Sunlit in Sister Bay; Oil on Canvas Panel 9″ x 12″
Traveled to Door County for a vacation and some paint time. Decided to get up there a day early to participate in a Quick Paint competition. As usual. I saw too many fine opportunities. Decided to stick with a strength and paint this flower box display. Although the sunlight did not fall across the flowers as I had anticipated, I was happy with the my choice.
Sister Bay Barn; Oil on Canvas 11″ x 14″
Students in my Oil/Acrylic class requested that I supply a landscape idea for them to paint at our next session. I searched through paintings that were sitting in my studio but did not find any which I felt could be completed by the students within a class period. I flipped through my reserve of photos and found something that could work. I liked the design of the barn but I had to get clever. The photograph included a lot more landscape than the students needed, it was a very colorful autumn scene and the day was somewhat overcast. Enter creativity and artists prerogative. I simplified the scene to utilize only the barn, reduced the foliage to be a summer/early autumn time frame and added more dramatic shadow effects by bright sunshine. It worked well. The students were able to adequately work the scene within a single class period. 12 / 13 / 14
Cave Point; Plein Air Oil on Canvas Panel 6″ x 8″
During a trip to Door County Wisconsin, we spent the morning painting at Cave Point Park. The first painting did not turn out so well, but before we left, I found a little spot with this view. I was tucked into the trees and was somewhat hidden from the people at the park. My wife got a kick out of watching people as they walked past me and suddenly were surprised to find out that someone was there. Painted this one fairly quickly.
Sister Bay Sunset; Plein Air Oil on Canvas 6″ x 8″
After lunch, we ventured north to another park along the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula. My wife spent some time on the beach enjoying the sun and sketching. I spent the time painting a scene along a wooded trail. My painting was progressing nicely when the wind changed and the temperature dropped. It got chilly in a hurry. People got off the beach and left the park quickly. Eventually we gave into the cold. Unfortunately the painting was not completed.
We headed for an early dinner. By the time we finished dinner, the wind subsided and the temperature got a little more comfortable. We made our way to Sister Bay to take in the sunset. I managed to get this painting done in the process.
Cabins at Waters End #2; Oil on Canvas 8″ x 10″
Last autumn, we traveled up to Door County, in part to retrieve works from Woodwalk Gallery and also take advantage of enjoying the autumn colors in a place we love to visit.
My wife wanted to visit one of the local shoppes. I took advantage of the time and ambled down the road toward the bay. Although it was cloudy/overcast, I snapped a number of photos as possible resource material. I happened to look down a drive just as the sun broke through the clouds and illuminate this cabin. Fortunately, I was able to capture the image before the clouds covered up the sun again.
In preparation to perform a watercolor painting as a demonstration for my Level 3 students, I retrieved the reference photo. I created some pen sketches to help my students understand the process of creating a design rather than just copying a photo. I also worked up these two little oil paintings to further explain the process.
Although I showed the reference photo to the students, I created the watercolor painting utilizing only my pen sketches and the oil paintings. The following week, my students had the opportunity to create their version of this design.
Cabins at Waters End #1; Oil on Canvas 8″ x 10″
Sister Bay; Plein Air Oil on Canvas Panel 6″ x 8″
Helen saw a notice that there was a Zumba class at the Sister Bay city hall at 8:00am. Being the nice guy that I am, I offered to let her go to this class while we were on vacation. Being the artist that I am, I had ulterior motives. The city hall is adjacent to a park, beach and marina. I could paint while Helen attended Zumba.
Tough morning. Overcast and somewhat misty. I quickly found three possible designs. Filtered down to one and put paint to canvas as quickly as possible. Put the finishing details in place as Helen emerged from her class. On to breakfast.
Helen and me at Cave Point
