Top of pines

Top of pines - oil on panel - 8" x 6"

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More trees!

More paintings of trees! I used to look at paintings of the woods and wonder how they were done, so much detail in real life, how it was simplified and organized... I am slowly learning.

The figures really suggested scale in the photo. I wish I could do that in my paintings, but at the moment I am not confident at adding figures to my work as I believe a weak figure will weaken the entire painting.

Two crows - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

Nature's tally - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

 I was sitting on the side of the trail as I painted the above painting, many people would walk pass and look to the direction I was looking at, to see what glorious view I was painting, but no one slowed down and I supposed it's because they didn't see anything interesting.

Painting really opens my eyes, it helps me see beauty everywhere, more than ever. This is the view the hikers would see at 4 km per hour.

Here is my trick for sitting on soft ground, in order for the chair legs to not sink in the dirt I fold a garbage bags a few times and put it under the legs.

New phase

I am going through this phase where I love to paint trees, especially pine trees. They usually come in large numbers, show off depth well and easier to paint than a deciduous tree with 500 irregular branches. It's usually dark in the woods too which I like; it gives me an illumination level that's unique with an overall green brownish colour cast.

Central Park walkway - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

Pine woods at Central park - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

Heather took these nice pictures of me. The pictures seem bright but it was actually quite dark. In the second picture you can see the book light that I used to brighten my painting surface.

Heather says the cherry trees here look like cotton candies, I guess the clouds too? I drove around in pouring rain and finally decided on this spot, and the rain stopped and the sky cleared.

Candy land - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

This one was at Jericho beach. Both Heather and I feel like we have seen this painting somewhere before, but neither of us can remember.

Corridor - oil on panel - 12" x 9"

Having had done so many paintings at Penzance beach, I am starting to try to squeeze the last juice out of it. Whenever I get to a new place I go for the low hanging fruit, the obvious nice views. After several paintings, it gets harder and harder to find a different subject, though the decision making process is always based on the arrangements of shapes.

Rocks on Penzance beach - oil on panel - 9" x 12"