Cold Front!

Finally. A good solid fall cold front blew through and the temps stayed in the low 70's. Perfect day. Rest of the week looks as good.
Painted this barn in Williamsport about lunch today and I noticed the greens are starting to lighten up and colors are starting to change to fall just a bit. Won't be long.

Bedford County

Spent the last two days painting in Bedford County. Fridays, I pick up my daughter at Webb School so I usually spend Friday's painting in the Bell Buckle area. I painted a barn that I have painted numerous times. I like painting it because no matter what time of day, it seems to always have "good light".
Then this morning, Plein Air Nashville painted in the Fisherman's Park in the heart of Shelbyville. It is on the Duck River and we were trying to get a few more paintings for the Nature Conservancy show the Chestnut Group is having in a couple of weeks. It is a great place to paint. Easy to get to the water and great views of the old corn mill and dam. I think in the later years they actually generated electricity with it.
The only issue I had was one of the "locals" walked up right when I started and stood right over my left shoulder about three feet away the entire time I painted. Two hours this guy stood there and didn't miss a brush stroke. If I can find out who he is I think I am going to send him a "workshop fee".

The Land Trust

Here in Tennessee we have a land trust that Tennesseans can put their land in and it keeps it from being developed for perpetuity. I would like to personally say thanks to anyone who has done it. It is a great gift to Tennessee and to generations that will be here long after we are gone.
Having said that, Jason Saunders is having a one man show at Leiper's Creek Gallery the month of October that is of the Natchez Trace and land trust properties. He knew I had an aquaintance that had a farm in Hickman County that had been put in the trust and wanted to paint it for the show. The farm is owned by Bill McEwen, a gentleman I used to buy bird dogs from when I quail hunted. He was more than gracious and took us all over the farm and told us to help ourselves. We did.
There was just too much there to paint. It is a magnificent piece of land that has been in the family for generations. There are views and little intimate landscapes everywhere. It has little rolling hills and lots of character to it.
We painted all day and I painted three with one being a scraper. I knew when I started it, it wasn't going to happen. Some paintings you just start wrong and you know it. I have a tendency to try and save them when I should just stop and start over. What a waste of time to try and save one that never got off the ground from the start.

Architectural Fatigue

Everytime I paint a cityscape or something architectural I am completely drained mentally at the end. I think it is all of the editing, deciding how to handle what seems like a billion little angles and perspective issues plus the lack of experience with these subjects that wears me out.The above painting was no exception.
Painted with Plein Air Nashville on Saturday morning and we painted in Edgefield, one of the older areas of Nashville that is being remodeled and is actually a very nice area, especially architecturally. Lots of nice homes. We painted from East Park and I tackled this little church. It was a foggy, damp, thick kinda' day with clouds and no sun. This painting did not come easy for me and I was very dissatisfied with the result. It was about to be "scrapped off" but was spared and taken home. After looking at it for a while I actually saw some things in it that I am quite pleased with even though it will never see the inside of a frame. Ya' know, 2 years ago if I had done this painting I would have been doing backflips. Now, it was almost scraped.
It is so rewarding to go back and look at what you were doing a year or two ago as an artist. You never feel like you are getting better until you look back. Getting better has been a very organic process of just painting so much and ingesting so much information it just happens. I don't think I will ever be as good as I want to be but it is nice knowing if I continue to work hard it will be dramatically better than it is.

Chemistry 101

Got to stand at my Open Box M and watch what happens when you mix oil and water.
Painted at Swan Creek yesterday with Jason Saunders and it immediately started a light rain. I have painted very little in the rain in the past, drizzles mostly, so a constant steady rain was trying. The paint takes on this slimey mushey quality that makes it very hard to control, especially when you are trying to go over an area with a thicker stroke. It kinda' slides. I had thought about trying to add the little rings of waves where the rain was hitting the creek but I just didn't know if I could make it read as raindrops, plus, did I mention it was raining. The coolest thing about the chemistry of this is that you can just shake your art or blow on it and the water beads right off. Now if I could just get my digital camera to do that.

