Dogs at the Beach Painting (WIP)

"Little Darling, It's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here. "

Here comes the Sun.

I think I am beginning to emerge from hibernation. The sun was out most of today. Long enough at least to dash out to my lair and snap a few pictures.

I have been painting, although sporadically over this nasty winter. Painting sun-drenched beach scenes refresh the soul in February.

I posted this on Facebook a few weeks back. I got a good response even though it was a terrible photo. I could not find a card reader and had to crop it through whatever default photo editing software that happens to have come with my laptop. I cleaned up the painting a bit, re-shot and cropped it on hubby's computer. I think you can get the gist of it. I have another "woodland" landscape that I may post soon. The sun was glaring too much today.

Why do I love back lit scenes so? They intrigue me for some reason but are a bear to paint. I kept going over the dogs, trying to get some detail even though I couldn't see much from my original photo.

Anyway, I have been painting a bit. I need to paint more.

Painting Start - Fall Fencerow (Work in Progress)

Well, it's post a painting start again. As you all can see, I haven't been exactly diligent with my painting habit. It's that grad school, teaching full time, chauffering the kids about, etc. (Oh, and I was sick with one of those annoying head colds this week). This little painting was started during a beautiful fall day. I was standing out on my deck, trying to capture the fleeting feel of the day. I have this wonderful fencerow of twisted trees, a combination of cherry, sassafras, dogwood and cedar. Soon the fencerow will be white with blossoms - first the cherries and then the dogwoods!

Anyway, this painting is far from complete. I would say it is more of a color sketch. I will add many more layers of paint. I will have to figure out the direction of the light. If I remember, it was quite changeable that day. I tried to capture some of the obvious value changes near the ground. You can see the field beyond the trees. It's kind of at a sloppy stage but I'm posting it anyway. (I realize that if I wait for something to be completely ready, I will never post).

This is typical of the way I work. I take a canvas out. I paint a bit. (I think I took this into my shed and screwed it up a bit). I then stuck it in with a bunch of unfinished, unresolved paintings. Now I will post it. I will hopefully get a few ideas while looking at it on my blog. Some day I may post the "finished" product.