Meadow Glow :: 12x24

This painting came together rather quickly as I aimed at simplifying the shapes of the trees and bushes. The best part was laying in the thick impasto stroke of the cadmium yellow for the glowing yellow grasses. The reference came from my travels in France back in July of 2010 although the mountains were added to give more depth.

Glowing Meadow :: 12×24″ :: Oil on Canvas :: $850 Framed

I had the opportunity to take a workshop, offered through the Fraser Valley Chapter of the FCA with Jerry Markham over the weekend in Abbotsford.

The first day we discussed planes of value, areal perspective, linear perspective and that all the rules do not apply to everything, such as snow. It seems snow gets warmer and darker as it recedes into the distance, not cooler and lighter as is the norm.

When ever I go to a workshop I go out of my way to engage the instructor as much as I can. My goal is to have them show me what I am missing. Jerry was great with everyone and directed each individual differently. It was great.

Personally, I learned that I have decent composition and under painting skills, but I need work on finishing. Adding in those darker darks, lighter lights and making sure your edges are blurred or sharp depending on how you want the guide the viewer around.

Above is my painting of a red barn and below is a vineyard, both reference photos were taken when I was in France in July.

I am a little embarrassed to say that I went out painting and forgot my brushes. Ooops.

Not to be deterred I decided to get some palette knife work in. I will have to make a couple adjustments when it dries, but I'll chalk this up to experience and move on. 8×10, oil on board, 40 minutes.

Above is looking south from Mary Hill Elementary School. There are many forest fires going on in BC right now and all the smoke creates great atmosphere perspective.

My latest landscape in oil. This seems to be a start of my style as I have a complete a few studies that turned out this way as well. All my brush strokes are created with a sweeping motion. We will see how it evolves.

I recently rearranged my studio setup and am finding it much more enjoyable to paint. I really have to get going and complete a few for upcoming shows.

This morning I headed out to Mundy Park on behalf of Plein Air BC for a scheduled paint out and this is what I came home with.

I original was going to paint the lake but couldn't find an interesting crop that I liked, then I moved onto one of the timber fences in the area but as I got closer to the fence I saw a creek behind it that I thought would make a good composition. Buy Mundy Park for $200.

Aaaaaaah, getting out today was great. Cloudy in the morning but then the sun came out in the afternoon and really warmed everything up.

In the morning I went to Port Moody and painted the boardwalk over a marsh, but ended up forgetting the camera. :(

Next outing took me down the road to Minnekada Park. I was able to find two areas to pull over and paint a couple great scenes. Let me know what you think in the comments.