"Lakeside at Laguna Gloria"  

8" x 8" Oil on canvas panel

  The first 'Plein Air' painting of the year "Lakeside at Laguna Gloria" 8 x 8" Oil on canvas panel. A beautiful morning today to be out with other artists from PLEIN AIR AUSTIN. A big thank you to Laurel Daniel for organizing this paint-out along with Valerie Walden, Jane Frederick, Julie Davis, Clare Stratton and many more. So great to be out of the studio on such a gorgeous day in Austin. This little canvas represents a bit of a break out after months of painting with acrylic paints. I was determined to use only oils today instead of acrylic base painting as a setup to finishing the work with oil paints. Overall, it's still not exactly where I want to be be but it is a start. I spent almost a hour taking many photographs of the grounds and the Museum building as it was a spectacular morning after rains yesterday. The stone bench is at a great location right at the tip of the peninsula which is just off Lake Austin. The historic building and grounds of what is the former residence of Clara Driscoll are one of the exceptional landmarks to be found in Austin.

Yukimi Lantern

Yukimi Lantern   6 x 12

The Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden in Zilker Park is undoubtedly one of the true jewels of Austin, Texas. This incredible place is a masterpiece and is essentially the result of one man's labor of love. His life story is equally amazing.

On Thursday, the paintout session for Plein Air Austin met here and in truth, the group would be hard pressed to find a better place to paint than at the Zilker Botanical Garden. The Japanese Garden is especially beautiful this time of year as the lotus blooms thrive in the August heat & humidity. The sun cooperated by hiding behind the clouds for the entire morning, which allowed the colors to stand out nicely without having strong shadows or bright sunlight. The day was indeed similar to the quality of light one experiences in Japan.

This piece is the second one I worked on, the first being a watercolor study, but this work is entirely in acrylic, painted completely on site. What began as an under painting for an opaque oil painting, just evolved into a completed work on its own. I treated the acrylic like watercolor on canvas with thin washes in most areas and opaque layers in other areas where stronger hues were needed. The painting is a good marker for where I am currently as a plein air painter. I like the fact that what may be an under painting for a work in oil, may also be a finished piece at an earlier stage. Something which fellow Austin artist Qiang Huang inspired me to think about, by his striving to have a "finished" piece at each stage of painting.