plein air paintings

I've really been enjoying doing some quick outdoor paintings these last few days. It's slow in coming, but I think I am making progress. This first one I did Thur morning  from the front seat of my truck in a parking lot at "Red Rocks". I think I got lucky with this one as it turned out pretty good.

This one is also from red rocks. It didn't turn out quite as well. I think I got the hills in the back ground too dark.

This is the first one done on my new Julian easel. It is a very convenient easel. I walked out in to a secluded   field I know and painted this. I really don't care for how this turned out, but I was able to use the colors in the next painting that was done from a photo.

                                     

I like how this turned out. Using the colors from my previous study made this much better than if I had just copied the photo

I painted this earlier this afternoon. The light was changing so quickly I had to work very fast. I think this took about an hour and a half to paint. I may try painting it again from a photo I took while there, but using the colors I produced in this study. 

Plen air from the front seat of my truck

Here's an oil sketch I did today. It was too windy to stand out side so I did this from the inside of my truck. It was kind of cool, but the one problem was that I had to get out of the truck to take a step back and look. So I didn't step back nearly enough. Still it didn't seem to bother me too much. I think it turned out kind of good. I drive by this tree every day on my way to work and always admire it's lonesome beauty. So today I decided to try and paint it. There is a parking lot with this view that was empty today because of the wind, and made a perfect spot for me to sit and paint without worrying about being seen or talked to. I was able to relax stress free and paint. Good times!

The size of this painting is 6"x8"

Female figure painting from figure drawing 2

I think I am done with another figure painting done from one of my figure drawings. I think it turned out pretty good and am ready to move onto something else. 

Female figure painting from figure drawing

I have been working on this for over a week now and am finally calling it done. I tried using some of the same techniques I use in my drawing : line quality, cross hatching, leaving parts of the painting less finished. I think it turned out pretty good. Her left foot in particular works better than the drawing. I struggled with it for awhile, but think I finally got it. 

Nude seated female figure drawing

This is my drawing from the Wed night figure drawing session. It was the last session  of the year. I struggled a  bit in the beginning, but pulled it together and finished a nice drawing. I am glad because I wanted to end the year on a good note.

self portrait

I guess I need to learn how to smile when I paint. I painted this in front of a mirror. I spent a lot of time trying to get the colors just right. Today I tried mixing all of my colors before I put a brush to the canvas. I think I had five colors for the shadows and five for the lit side. The hair and my shirt not included. I think I am pretty happy with the colors however I didn't intend to make myself look so scary.

seated female figure drawing from back.

Here is last nights figure drawing. Seems like it was a pretty good night. The left hand turned out good. Hands  are easy to gloss over and not get very good. 

Also, I am starting a works in progress page on my web site: http://www.billmeuser.com/?portfolio=works-in-progress I started a self portrait today and took a few pictures as the day progressed and plan on taking more as it  evolves. Check it out.