The Massey Ferguson

This is a good friend of mine's Massey Ferguson. It has been around Totty's Bend a lot longer than I have and like me has probably seen better days. However, when you turn the key we both start and still have a lot of work left in us. Recently they bought a brand new John Deere 4- wheel drive, top of the line tractor.The inside is nicer than my pick-up. Climate controlled cab, sound system, captain's chair. More to it than I can list here. 65,000 dollars. No, I didn't add an extra 0, it was 65,000 dollars. I am not quite sure how farmers do what they do with the price of land, fuel, feed, equipment, weather, etc., etc., but they are getting it done because I just sat down at my dinner table and ate like a horse thanks to a farmer.

The 1436 Studio

Got the boat out again this morning and went back up the river to the same shoal I painted on Wednesday afternoon. The view in this painting is the shoal I stood on in the previous blog to paint. I was actually standing where the deer crossed Wednesday.
I also tried to paint one sitting down in the boat. I have stood up to paint for so many years that I couldn't sit down to paint. It was awkward and clumsy feeling to the point I gave it up. I never really thought about it but I guess we are creatures of habit. The most aggravating aspect of it was handling the garbage bag. I usually hang it under my tripod. In the boat I just laid it next to me and had to pick it up and open it each time. I guess I need to practice though because there are tons of great views on the river with no shoals to stand on and the only way to paint them would be from a boat.
The shoal I painted this morning I have painted quite a few times. It has some wonderful vegetation on it with willow trees and a small row of sycamores. It was a bit overcast so it became another exercise in mixing close value greens.

Adventures on the Duck

Every second on the Duck River is an adventure.
I commandeered Mookie's jon boat and put in yesterday afternoon at the camp. Noticing the level of the water, instead of starting the motor I started walking and pulling the boat instead. I walked at least a quarter of a mile right up the middle of the river. I don't know if the levels are that much lower but I don't remember being able to do that in the past.
After getting to the shoal I had intended, I grab my gear and started walking with a camera and looking for something to paint. I have a habit though of walking with my head down trying to avoid any serpentine shapes and lifting it from time to time to check the view. After checking the possibility of a painting there, will put my head down and continue to walk. I would have made a poor pioneer with my head down technique. After walking for an hour, would have picked my head up to be standing in the middle of Indians, or bears or something.
Anyway, walking around a gravel bar, I heard a noise and turned around to notice two small deer crossing the river behind me. Shot as many photos as I could and then realized what a nice painting it would have made. So I threw down my gear, did a painting of the landscape and thought I would add the deer later. I spent most of the day today adding deer. I actually wound up changing quite a bit of the foreground. Once you get it home and start screwing with it, it changes everything. When I paint out and get it home I have to make myself leave them alone. I have ruined more good paintings by trying to "fix" them when I get them in.
The only thing I noticed about the river, other than the levels, was the color. It has had an orange cast or color to it in the Totty's Bend area all summer. Typically this happens early and briefly in the summer and is related to an algae bloom but seems to have been a much longer period this summer due to lack of current. I can't imaging what this will do longterm to certain species of fish and wildlife but hopefully will be temporary. It does appear the river is changing though.

Water Valley

Painted at the Water Valley overlook on the Natchez Trace this morning. It is actually a great spot to paint with views in both directions. The Natchez Trace maintenance guy stopped to see what I was up to and he informed me he was an acrylic painter and enjoyed it quite a bit. I told him I had a hard time with the drying time of acrylics and he said that came in handy because your mistakes dried real fast and you could go back and cover them up pretty quick. Touche.

Studio Painting

I painted in the studio the past week because the temps were so high during the day plus we had a couple of rainy days that made getting out a bit trying. I am not much of a studio painter. I struggle with it and because it is very clumsy and awkward for me I tend to put it off. But, I have made it a goal to try to do maybe one or two a week. I think it is necessary for my growth as an artist and my growth as a business.
Got two here that I pulled off "en plein studio". If I can get a good study to go by, and especially a good photo to supplement the study, I can usually get something done. My biggest issue is the lighting. I have tried a little of everything but until I can build this giant, cavernous studio with all that nice ambient north light, it will be a bit of a struggle.
I also am trying to paint larger. These two paintings were 14x18 and it was like painting the Sistine Chapel for me.

