Original art, art classes, plein air, Lake Saint Louis, MO

For the last couple years, I was able to go to a paint out in Lone Pine, the Henry Fukahara Plein air Workshop. I like to go a bit before the workshop to "do my own thing" as the workshop is not at all what people would consider to be "my thing". I go to push myself and try new things. It is a challenge to be as loose as those painters are...cuz they are REALLY loose. Tough for me.

This little work was done from a photo reference taken while camping in the Alabama Hills, just before that four day Manzanar workshop that I stretch out to 10. Scott was with me the first weekend. Perhaps you can make him out loosely painted sitting there, reading.. It was taken late in the day, as the sun was going down. I had my back to the sun, and the shadow from the Mountains behind me, darkened the rocks behind my camper. The hills in the distance, took on a warm glow. This only lasted a few minutes. I was able to do a watercolor pen and ink before the sun went down after shooting this shot. In the reference, there was a bird sitting up on the rock. I left him out, as he would have been a confusing speck. Just cuz it is in the photo, doesn't mean it has to be in the painting. He was probably trying to figure out what we were all about. I think he was a hawk or a very large crow.

This work got too tight, and more like earlier work that I have done, rather than the recent work, that is a bit looser. I need to stop being so tight, but this one seemed to want to be tighter. This one was for the "scampers" and all the mini trailer crowd out there. I hope you like it!

This work is an 8x8 oil on canvas. If you have some cool photos of your camping adventures, that you would like to capture on canvas, shoot me an email. I can work from your photograph. If I paint on a wrap canvas, I can paint around the edges and you won't need a frame. They are nice and light that way.