Middlefork Savanna plein air painting

oil on panel

16" x 16"

I did a good amount of plein air painting once my kids started school this year. This was one of the first ones, but needed that extra 10% of tweaking at home to be called "finished."

Middlefork Savanna in Lake Forest is a beautiful place, and I plan to do more painting there.

More Plein Air acrylic efforts

I have been getting out at least once a week for some painting this fall.

These 2 are both acrylic works, the top one from Skokie Lagoons and the bottom from Emily Oaks Nature Center.

acrylic on 9" x 12"  board

acrylic on 10" x 10" board

2 Plein Air acrylic paintings

I have been trying acrylic paint for plein air work lately. (I briefly used acrylics when I started painting 4-5 years ago, but quickly moved to oils.) The advantage for plein air work is the quick drying time means you can go over an area without worry about disturbing the pervious layer and getting inadvertent mixes. I think my recent work with gouache has prepped me for acrylics, as they are similar (gouache= matte finish, acrylics=glossy finish)

(These are both 9x12 on MDF board)

Final 2 from Oregon

I posted one drawing from our Oregon trip in June.

Here are 2 more:

Walking up the hill ("mountain" to us flatlanders) my sister lives on to draw/paint, I found this dead animal head in the road. Who could resist?

markers and gouache

Heceta Head

pencil on toned paper

Ohio River, Kentucky Shore

oil on illustration board

7" x 2 1/4"

I try to make use of everything in terms of art materials, and have scraps of all kinds of surfaces around. This very small remnant of illustration board was used to paint from a photo I took of the Ohio River Kentucky shore across from Cave-In-Rock, Illinois.

Lincoln Park Zoo visit

I went to Lincoln Park Zoo recently to sketch. (Color on some of these was added at home.)

(various combinations of pencil, ink, watercolor and gouache.)

Stork standing over the nest

Kenya Crested Guineafowl

twisted tree in pen & ink

pen and ink & ink wash on Stonehenge kraft paper

I have seen this unique & twisted tree many times, and finally got around to drawing from it.

Art Museum drawing

Some drawings I made on visits to The Art Institute of Chicago and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

I am trying (on 3 of these) a modified trois crayon method like Watteau used. Caran d'Ache pencils on a new paper for me, Stonehenge Kraft.

after Benjamin-Constant Evening on the Seashore - Tangiers

after Peter Paul Rubens The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist

after Abraham Janssens Jupiter Rebuked by Venus

after some ancient statue I saw

plein air in fresh snow

oil on board

This one is from last December at Skokie Lagoons. We had our first significant snow that morning, but it warmed up enough as the day went on that it was all gone later. I was painting under a tree, and started getting large plops of snow on the board I was painting on. (About 20% of this was done at home, tweaking things.)

Field Museum outing 2/05/2016

I went back to The Field Museum last week, mostly staying in the bird area and working in a Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook.

marker and gouache

Pheasant-Tailed Jacana and Parasitic Jaeger

colored pencil

Great Black-Backed Gull

marker

White-Tailed Deer

Field Museum outing 1/13/2016

I took advantage of a free day (for Illinois residents) and went to the Field Museum last week, with art supplies in hand. I worked as fast as I could, not stopping for lunch, and got 3 pieces done (or started).

marker in Strathmore toned tan sketchbook with white gouache

I have always marveled at the massive antlers of the Irish Deer skeleton they have on display.

(I added the gouache highlights at home)

watercolor and gouache

I started this in watercolors and struggled as I do not have 3 hands and did not bring any kind of easel, so I took it a good bit farther at home.

pencil in Strathmore toned tan sketchbook

This is either a Blackbock Antelope or an Indian Gazelle