"Morning Sunrise"
Graphite, Watercolor and Acrylics on Mixed Media Paper.

Supplies

Dump the bag and sort it all out.
Supplies.
At least once or twice a year I have to deal with restocking the studio with supplies. Sometimes restocking is fun because I allow myself time to explore new art products I've never used before. Some days, like yesterday, it isn't fun because there just isn't any time to really explore. Go in and get what is needed and get back into the studio.

Certain supplies just by their nature are fun. Like, yes, rocks. Rocks are fun to find, pick and paint. Since the early summer I've been on a rock painting jag that flared up yesterday after purchasing new paints, which included some lovely cadmium colors. Since I was stocking up I decided to also stock up on rocks. The excursion out doors hunting for usable rocks was probably the most fun I had all day.

These were the most inspiring as I walked on the trail.
Of course what outdoor excursion would be complete without hearts? I found a ton of rocks that looked like hearts. I had to share the three best ones with you.

Heart number one.

Heart number two.

Heart number three.

Random shot of the studio desk.

Preparing some tile necklaces for Halloween.

Finished seahorse. Currently for sale on Ebay.

"Under The Big Tree"
Graphite on paper.

The Cow Field

Easel ready with a prepped canvas.
This size canvas is my favorite to paint on.
The same day I painted the cornfield I was dying to paint the cow field just across the street. There was a strip of light green grass running through which intrigued me.

During my stay at my cousin's farm I painted four paintings on canvas. This one turned out to be my favorite. I documented the process as it unfolded.

"Cow Field"
Acrylic and oils on Linen.

And now it's time to go home. I'll be back in the fall to capture all the beautiful colors then. I can hardly wait.

Packed and heading back to the studio.

"Reflection"
Graphite on paper.

In The Field

My portable easel.
Feels good to use it again.
I promised myself that one more time this summer I'd make it back to my cousin's farm in order to paint all the beautiful landscapes that she and her husband's farm had to offer.

There is so much to paint here that I'm on overdrive. This morning I settled for the original view that inspired me from my last visit. The corn field right outside her house called once again and early this morning the entire field was surrounded with fog. There is something mysterious and enticing to me about fog. I was unable to resist.

The challenge of painting live in the field is that everything changes constantly. I scrambled to set up my easel and paints before the fog disappeared for good. I had about ten minutes left of the fog when the entire landscape changed. From that point on I had about an hour of time before the sky turned completely blue and clouds formed and everything was drenched in yellow rays of the sun. It was at this point I had to stop painting this particular painting. What was on canvas was completely different than what was before me.

I will revisit the same location early tomorrow morning in the hopes of finishing out this canvas painting. I took some photos as I was painting.

Following Affinity

First layers on Affinity start with pigments.
Affinity is getting more color. Im jazzed up to paint chestnut. It is probably my favorite solid color to paint. This piece has been layered in both pigments and oil washes so far. The last photo, I believe, shows approx ten layers of color so far. More will be added along with highlights and shading.

After many layers of pigments I add oil washes.

Oils are very rich and add color quickly, but take a while to dry.

More pigments are added after the oil washes.
She will dry for 12-48 hours after the last application of pigments.