Short Days, Long Nights

I painted outdoors for 5 years. I did not like painting in a studio once I painted en plein air. I knew I'd have to go back inside one day... so in preparation for that day I built a new studio. 

It is painted off white(including the floor) and has banks of 5,000 lumen lights overhead with a mixture of color balanced spot lighting.  These past few weeks I've been in the studio painting...I''m painting large paintings from sketches and field studies; both water color and oil .

I have a practice of doing sketches, watercolors and oils on location. 

Some are very rough.

I stand in one spot and keep recording what I am seeing.

I turn to my left and sketch and paint that view ...

...then turn to my right and do the same...

I will walk around and try to capture enough detail and a feeling of the place for me to be able to remember what was important to me at that time. 

I used the watercolor sketches to put together this oil painting. I'm trying for the essence of the place, the soul of the day...its not quite finished.

I do these very quick value/temperature studies to sample colors and see how much chroma the mood will bear.

I'll do a fast watercolor just to get the feel of the action. These clouds were racing out to sea after a thunder storm cleared out.

A  quick watercolor value study gives me a feel for the simple masses and the shape of things, like wandering with my mind through a place before I decide how I want to depict it. Its very liberating to do this. It helps me to get familiar and comfortable with a place.

   

On location I do rough sketches first, quick watercolors..then I often will do a series of quick 20 minute oil sketches back to back. Why?  I've found that if I paint like this I will often have something good from the lot that I can take home and work with.  I'm a real process painter. I do hundreds of starts, 5x7, 6x8, 8x10's on location.  So now I'm painting in the studio I have no shortage of reference material for these large paintings I'm working on. 

Water colors ~ 6x8's, 90 lb. sketch paper 6x10, 90 lb. sketch paper  8x12  300 lb. Arches rough 

Oils ~ 8x10 linen on panel, canvas on  panel

PAINT EAT SLEEP for more views of paintings.