in Action

2009-06-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Indian dancer from Cheyenne Frontier Days. 9 x 12 pastel. I really like all the colors in their clothing. (SOLD).

This is an experimental painting using oil paint for the background and pastel for the bull and rider. Image size is 11x 14 on masonite. It was fun to do and I like the looks. I do plan on doing more paintings this way in the future.

Foundation of stone

2009-06-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Finished this last night. 9 x 1 2 pastel. Rock formations at pole mountain west of Cheyenne. The different colors of lichen on the rocks made it colorful. I will probably be doing more rock paintings in the future, I think they make an interesting subject.

Florida lake

2009-05-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Howdy to everyone. This is my latest from the Wet Canvas May mothly challenge. Its small, 5 x 7, pastel. I didn't have much time to do a larger one by the end of the month. I painted this pretty quickly and I am pleased for the most part in how it turned out.

Recent paintings from Wet Canvas monthly challenges

2009-05-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

These are paintings from monthly painting challenges in the Wet Canvas website for artists. They are a fun thing to participate in and share with other artists. All are pastels, 8x 10 0r 9 x 12 in size. I purposely over exaggerated the red in the paintings with the red building- just for kicks!

Title- Big Red. 8x 10. I let the texture of my support show through to see what effect it would make. I kinda like it.

Title- Red Barn. 9 x 12. 1st painting done on wallis paper with a watercolor underpainting. I dont know why I bothered doing an underpainting; I end up putting too many layers of pastels on, covering the underpainting too much.

Title- Wyoming Barn. 8 x 10. Created a sky that I like. Gave it some "mood."

Tractor Sketches

2009-04-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

These are three tractor sketches that I recently completed. The idea is to do a quick sketch to train your brain to see general shapes and not get too bogged down in details. The viewer will naturally be able to fill-in the details and see the image. All three sketches were completed in less than one hour. Three seasons: summer/spring, winter, and fall. Each image is 5 x7, pastel.

Three Recent Paintings

2009-04-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is a recent mountain lion pastel painting. Image size is 6 x 8 inches. I tried to get the viewer to be concerned with the the cats intentions! Is it just curious, or does it want me for lunch!

This is an orchid we photographed at Reptile Gardens in South Dakota. I usually don't paint flowers, but Steph insisted! This is my first painting with water drops. Image is 8 x 10 inches. Pastel.

This painting is of San Fransisco at night. Image size is 8 x 10 inches. This is my first night painting. I tried to show the glowing lights, incorporate distance and perpective, while still using lots of color. Pastel.