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"

What's Bruin?

This is a 9x12 acrylic painting demo of an angry Grizzly Bear. The quick drying properties of acrylics allow me to build up many layers of paint in a very short timeframe. The first layers are mostly monochromatic and I concentrate on depicting the form with a full range of values, from white to black. Then I glaze on more color as I try to create variety, interest, and selected highlights. I use multiple references and I really observe the subtleties of color for authenticity and to avoid color cliches. Notice the gray pinks and purples in and around the bear's mouth.

Frankenstein Monster

This is a gouache demo where I am using the medium in a very loose fashion. This seems to be a common goal with most artists/illustrators as they change habits throughout their careers. We spend the early parts of our lives trying to get more proficient with materials and tight or refined with our work...and then suddenly it starts in the other direction. I only want to paint what is necessary for any particular image to work. I want it to look and feel like a painting. Sometimes it takes more, sometimes less.

Muddy Waters in Oil

Here is another recent oil painting completed as an in-class demo. It's a portrait of the legendary Chicago Blues musician, Muddy Waters. I worked with a limited palette of colors and painted this on a 16 x 20 home-made canvas board. I worked from a variety of references, both B&W and color. I completed this in one painting session, working wet into wet with oil paint. It's a very direct process and I don't use any mediums with my oils. If I need to thin the paint at all, I will just use a bit of the odorless solvent that I also use to clean my brushes. Many of the painting mediums (including linseed oil) extend the drying time indefinitely. With tight deadlines as an Illustrator, I guess I just learned to paint without them since I was usually trying to minimize drying time.