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.)

2 recent plein air paintings

Along the path at Harms Woods

gouache in Stillman & Birn sketchbook

Kessem Pond at Emily Oaks Nature Center

oil on board

I have been trying to get out lately to paint while fall colors are happening and before it gets too cold. Hope to do so some more next week.

What I made on my summer vacation (2015 edition)

I went to Michigan City, IN and South Haven, MI this summer.

Below are the drawings and paintings I brought back.

watercolor & gouache

Lake Kai

pen & ink, ink wash and gouache highlights

My attempt at catching a fleeting light/color effect in the sky

gouache

A scaly-barked tree that caught my eye

gouache

attempt at painting a nocturne

watercolor

study of a wave

pencil

ubiquitous plant

pen & ink, ink wash and white pencil highlights

The sloop Friends Good Will, which sails out of South Haven harbor daily

pencil & marker

colored pencil

Roots

Tree roots, Monhegan Island, Maine

pen and ink wash with gouache highlights on Canson Mi-Teintes toned paper

2 plein air paintings from 2014

purchase from Artfinder

2 plein air paintings I did in 2014 at Skokie Lagoons.

(Actually, they were each about 2/3 plein air, and 1/3 finished up in the studio.)

oil on board

Emily Oaks Tree

pen & ink and ink wash on Fabriano toned paper

12" x 20"

This was done at Emily Oaks in October during the Brush With Nature plein air event. It was accepted, but I didn't get it framed in time to have it included in the show.

Detail:

Figure paintings from EAC part 3

Another one from Eleanor Spiess-Ferris' class at EAC

The model is Mugsie

oil on board

3 (more or less) recent watercolor sketches

I decided to torture myself and play around with watercolors again:

plein air, Michigan City, IN

Contesse de Ternay

plein air, Skokie Lagoons

Winsor and Newton watercolors in Holbein sketchbook

Michigan City Mullein

Wild Mullein sketched plein air while on vacation in Michigan City, IN.

pen & ink with white pencil on Strathmore Toned Gray paper

Illinois Beach State Park Tree

purchase at Artfinder

Portrait of an amazing old dead tree I saw at Illinois Beach State Park

pencil on Canson Mi-Teintes paper

Coneflowers

Coneflowers

oil on canvas

20" x 20"

Recent Sketches from Nature

A wonderful gnarled old tree I spotted in Illinois Beach State Park

Caran d'Ache Neocolor II wax pastels in Strathmore Toned Gray sketchbook

Milkweed plant at Illinois Beach State Park

marker & white pencil in Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook

Fallen tree at Skokie Lagoons

oil on board

Fun With Pen & Ink

I have gotten back into pen and ink work again lately as I am contemplating doing another Lincoln portrait. (see others here, here and here.)

A beautiful gnarled tree I found in Bunker Hill Forest Preserve.

Noodlers #41 Brown ink with Esterbrook 788 nib in Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook

Horse and Round Tailed Ground Squirrel from online references.

Noodlers #41 Brown ink with Esterbrook 788 nib on Rives tan paper

cherry branch

an older one - from a branch of a neighbor's tree that is no longer with us

oil on 8" x 10" board

Tree in snow study

pencil on Strathmore Toned Gray paper

Sketched in Blue Star Memorial Woods in Glenview

plein-air tree studies in marker

black and red markers in sketchbook

Plein Air oil paintings

oil on board

These are my first 3 plein air oil painting attempts. I have recently had the opportunity (while the kids are in school) to run up to Skokie Lagoons on a weekday morning. These were all painted there, with the most recent at the top.

Plant Study

Plant study done at Skokie Lagoons the other day

pencil in Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook