Prairie by Cherokee Marsh

Thank you, Marla and everyone else for a great outing and pot luck lunch! Yesterday's effort, oil 12"x16", needs a few touch ups.

Painting at Cherokee Park and Pot Luck at Marla's

Many thanks, once again, to Marla and Russ for graciously hosting the group yesterday.  We always enjoy your beautiful home and garden.   Several of us painted from Marla's porch while others went to the park.   And thanks to everyone for all the great food!!  Sorry for not getting more photos (I was too busy eating!) but below are a few and a random selection of the morning's work. I thought they all captured the feeling of a midsummer morning.

Marla with one of Jan's oils

The Viewing Tent

Gretchen's watercolor

Tom's painting

Sarah's value study in oil

Sarah, Doug and Marla's wonderful porch

I did a few corrections before posting my watercolor & soft pastel

Darya's oil painting at the marsh

Cherokee Park 7-18-17

It was nice meeting with you all this afternoon. Thank you Marla for hosting. Your house is beautiful. My helpers and I had a great time.    8x10 oil on canvas

Paoli 7-15-17

Here is my effort from Saturday. It's a little 8x10 I am varnishing it to take it back to the girl in the hut that wants it. :)

Paoli Painting

It wasn't a DCPAPA event but a few of us painted at Paoli on Saturday during their music festival weekend.  Maybe we can post some of the paintings.  Here's the two I did.  The second one was a quick sketch of the scene while I drank beer and listened to two musicians playing.  Now that's the way to paint! I think the guy on the left was Johnny Cash ... at least that's how I painted him.

Tom

Warner Beach

Here's another Warner Beach painting.  My first version had some problems with it ... I was distracted by the paparazzi.  Here's the repaired version.

Tom Gilbert

 

Warner Middle 6-27-17



 

 

 

Congrats all

Warner Beach and Pot Luck Lunch

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Some of DCPAPA's paintings from this morning at Warner Beach

Thanks so much to Kung for hosting us for a pot luck lunch today.  We all enjoyed touring his in home studio and gallery.  Many wonderful oil paintings!! 

Pheasant Branch, evening of June 7

I am sorry I was too lazy to follow some of you up the hill -- the views and your paintings are great!  I was so tired that evening that couldn't even stand up in front of my easel, so, instead, I went down to the springs, sat on the bench there and did this study of the grasses and springs.  Oil on Raymar board, 12"x16".

Memorial Union Terrace June 21st

It was a beautiful evening to paint from the Union Terrace.  I sketched for a while from the Terrace and then went over just west of the Union Theatre. It was pretty peaceful over there with a great view of Picnic Point.   I think it would be a good place to paint a nocturne, too.

View from the Union Terrace

Sunset Over Picnic Point

Siraj Hull - Watercolor Show

My show is free of charge, and the display is throughout the month of July, 2017 at:

The Health Sciences Learning Center

750 Highland Ave. Madison, WI 5370

Plein Air Painting at Warner Beach Area - 8am to noon - June 27th

Meet in the parking lot off Woodward Drive for painting from 8am to noon.     

Pheasant Branch Evening June 7th

I got around to adjusting the values in the sky which I had originally painted much too dark that evening.  I was not sure I could paint that much lighter over darker pastel but I brushed a lot of the darker colors off and I think it worked out ok.  The ground is Pastelmat, a French paper made by Clairefontaine and it is one of my favorite papers.  It is not a sanded paper but still allows a lot of layering and comes in great colors for landscape painting.  This one was Buttercup which along with Maize are really nice ground colors for summer pastels.

Vilas Park outing - Very nice evening for painting.

Here are my paintings from the last two DCPAPA outings. Vilas Park and Pheasant Branch Park - the view from Fredericks Hill. Both paintings I tweaked just a bit in my studio. It continues to amaze me how different the paintings can look when viewed indoors. I am pleased that I can see some progress in my painting and that I continue to keep a positive attitude.  Both paintings are 9 x 12 on panel using Daniel Smith water soluble oils. 

Vilas Park Evening

It was a very nice evening at Vilas and I plan to go there again tonight only a little later.   The light really got nice after 7pm and looked best after 8pm.  The problem is that it doesn't last long!  But I thought I would try having my gear all set up and try a couple quick pastels.  Pastels are a real advantage when speed is an issue.  Last night I painted this small gouache on 6 x 6 Aquaboard.

Vilas Painting

We had a good group and a nice evening for painting at Vilas Park yesterday.  When the sun set there was just a beautiful sky and light on the distant lake shore.  Unfortunately I had already finished painting and was packing up. I'm thinking of painting a series of Madison lake shore scenes.  So in addition to my Lake Wingra (just a small slice of it) painting from yesterday I'm attaching another painting from my series (of Lake Monona).  Doesn't every painting need a distant sailboat?

Tom

Pleasant Branch Painting

Had a nice evening and good turnout for painting at Pleasant Branch Creek.  Even had a couple ambitious people climb the hill to paint.  Despite polite compliments from people walking along the trail where I was painting my painting was pretty awful.  But I liked the scene so I used my first effort as a study and did this painting today.  So it's not plein air, but it's the same view.

Tom

Next Painting Outing at Pheasant Branch - Evening of June 7th

 We will paint at Pheasant Branch Conservancy on Wednesday June 7th starting 4:30-5 PM.  Yesterday I climbed to the top of Frederick's Hill and painted a pastel of the creek.  It is a long way to carry much gear but I got it all in one backpack.  I took the small version of a Heilman pastel carrier which only weighs 4 lbs when packed compared to the Backpack size which weighs 7 lbs.  The problem is picking the right colors because you have so much less room.  I will repack the pastels today bearing in mind what colors I needed yesterday that I didn't have.  Most important is having a good range of values.  Using the small box forces me to think hard about color and value and it is much easier to carry up that hill.  The path winds around and it is a long hike if you have a heavy load.  But it is nice and cool and shady at the top.

Frederick's Hill

10x12 pastel on Wallis paper

Salmo Pond, May 25, 2017Salmo

A beautiful morning at Salmo Pond!

Salmo Pond, May 25th; oil on board;
4.5x8.5"; by Jan Norsetter

Path at Salmo Pond, May 25th;
oil on board;
4.5x8.5"; by Jan Norsetter

Salmo Pond

This is a lot different than  my old 5 hour efforts. After falling flat in my first plein air event it became clear I need to change up something. I'm trying to imagine color even if I don't see it. I know it's not a novel idea but I am a reproducer and adding artful strokes to paintings is new to me.