More Sycamores

Painted again this morning at the same place I painted Friday, I just moved my view down the river about ten yards. This little cutbank has started to get some growth back on it from being completely denuded and the growth is mostly in Sycamores and scrub which makes it a lot of fun to paint because every color and value are pretty close and it can be a challenge to get any form out of it. There is also a lot of neat edges and textures that are fun to get in there and squirrel with.

Sycamores

This is a little painting I did on Friday morning. It is a pair of Sycamore trees that sit on the Duck river. We used to tie trotlines to these trees back when the river seemed to have more water in it. Now, you can walk across the river here without it getting much over your knees.
There is an article in the Sunday Tennessean this morning about the toll development is taking on this river. There are quite a few growing communities in the area that are using this river for their water source and I think it is actually beginning to take a toll on the river. The water levels seem to be getting lower and lower each year during the summer. Development plus the drought we had has really had an impact on the river.
As far as this painting goes I was pleased with the result because it was a hazy gray day and the values were very close. It gave me a chance to try my hand at tons of diffrent greens with all of them being pretty close in value, with temperature changes between them to make it work.

August Again

Man, I hate painting in the month of August. It gets so brutally hot here that to be able to paint you have to find some shade that doesn't move too much or paint very early in the morning on a semi cloudy day. The temps here are in the upper 90's with heat index in the 100's.
Painted the past week on cloudy, hazy, hot mornings. By the time you finish though, say 9-ish, it's already stiffling. Plein Air Nashville even called off their Saturday morning paint out because of the heat.
Ya' know, maybe I just need a studio/cabin in Alaska and every summer just bug out and stay up there until the heat is over. But then again, there is that chance that I could get scattered around by a Grizzly bear. It's always something.

Tugboat

I have always wanted to paint a tugboat but you would be suprised how hard they are to catch sitting still. I don't know where they park em' when they are not in them but it's nowhere that I have access to on the Cumberland River. I actually caught this one sitting downtown. I attempted a painting after a PAN paintout one Saturday and the boat turned out but the rest didn't. I had a photo of the river in Cheatham County and put them together and voila, a tugboat painting.
I think being a tugboat captain would be the second best job in the world (right after painter). They are incredible pieces of machinery. We stood on a boat ramp on the Mississippi River one time and watched a tugboat with about 4 barges in front of it go UPSTREAM. The current looked like it was moving at about 75 miles an hour and he just cruised right by. The ground where we stood actually shook when he went by. And if you get a chance there is a video on the web of a tugboat getting caught up against a bridge in a flood. It actually goes underwater, under the bridge and pops up on the other side, engines still running. Most boats would have come out on the other side as flotsam.

My Comfort Zone

Painted with Plein Air Nashville again on Saturday morning and we painted right in the heart of Nashville at the Legislative Plaza. There are some great views of the Capital and the Library, the War memorial building and other attractions all from standing in this one area. I went a little early to try and get my "cityscape" frame of mind in order and walked around the area and looked. Paintings everywhere. The view I painted is from the War Memorial building down Deadrick Street to the greenspace in front of the newly remodeled court house. I have no idea what the little twin structures are at the end. If anybody can tell me let me know.
Typically this type of painting would have been out of my comfort zone, painting with a group of people in the city with gawkers every second or two asking,"whatcha' doin?" But going with PAN and getting out of my comfort zone has improved my work and my ability to do what I do. I think anytime you try something different in your art, something new, whether you succeed or fail, it ultimately makes you a better artist. I have now painted with PAN enough that some of these commando type paint outs in the heart of the urban jungle have fallen into my comfort zone.
What next?

Drawing

Painted with Nashville Plein Air this morning and we painted on a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Cumberland River at Two Rivers Park. This bridge connects the greenways on one side of the river to the greenway system on the other side. I think ultimately they are going to connect them all so you may be able to walk the entire distance of the Cumberland that runs through Davidson County. It was my first visit there and it is a very impressive bridge. Very attractive.
Anyway, to stand where I stood and paint the view I did (it was the only shade) was a perspective lesson. I had to really pull out all the perspective skills I could muster. It seems everytime I paint, each painting presents its own challenges, whether it is values, colors, edges, etc. etc. there is always that one test, that one thing you notice that you really have to work at (sometimes it's more than one). In this painting it was those wonderful geometric shapes and curves that all fall back into points in space. Those tricky little proportions and shapes and lines that make it " look right" spatially. I spent more effort in the drawing than the actual painting.
I hope eventually they are able to build the entire greenway system that they have invisioned. By the look of the number of people that were on it today, it is something wanted and needed in our city.

