Friday, September 26, 2008

The Last Day

We drove up to the peninsula to paint this day. The first stop at around 10:30 am was a winery that has a spectacular view out over the bay, They were kind enough to permit our incursions - with a time limit - they were expecting a tour group at 1pm.

This is 6 x 11, on 300 lb Fabriano hp. Looking at it now I think I may go back and deepen some of the darks, other than that - this one was fun.
In the afternoon we drove out to the tip of the penisula and found a shady spot (for a change) to paint. You could see a wide panorama of shallow, rock filled lowland with an inlet and land forms beyond on the one side. In the other direction the treed shoreline was set against a backdrop of water, islands and mainland. I tried this view first with much fuss and bother - not permanent pen again! I never learn; so a second attempt in pencil.


My last effort was much more satisfying. I had started it by masking out some of the rocks, then had set it aside to dry. I washed in some sky and foreground before I set it aside. After removing the masking - I know - why did I use it at all? - I finished the painting at home.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Thursday, September 18th 2008







This morning found us trekking up a 1 1/2 mile hill to get to this view - peace and beauty! The first painting was done on a 300 lb hot press fabriano - a paper I am getting quite fond of. The paint moves well and the surface tolerates a fair bit of abuse.




I decided to do a second quick study in my moleskin sketch book - not satisfied with either painting - but the site made it all worth while.

In the afternoon we explored a bit and found this lighthouse at Port Betsie. I chose a close up view, which got tighter then I like, so after it was completed - I did a quick sketch from a bit further away. The tree was sketched facing in the opposite direction. I will probably wash some colour into both of these sketches.










Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, Wednesday September 24








The morning was beautiful and the view was spectacular. Again I went for an ink and wash, but this time my ink wasn't waterproof!! I went with it and did a value study instead. Maybe someone is trying to tell me to give up on the whole ink thing!
I turned around and liked the perspective of the walkway and trees and decided to do a sketch and wash of that. A bit more than I had planned on - too much ambiguity in the greenery, but not everything need be a masterpiece. I enjoyed the challenge of the vertical format and might revisit this image again in a full painting.









In the afternoon we found another spot further along the park. This time I opted for a closer look at a stand of trees. There were a LOT of tourists passing through all day; many made comments on our painting venture, not always kind.
Sleeping Bear Dunes, Peterson Road area (I think)








That first afternoon (I think) we went to this quiet beach - no one else around!
I wanted to do an ink and wash, but grabbed the wrong pen - decided to finish it anyway. It was the full width of the little moleskin watercolour book I had with me - 5" x 16" - and to make matters interesting, I opened to the center of the book, thinking I could avoid page edges in the middle. What was I thinking? These aren't going to be framed!

Monday, September 22, 2008


It's been a few weeks since I've posted, and in the interim I traveled up to the Traverse City area in Norther Michigan for a week of plein air painting with two of my buddies. It was spectacular weather and I had a lot of fun.
These first two pieces are from the Platt river area. The salmon were running and the fishing was fierce.