Plein Air Early October

Plein Air-October 7 #1 – Espenshied; Oil on Canvas Panel 6″ x 8″

I had been so busy working to complete several large paintings for my display at Rockford ArtScene and teaching my classes at Rock Valley, that I was missing a colorful time of year. I was spending too much time in the indoor studio and not enough time in the outdoor studio.

On a Sunday morning, I decided that I would head out and get a few quick, small studies done and gather some additional reference photos. I was getting ready to leave the house and was a bit surprised when my wife indicated that she wanted to tag along.  Time together. That’s nice.

Grab some additional supplies and the dog stuff and finally we were off. We headed over to a forest preserve south of Cherry Valley. I took about twenty minutes to do the little painting of the Kishwaukee River while Helen and Clawed moved around and gathered some reference photos. Nice with the digital camera. I told my wife to take all the photos that she wanted and we could sift through for keepers later.  Better than spending time and loads of money on film and developing.

First little painting completed, we packed up and moved down the road. The preserve had a little trail that I wanted to explore. We gathered a few more photos, but no scenes inspired me enough to stop and paint.

On to another nearby spot. I found a scene that I wanted to tackle. Perhaps because it was a little later in the morning, this one took a little longer. The lighting and the complexity made it difficult to keep my focus. My wife gathered some more photos and then sat down to do some sketching for herself.

Nice way to spend the morning together. More paintings to follow from this excursion.

Plein Air-October 7 #2 – Kishwaukee Springs; Oil on Canvas Panel 6″ x 8″