Duck River

I spend quite a bit of time in and around the Duck River. If you've been keeping up with my blog I think you can tell.
I can remember as a kid when it would flood it would just inundate my home town of Shelbyville. We had a floodgate system there that would be pulled up and pumps turned on that would pump the water back over a levee and into the west side of town. I can remember standing at the old bridge below the 1st National Bank building and seeing the west side. It looked like an ocean, as far as you could see. We would also play in the water that had accumulated behind the floodgate. After they built the Normandy Dam the flooding was not near as severe.
After having gotten back on the river in the upper part recently, the thing that strikes me the most is the difference in the river from Bedford County to Centerville and below. The river is much larger in the Hickman County area and the gravel bars and shoals are much more substantial. When we floated and painted in Bedford County it was actually hard to find a gravel bar or shoal to paint on. Even the trees and the growth around the river was much different. There are some massive trees in the Centerville area, especially some of the Sycamores, that we just didn't see in the Bedford County area. But for canoeing there is a constant current that you just can't beat and lots of rock formations and little bluffs everywhere. It is a very beautiful part of the river.
We are very fortunate to have this resource in our state.

Canoeing the Duck

Scored a canoe and Jason Saunders and I went canoeing on the upper end of the Duck River. We floated a stretch from Dement Bridge to Three Forks Bridge in Bedford County. It was an easy float that was short enough to allow a few attempts at painting. The hardest part was the actual painting. The river does not give up its paintings easily. It is incredibly hard painting. There is so much out there. Dappled light, water and all that goes with that, rocks, etc., etc. There are so many different shapes and values and I won't even go into the compositional issues. I tried twice to paint sunlit grassbeds and twice made a miserable mess. I could not get that wonderful illumination. There was a color and intensity there that I could only get close to without ever making it work. I think in the last blog I mentioned pushing the values up hoping that would do it but again it wasn't the answer to the problem.
The only tight moment we had was when I, as navigator, missed a submerged stump and we centered it. The canoe stuck and rocked a bit. We tried to get off the stump with paddles but ultimately started rocking in unison and slid it off. After you do something like that there is always a bit of paranoia that someone saw it or worse, videoed it.

Again With The Values

Painted yesterday morning at Williamsport WMA again. I struggled with this one. I couldn't get the light right, it just was not working. So I took a little break, cleared my head and approached it again.
It took one value change.
I had the value for the key of the willows too dark. I was working under the assumption that if you make the darks darker and the lights lighter it will look like lumination, light. I think sometimes I tend to push my values out to the ends of the spectrum and a lot of times this is not the answer to the problem. It is still not as luminous as I saw it out there but you should have seen it before the change. Man, it was flat.
I am going to try to get back out there next week and hopefully be able to get 2-3 more paintings off this little lake for the Brazier Fine Art show "Waterways". We shall see.

Red

I usually carry very small tubes of red and have a very small area on my palette for red because as a landscape painter I use it mostly as a compliment to all the green. Yesterday was not the case.
I painted in Williamsport after I had tried to find something in the Williamsport WMA. I went to my favorite pond there (see post below) and it was full of fishermen and what looked like duck weed so I moved on to Williamsport. The very first thing that caught my eye was this giant red barn that sits on the road already composed. So I squirted out a little extra red and had at it.
Later that afternoon Jason Saunders called and said,"let's go." I asked where and he said he had a place down the road. Lo and behold another red barn.
All in all I enjoy painting barns in the landscape. I am so used to seeing them around here on the farms and in the fields it almost feels like something is missing to see a big farm without one. The only trick is the perspective on some of those angles on the pitched roofs. They are like snowflakes. No two pitched roofs are ever the same.

