Stewart Lake

We painted at Stewart Lake this morning and had a nice clearing in the weather. My painting didn't work out very well but I'm posting two photos just to show some of the subject matter we had. I tried painting the scene in the photo of the wooded path but ended up deciding later to wipe it off and try again.

 Tom

Prairie Flowers - August 2020

 I still have to finish my Ice Age Trail drawing from Lodi.   This is a pastel I did at Holy Wisdom Monastery in August.  I spent much of 3 weeks out there then painting the prairie flowers. Great weather and I rented a room for the day so I could get meals cooked by their excellent chef.  It was like a nice vacation and got me away from the racket while the city tore up my neighborhood for new streets and sewers..  I don't usually do such large pastels outdoors but it was fun.  The asters out there this fall have been just gorgeous and I hope to do some studio paintings of them.

Hope we can do some more dates in November and maybe some snow paintings on less frigid days this winter.   

Soft pastels on Pastelmat 17 x 21

Lodi Ice Age Trail

Here's my painting from last week's outing. I'm actually posting both the painting as it was as I left the field, and the painting as I later fixed it up. Not even sure which one I like better. I messed up scheduling the next outing. I had thought this week's weather would be bad but it didn't turn out to be that bad. And there was previously a better forecast for next week, but they changed that, it now next week looks bad. So not sure when we'll get the next outing in. But I'll keep watching the weather. 

I'm updating this post with a third version since I repainted this again in my studio and want to see them side by side.

 Tom

Salmo Pond and A Groundhog

 When we were are the pond last week I saw a big fat groundhog run down this path and came back this week to sketch him and the trail for my Inktober sketch.  So far I'm on track and have done my Inktober sketch the first 10 days of the month.  The only rule is that the sketch must be done in ink and posted somewhere even if only on your fridge.  https://inktober.com/

 The sketchbook is an 11x14 Hannemuhle Nostalgie which has great paper for ink.  I used a Sailor Fude pen and a Kuretake brush pen with Noodlers Lexington Grey which is my favorite sketching ink. A warm grey that's a bit more subtle than black.  The groundhog was drawn from a photo.  They are not very cooperative subjects.  There's still lots more days in October so give an ink landscape a try & post it here or on your fridge.  It's fun!!!

Lodi Ice Age Trail Segment - Thursday October 8th - 3pm - Sunset

Meet us for plein air painting this Thursday afternoon. See Events Calendar for more details and map.  Click on the event on the calendar and there will be details on how to get there and a map.  It's a  great place to paint and the weather forecast is good so far!  Pat