Lake Mahopac in plein air

I went with the Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters to the "gazebo park" in Mahopac to paint this one. It was another gorgeous day and I like the spontaneity of this one.

Lake Mahopac, Oil, 6 x 8"

Hudson river viewed from the waterfront park in Beacon, NY

I rarely have time to paint during the weekend, but I took the opportunity to do so while Ken was playing the piano and the pets were asleep :-) I had about 45 minutes. I decided to try to paint the same scene as in the previous two paintings. I did it from memory this time, I went fast, didn't over mix the painting, the brushstrokes are looser and more interesting. I had fun and I like the result!

Untitled, Oil, 6 x 8"

View on the Hudson River from the waterfront park in Beacon, NY

This is a larger version of the painting in the previous post with some boats added. I also added some variation in the trees such that some of them seem further away (instead of being all lined up at the same distance).

Untitled, Oil on canvas board, 11 x 14"

Plein air study in Beacon, NY

This is a plein air painting done at the waterfront park in Beacon on the Hudson River. I used an orangish ground to tone down the glare of the white surface and to help (supposedly) to with all the greens. I'm happy with the distant mountains and the overall values.

Untitled, Oil, 6 x 8"

Columbus replica ship Pinta, oil, 6 x 8"

The Pinta (a replica ship of Columbus' Pinta) was in Newburgh, NY for a few days. So I went with the Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters (LHVPAP) group to paint it. The owner of Bill Joe's Ribworks restaurant was kind enough to let us use his ground to paint. That was the only place we could get an unobstructed view of the boat. We had a nice lunch there before going our separate ways.

I liked the subtle changes of color of the boat, so I sacrificed the top of the mast to include most of the boat (if I paint it again, I'll include the mast). Early on this boat looked green to me but after lunch it was obviously black :-) 

Columbus replica ship Pinta, Oil, 6 x 8"

Untitled, Oil, 11 x 14"

Here a landscape inspired by a view on the neighborhood lake. I'm particularly happy with the warm and cool color in the far distant trees. I painted this one mostly with a brush. I used the palette knife at the end to give more texture in the focal area: the dock and the white bark trees. This one is finished for now: my critic (husband Ken) likes it a lot a is... we'll see :-)

Untitled, Oil on canvas panel, 11 x 14"

Man with a Baseball Cap, Oil, 14 x 11"

I'm very happy with this first attempt of painting a portrait in oil.

So far the only successes I had with portrait were monochromatic. I have been unsuccessful so far with the use of colors. So you can see the underpainting I did first (below). That's the second attempt. Some of the lines from the previous one are still showing (I forgot to take a picture after I added the highlights). Then the burnt sienna underpainting gave me trouble to evaluate the skin color. So I painted everything except the skin.

"Man with a Baseball Cap", Oil on canvas panel, 14 x 11"

Underpainting with burnt sienna.

I painted everything except the skin.  

Plein air at Pelton Pond

I recently joined the Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painting (LHVPAP) group. This is great. Besides improving my painting skills, it will allow me to get to know my surroundings and to paint with other people of the area with similar interests.

Here's a small plein air painting I did at the Pelton Pond with some members of the LHVPAP. I had forgotten my mineral spirits to clean my brushes, so I took the palette knife. It's a lot of greens, but I like it!

Pelton Pond, Oil, 6 x 8"

Here's my setup. You can see the view to the right that inspired my painting.

Setup for painting with oil in plein air. 

Untitled, Oil, 11 x 14"

For this one, I planned to do a misty day from the get go :-), such that I would get a pop of colors surrounded by neutral grays. I'm very happy with this one.

Untitled, Oil on canvas panel, 11 x 14"

Morning Mist in Putnam County, Oil, 11 x 14"

I drive every day by this bridge and I always find the bridge reflection and light interesting... in mid-March it was warm enough for me to go out and take pictures (I'm a wuss when it comes to cold weather :-) It was a bright and sunny day, but at some point the painting was "asking" for some mist in the distant trees. So I went for it. Does it looks like mist to you?

I'm pretty happy with the overall effect of light in this one.

Morning Mist in Putnam County, Oil on stretch canvas, 11 x 14"