Values, Values, Values

I said it before and I will say it again. It's all about values.
This painting was an exercise in getting the values right. I, for what ever reason, seem not to be able to stick my values perfectly the first time I put them on. It always takes a lot of adjusting as I am painting to get them right. I think I have to get everything on there first and then I can see them in relation to each other and start making adjustments. Anyway, this was a value nightmare. It took a lot of tweeking to make it work.
I painted this one this morning at the Williamsport Wildlife Management Area. It used to be settling ponds for the Occidental Chemical Company and they cleaned them up and donated them and about 2500 acres to the state wildlife agency. It's a great resource to have.
I think this painting is going to Brazier Fine Art for a show they are having the end of June through July. The paintings have to be water related, anything with water. I will post the dates on my website when I get them.

Cityscapes Anyone?

I painted this morning with Plein Air Nashville. We had set out to paint Musica but after I got there and looked at all the figure drawing required I turned around and looked behind me and saw a beautiful skyline of Nashville so I threw my effort into it. It made me realize how hard cityscapes can be. My hat is off to Anne Blair Brown and all the others who make it look so easy. I think the biggest problem I had was deciminating the info before me and trying to get rid of everything but what you actually need to make the paintng work. There is so much going on in a city that to try and paint it all in one alla prima painting is virtually impossible. I think the trick is to know what to parse down to get to the bare minimum and still have a nice painting.
Anyway here is my attempt. I think if you look at it you will notice it is not quite as finished as most of my paintings. With all I had to get down it didn't leave me much time to clean it up. I was just mixing and applying, mixing and applying.
Now I have a cityscape under my belt. On to Venice.

Another Roundbale

I thought I would show another roundbale painting since I have been painting them so much lately.
When I painted these and other roundbales I took some photos and compared them to what I see out there. There is a dramatic difference in what you see. The photos loose so much color and those real nice temperature changes, especially in the shadows. There is just so much information out there that you can't get with a photo. If you don't believe me, try it.

Water Rats

This is my lovely daughter Sarah Beth on the right and her friend Neale on the left. I had intended to paint here but as you can see I thought better of it. This is the Duck River at the end of the boat ramp where the May 8 entry was painted.
I thought the water at this time of year may have been too cold for swimming, but I remember when I was a kid, and I don't think at that age the water ever gets too cold for swimming.

Hay Fever

For the last few days I have been living on Benedryl, Starbucks and Repel tick spray. It is that time of year. It seems that my allergies are worse this year than previous but there are roundbales on the ground so I have to take benedryl and push through.
I have been painting roundbales in the Totty's Bend area. They have hay cut and rolled everywhere. I have been getting into the fields right after the roller and right before the fork and kind of moving with them as they move from field to field. They are trying to get it up by first of next week so the window of opportunity is small.
The painting I have posted is from a small hayfield on the Duck river. A friend of mine gave me a bit of history on the field and said that a gentleman by the name of Baird was injured in the battle of Shiloh in the Civil War and came back to Totty's bend and started a ferry that crossed the Duck river at this field called Baird's Ferry. Apparently, toward the end of the war he ferried Union soldiers across who camped here. It's hard to imagine what this field would have looked like full of Union soldiers.

Real Plein Air

Ya' know, a lot of people say they are tried and true plein air painters but their deepest foray into the wilds is stepping off their back porch and painting the neighbors garden. Not Plein Air Nashville.
I was asked to try and find a place on the Duck River for them to paint this morning and having been to Henry Horton in the winter the views were everywhere and very accessible. I knew the trees and vegetation would be a bit thicker but I underestimated the thickness at this time of year. So to get to the river took a bit of an effort not to mention the rain and mud issue.
They rolled off the river bank like Green Berets.
There was so much equipment and so many people it looked like Hannibels army crossing the Alps. Fishermen would come down the bank from time to time, look around, and then just turn around and go back up.
I think all and all there was quite a bit of very fine art created by the group today and some of it may be sold for the Nature Conservancy fundraiser we are participating in in the fall. It really is a good group to paint with. They are very laid back, skill levels from A to Z, and will apparently try anything. I think the next time I am asked to take them to a spot it is going to be somewhere that requires snake boots, firearms and machetes.

