Another Field Study

Since returning home I've been looking over the paintings, photos and sketches I did in New Harmony. While there, I only did a few oil sketches. Most of my time was spent with pastels. This little oil sketch was also one of my paintings stamped for field to finish. Looking solely at this sketch it seems busy but when I got to looking at it and the photo it is quite simplified. The farm this scene was located at was just loaded with potential paintings and I will returning there next year as well. This sketch probably will not be used for the competition but it will be re-examined and turned into something else. Yesterday I started doing small pastel studies of the few sketches I got done on site. So far I'm really excited with what has been happening with them. Soon I will begin the largest paintings I've done to date and these sketches are giving me a lot of confidence and ideas to run with.

Painting at Garfield Park

This morning I went to Garfield Park and painted. I got there around 8 this morning and there were only runners and people walking their dogs around the park. The wind was strong and while waiting for the first painting to dry the wind caught it and ripped it off of the easel. Thankfully I caught it before it went across a large parking lot. That would have been a good way to ruin the day before it began. For the most part it was calm the entire time I was there. I got a few questions like typical but nothing wild or rude. There were actually a few people that had some interesting stuff to say about the park that made me want to return later on.

This first painting was of a group of trees that overlapped and stacked on each other from an angle that I liked. The front tree was lighter and naturally stuck out, so it seemed fitting to showcase it. The spacing and rhythm of the trees from this angle was pleasing to me and the hill they sat on and the path in front of them all fit well together. There were a lot of things I would like to paint in this park so look for more paintings in the future from Garfield Park.

More Power Lines

Today I found a mop brush that I must have gotten when I first started painting and forgot about it. It was stashed away with some of the other art stuff that I never unpacked. What better way to follow my guidelines than to use something I didn't know I had.
The sky was done using the mop. It holds so much water. It should have been out being used before today. When I got to the bushes and power lines I used an old number 8 round that has no point. I flattened the end out and tried to use it that way. While there are parts that could be improved, overall I like the painting. It will be a good guide for its pastel counterpart.