Forts and Ports

These are two more small plein air gouache paintings. I lived in Dubrovnik, Croatia for three months while I taught a plein air sketchbook class and I lived right next to the ancient walled city on the Adriatic Sea. There was no shortage of stunning scenery and inspiration. These paintings depict two forts on opposite ends of the city. The top piece is of the Fortress of Lovijenac which is just west of the walls near Pile Gate. The lower piece depicts St. John's Fortress, overlooking the Old Town Harbor near Ploce Gate. Lokrum Island is visible in the background of each painting. Later in this series you will see many pieces from Lokrum Island as it was a major source of inspiration for me in my final months there.

Island Sunset

With this painting, I started to make some changes to my normal working habits. It was still painted on location with gouache, but I started working smaller and also started to use more flat sable brushes. This original is 5" x 7" and I made the decision to work smaller due to the extreme lighting situations that I was encountering. My larger gouache pieces were taking about two hours to complete and within that time frame the light was changing rapidly. I needed to work quicker if I was going to depict the dramatic light that I am drawn to. This is looking west from Lapad just before sunset on the Adriatic Sea.

Old Town Arch

This is a plein air painting of a street scene and arch in Old Town, Dubrovnik. Everything is ancient and built of limestone. The overall "grayness" starts to make your eyes search for color and suddenly I found myself sensitive to the slightest hint of it. A hint of warm light starts to seem almost vibrant and some of the late day shadows were full of great, gray-violets.

This was done in late March before the tourist season really kicked in. One month later and this scene would have been full of people.

Gouache 9 x 12

Mountain Village

This 9x12 gouache painting was completed after a half hour climb to the top of Mount Srd. The scene looks Northeast toward other mountain ranges in Bosnia and Montenegro. It was always windy on the mountain top so I had to find an area to sit that was sheltered from the wind. I carried all of my supplies in a standard backpack and although it is always best to travel light while going out into nature to paint, it was crucial for this terrain.

Orange Tree in Old Town

This is another 9 x 12 gouache painting completed on location. This was a situation where the light changed rapidly as I worked.
Plein air painting requires a certain flexibility and accepting attitude because of lighting or atmospheric changes. The end result is a "greatest hits" of everything that was observed while I worked. It is very rewarding and feels much more creative than working from photos. This was done in mid-March and there was still a bit of a chill in the air. I remember that my fingers were slightly numb upon completion.

Through the Pines

This is another painting completed recently on location using gouache. I've decided to show all of this series chronologically since there has been a subtle evolution of style that has taken place since I began several months ago. I think that this is a fairly natural thing that occurs anytime an artist creates a series using a single medium. We get bored or more proficient, or both, and in my case I also began using different style brushes that changed the way my brush strokes appeared. More on that later, as I plan to post one of these paintings every week for the next few months.

Plein-Air with Gouache

Usually when I paint outdoors, on location, I have used oils with my Jullian easel. Recently I began a series of gouache paintings completed in the Plein-Air tradition. It has been a very different experience...sitting down, working more horizontally on my lap, and trying to find a level space for my palette and water bottle. The wind, sun, and humidity are all factors that affect the painting process and drying times. I have completed about twenty of these paintings so far and this was the first one. 9" x 12"