Back on the Duck

This is another Duck River painting. It is actually on the lower end, around Centerville in an area called Totty's Bend. A very good friend of mine owns about 200 acres on the river there and has built a boat ramp on the river. This is the view from the end of the boat ramp. I have painted this exact view about 10 different times, some keepers and some not. What is nice is to compare the old ones and the newer ones. Sheesh, I can't believe the quality of some of my old paintings. I still have a long way to go but man, it has come a long way.
Lately when I paint I have had Bald Eagle sightings. About 2-3 years ago I used to see them regularly when I would fish and then no sightings. The last three times I have painted in the area I have seen them again. I think it is 2 mature birds and a juvenile, not sure. Haven't seen the nest yet but I saw one a few years ago at Cheatham Lake and it was bigger than most apartments.

Back to Normandy

Went back to Normandy last week to paint the Duck River again. Painted the tail waters at the dam and at a bridge with a public access area. I have painted the tail waters there probably 5 or 6 times now and you would think that after you paint the same view a couple of times it would get repetitious and easier and a bit predictable. Well for me it doesn't. Everytime I paint it it is a struggle and I never know if it will turn out to be a keeper. If you look a few blogs back you will see the same view but two very different looking paintings. Also, the spring weather has really changed the look of things from the last painting to this one. I have also noticed the number of fishermen has increased in direct relation to the weather.

Photography

I have to say I think I am the worst photographer in the world. My images are never square and the color is usually miles off. It has been the most frustrating thing about a blog and website. I have tried every lighting situation available to me (without buying high end equipment) . The best thing I have found is direct sunlight with the art angled just right so the sun doesn't blow out the darkest darks. Anyway, I re-shot the art in the previous blog. I think you may notice a difference.

Mud, Mud, Everywhere

After the constant rainfall we have had of late it seems like everywhere I try to paint I have had to deal with mud. My backpack is covered, my truck is covered, and my boots stay covered. The painting I have posted here is usually a dry ditch. When it has water in it it is very attractive. However, as I painted either my feet started to sink or the water level started coming up. The ground was so saturated there that by the time I had finished I was wading in about a half inch of water where previously it had been dry.
I have also set it in a 6x8 frame I had laying around that I think is a favorite frame of mine. These gold frames make a predominantly green landscape look really good. I am getting these frames from Ric Guthrie so if anybody needs his number e-mail Studio@kevinmenck.com and I will hook you up.

To The Bone

Painting in the cold can be very difficult if you are not prepared. Painted this morning with Plein Air Nashville (The diehards, Bitsy, Brenda, me and Doug). I had prepared for it to be in the 60's and sunny. Didn't get anywhere near it and a north wind was howling. I had on a fleece jacket with a t-shirt underneath and when I looked around it looked like everyone else heard the same forecast I did. I have painted in snow, 15-20 degree days, painted while Alberta Clippers have blown through, but I don't think I have ever been that cold. It went" to the bone" as they say. I think it was the lack of preparation. Those other days I mentioned I was prepared for cold, I knew it was going to be very cold and I got myself mentally prepared and dressed appropriately. I was not nearly mentally prepared for today. Anyway, we painted in Centennial Park without sun so I was semi please with my result.

Normandy

I spent the last two days of last week in and around Normandy and Bell Buckle. I did Thursday and Friday morning at the Normandy dam painting the tail waters that are the Duck River. It is a great place to paint. The river is small and accessible everywhere there. Thursday I was the only person around. That morning the trout stocking truck from Dale Hollow Fish Hatchery showed up and dumped trout in the river. The next day was Good Friday and I am sure word on the trout got out so there were a few fishermen in the river but they seemed to be too busy fishing to even care I was there. The only question I was asked was by a lady who pulled up in a beat up pick-up and asked if I had "caught anything yet." I didn't want to try to explain what I was actually doing so I said,"nope, not yet."

