Paintings From This Past Summer

Well hello there, and welcome!

Happy Labor Day to all of you, my friends! I decided to use some of my free time today to update my blog once again with works from the not so distant past. These specific paintings posted today are just a few of my favorite paintings that were done through the summer of 2012... and they could all use a little more love and attention, however with school in full swing, I am not certain when they will actually receive the attention they deserve.

I was able to get in on a plain air painting class being taught by the awesome Perry Stewart. We traveled all around Utah County, in the early hours of the morning, spending 6 or more hours outside painting. This was the first time I had experienced a class anything like this. I did more oil painting through this last summer than I had in my entire life up to this class(which is truthfully an farily small amount of time).

It was hard, it was a lot of work, it was many hours of being frustrated, and mixing the wrong colors. We battled biting flies, dehydration, the hot sun, and the eye burning ashy air that was common for Utah County this past summer.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to get up early, watch the light from the rising sun dance across the shapes and forms of nature, as varied and wild as they are beautiful. To hear song birds, and buzzing insects. To listen to the song of the streams and rivers, the whisper of the occasional and rare breeze rustle through the open fields. To truly OBSERVE the diversity of life around us. It was a great place to make some wonderful new friends too.

I learned SO much in this class. My eyes were opened, I was inspired, and I began to fall completely in love with oil paints as my understanding of them, our limited color palette, and how to use my brushes and palette knife grew. Despite all the negative things I listed earlier, THIS WAS BY FAR THE MOST FUN CLASS I HAVE EVER TAKEN. We had a great time.

American Fork Canyon Stream

Deer Creek Reservoir

Dry Canyon Evening Light Sketch

Dry Canyon Evening (from sketch, photo, and notes)

Provo Canyon South Fork Stream

Provo Tree

Painting in Provo with Nate Call. To check out his excellent version of the same scene check out this blog post of his.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these paintings. They are the product of many many hours of frustrated study. I still have a very long way to go in my understanding of oil paints, colors, composition, and application... but I am pretty proud of the work I was able to do this past summer. Like I said it was hard for me, but I loved every minute of it. Let me know what you think :)

Thank you so much for checking these painting out. I love you all, and I hope you have an happy labor day, and I hope you'll be back to check in on my blog again soon. I'm looking forward to it.

--CirAD
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