On The Blanco

On The Blanco  5x10

Sunday was truly a picture perfect day, ideal for taking a day trip with the family to go just west of Blanco, Texas and see the large Dinosaur tracks in the banks of the Blanco river. As awesome as these are, I think playing in the crystal clear water of one of the natural spillways was a favorite for all the kids. I had never been to this spot where these amazing tracks are embedded into the limestone just above the waterline. It is a beautiful part of the Texas hill country. This small studio work is a watercolor on paper painted today  from a photograph looking east back towards the low water crossing near the footprints. The cloudless sky is reflected in the river with deep shadows defining the banks.

Summer Field

Summer Field   8 x 8

This painting is based upon the some of the farmland photographs I recently took, but is not of a specific place. I just wanted to capture the sense of  openness in the rural Central Texas landscape with the quality of light  and colors from a hot summer day. The painting has initial layers of acrylic on a canvas board with oil paint for the blended tones and final touches. This entire area of Texas is currently setting records for triple-digit temperatures and the clouds painted here are really just wishful thinking on my part; just hoping for some much needed rain.

Near Kingsbury

Near Kingsbury   6 x 12

After spending all morning at Zedler Mill last Saturday, I drove west on I-10 toward Seguin, Texas. Turning off onto FM 1104, I took the opportunity to photograph some of the vistas along the road. This farmland view is one I found of interest for the sunlight was hitting a patch of ground about a half-mile away and the foreground was entirely in shade from the clouds. I have been wanting to paint scenes with this kind of  light quality, so here the first attempt. This is not a plein air piece, but was painted back in the Studio, or in what my sister and her fellow artist friends call, "plain air-conditioning"! It was a fun painting to do and not too tight although, it does use the inset technique in a slightly more formal manner. I worked completely opaque with acrylic paint in complementary colors to start with and then finished it with oils. I'm not sure exactly how long this one took to paint as I was working on this and three other small pieces at the same time.

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.