Henry Horton Park

The Chestnut Group is teaming up with the Nature Conservency to paint the Duck River Watershed to raise money for the restoration and preservation of the Duck River. After I painted in Mount Olivet I drove to Henry Horton State Park that afternoon and the drive is not that bad. It is a straight shot down Nolensville road and takes less than an hour from the heart of Nashville. The river winds around the park and is very accesible almost everywhere in the park. They have a walking trail that runs along the north side of the river with some beautiful views. There is quite a bit there to paint. Got one done Saturday afternoon and plan on going back for a full day soon.
If anybody in the Chestnuts has a question about it, e-mail.

Plein Air Nashville

Plein Air Nashville is back in action. We painted Saturday at the Mount Olivet Cemetary. I had never been so I actually didn't know what to expect. There is so much to paint there you would never get it all. The history there is also worth going for. We were just standing there talking and I turned and read the first one next to me and it was Acklen, the lady that owned the Belmont Mansion before it was Belmont University. Names that you recognize are everywhere, old Nashville names. There is also a number of Confederate soldiers and generals buried there. I think the nicest thing about the place though is the artistic quality of most of the monuments. It is almost like walking through a sculpture garden.
Anyway, I was rather pleased with the painting I got. It was backlit with a lot of reflected light and real close values. When you looked at the monuments they were all gray but some were more green, some more blue, some more red, etc., etc. The difference sometimes was more of a temperature change in the color than an actual change in the value. I think it was the struggle more than the finish that made me appreciate this painting so much.

Road Trip!

There is nothing in the world like a road trip. New places, people. I find it hard though to paint in a place I have never painted , it always seems to take a while to get acclimated to the landscape.
I went to Brazier Fine Art in Richmond, Virginia. Loryn and Tammy Brazier own and run the gallery there and have graciously decided to represent my work in that area. I spent last Thursady with them and took a little time to see Loryn's studio. It's sweet. A place up front for classes and workshops and studio space in the back. It appears from looking around that she is a very high caliber portrait artist. There were some incredible pieces hanging in the place. I am looking forward to being in their gallery.
After that I went back to Staunton, Virginia to stay and paint the following day. If you have never been to the Shenadoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains, go. It is beautiful. There is a highway that runs along the bottom of the mountains (I think 320) and parallel to Interstate 81, right through the Valley. It is small towns seperated by vast stretches of farmland with the Shenadoah River laying all through it and mountains all around it. There is just way too much to paint. The houses and barns all look 200 yrs. old. So much character to everything. Anyhoo, got 3 done on Friday and took a ton of photos and may attempt a painting from some of them. Like I said, too much to paint.

Middle of Nowhere

Another painting out of Bedford County. I think I was in Bedford County. I was somewhere between Gossburg and Bradyville. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Navigation

Went painting with Jason Saunders recently. Our method for finding a place to paint was to hook up a Garmin Navigation system and start driving. We wound up at the Rock Island Natural Area which is right below the dam that is right below the convergence of the Caney Fork and the Collins Rivers. My best guess is that it is the old river bed that was exposed when they dammed the river. It is all rock and the tail waters run through it and create tons of waterfalls and rushing water that cuts through these rock formations. I found it very challenging with the moving water and the texture of the rocks. That and the fact I was painting with Jason. He is a machine. By the time I got one keeper he had 3! It's intimidating to paint with someone who, everytime you look up they are loading a new paint panel. But I still enjoy painting with him because you never know where you might end up painting.

15 Degrees

Last Thursday I think I set a personnal best. I have painted in temperatures as low as 20 degrees but Thursday it was 15 degrees when I started. The biggest issue was the thickening of the Titanium white. It needed liberal doses of terp to perform properly.
Also, 15 degrees is not too cold for muskrats. I had a couple that were swimming the river back and forth about 10 feet in front of me the whole time I painted. I am not sure what muskrats have to do that would make them so busy, but they were getting it done.

Winter

The winter is actually my favorite time to paint and be outdoors. I can't remember where I read it but some artist said that "in the winter you can see the bones of the landscape." The land looks so much different in the winter.
Lately I have been painting in Bell Buckle and in the Yanahli Wildlife Management Area in Maury County. For those who haven't been to Bell Buckle and Beford County it's a painter's paradise. Rolling hills and tons of backroads. Be prepared though because they are not accustom to seeing painters and you will be asked," what'cha doin'?"