High Meadow

High Meadow
Painting No. 10-F-12
12"x12"
oil on canvas board

From the same location as "Elders of the Forest", I painted this evening scene of Faith Valley and the surrounding mountains. As the sun was setting; I noticed the addition of a warm glow on the distant mountain. I added just enough color to suggest the warmth without ruining the atmospheric effects of the distances.

Elders of the Forest

Elders of the Forest
Painting No. 7-F-12

During the Markleeville Plein Air Festival I came across these stout trees that overlooked Faith Valley California and decided to try and capture their steadfast strength and beautiful patterns in the exterior trunk.

Going From Small Plein Air Painting to Large Canvas Blog No. 1



working on my third reference painting

 Back in early July, I traveled to Faith Valley, Alpine County, California to paint a 8"x 10" plein air painting in the early evening. A few days later I started thinking about doing a larger painting of the scene, so I went back and took a bunch of photos and I did a larger plein air 12"x 24" which didn't turn out as well as I expected. So I ended up going back a third time to detail out the trees and meadow.

When deciding to do a larger painting, there are many decisions that need to be worked out before you have a chance to succeed. The most important is determining a correct color scheme. I had doubts if my colors were correct but when I did the third plein air painting I realized that my color perception was correct because when I got back to the home I lined up all the paintings and compared each for color decisions. Next blog I'll discuss the development of the large canvas.