Showing posts with label TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. Show all posts

Friday, August 13, 2010

Tree Rope

Tree Rope  6 x 12
This painting, for me, brings to mind many of the things I love about summertime in  central Texas. A beautiful natural spot to paint outdoors, a cool swimming hole created by clear spring water, and the majestic scale of the large cypress trees along the water's edge. Fortunately, there are several such places near Austin. When you are lucky enough to live nearby & find the time to go and explore such a place, once you do, you know it is something special. And what swimming hole would be complete without a tree rope to jump in on ?
When I started the 5 x 10 series, I knew it was an easy size to create on watercolor paper. For the opaque paintings on canvas though, it is another matter. My research of the mainstream art suppliers concludes that there is no such animal. However, this 6 x 12 inch canvas board is a size I like and I simply created an inset to define the 5 x 10 area. I have worked this way with sketches and watercolors. It is a way of matting the image and lends itself to an informal work by having the edges of the painting show the loose initial painting and the inside area be the finished work. I think it works well with this size for the Plein Air paintings. For an exact 5 x 10 inch painting, I may need to cut masonite boards to size. These however, may be nice options.

Cypress Creek Morning

Cypress Creek Morning   6 x 12
The paintout session yesterday took place at one of the real gems in the Texas Hill Country. Krause Springs in Spicewood. Located just before the creek flows into Lake Travis, the spring fed swimming pool above the creek is a favorite for kids of all ages. This view is below the springs along the tree lined banks of the creek  looking back upstream to the rock ledge with the rope swing. It was a great day to be there. There is nothing like diving into cold spring water after painting all morning. This is my first attempt at working with an arcylic underpainting and then using the water mixable oils to complete the piece. I worked on it about an hour and a half. & then started another painting. Some final touches were added last night back in the studio with breaks to check out the meteor shower.