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.

Oil painting still life with banana in gar

I love days off. Because of Thanks Giving, I've been able to paint the last couple of days. Here are the fruits of my labor. I set this still life up because it presented some interesting challenges. The green glass, and the red cloth colors are both present in the reflected light on the banana. The glass gar with it's floral decorations also made for some wonderfully interesting painting.

Desert Impression

I got out my old computer tablet the other day and painted  this as a test of colors and loose brush strokes. I find it interesting how well this very loosely done painting still gives the impression of the landscape.  It is best viewed from few steps back. I may do something similar with oils on canvas. Any comments would be appreciated.

Still life and an angel

These are my two latest oil studies. My shoes on a stool, and a study of my little angel figurine. I have drawn the angel a couple of times in the past. I am quite happy with how this turned out. I kind of stumbled upon putting the light spot underneath her to give her a floating feeling.

Wed night figure drawing

Here is this weeks figure drawing. I think I got his waist too small. This pose seemed a bit ridged so I tried to exaggerate some of the curves to loosen it up a bit and in inadvertently made his waist too small, oh well. No session next week because of Thanksgiving. I will miss it.  I am working on more painting that I hope to share soon.

practicing my starts

I got a new book on oil painting  the other day. "Fill your Oil Paintings with Light and Color" by Kevin D. Macpherson. In it Kevin stresses the importance of a good start. He suggests making a hundred starts just for practice, so this weekend I started practicing starts. The first two I copied out of the book. The second is from life and just the shadows painted in with raw umber. The third painting I did from a figure drawing I made earlier this summer. I got a bit carried away with this one, and took it a bit past a good start. I found another painting on the web with a color scheme that I really liked. So I tried to use similar colors in my painting. I am actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

Figure Drawing 11-9-11

Here is my figure drawing from this week. 

Portrait of Mom and Dad

Well, painting Mom turned out to be a challenge. I just couldn't get the painting to look like her. I wanted to get that smile she has, like she's just about to break out in a giggle. I think I finally got it pretty close. I found it hard to concentrate on the painting while I was thinking of her. I'm sure some of you understand.

Figure drawing from this week

Last week class was canceled due to a snow storm. This Wed produced another snow storm however class went on as scheduled. We had a new model. She is very good. She did some very active poses for our warm up gesture drawings. Then she settled into this nice subtle contraposto. (Spell checker doesn't recognize that word.)

New Portrait

I started a new portrait today. This one seems to be coming more naturally. I am a lot more relaxed painting and am having a lot of fun. This is Dad quite a few years ago. Next I'll paint Mom beside him.

Van Gogh Copy

It is snowing like hell today, so we didn't work. I stayed home and painted this copy of a Van Gogh. It kind of looks like the original, but I am sure I am not fooling anyone. It does feel good to loosen up a little.

Oil Painting "Desert Tapestry"

I was thinking of working on this more today, but after looking at it all week, I have decided it's done. The grass in the foreground is what was in question, but I think it looks alright the way it is. What I would have done is put in more detail, but I am afraid that might have ruined it. first of all I am trying to get away from putting in so much detail and second I think it wouldn't help me accomplished what I set out to do, which is to give the viewer the feeling of the extreme depth of this place. I actually think it turned out kind of flat, so I think I need to study other artists' paintings some more

Figure drawing of female from the back

I finially felt well enough to go to the Wed, night figure drawing class the other night. Here are the fruits of my labor for that session. Not much to say. I liked the unique angle and the lighting.

I am still sick with a bad cold. I have been unable to do any art work for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I'd post this photo I took a few years ago. We had this really weird ice fog roll through our neck of the woods one day, and it created these wonderful ice crystals on everything. This is a wire fence on one of the neighbors' property.

I have a really bad cold and was unable to go to class last night, so I have no new figure drawing to show. However I have been working on my new web site. Check it out at  billmeuser.com

Here is a photo of a sculpture I did many years ago. It is about five feet tall.

sleeping female

Here is my drawing from last night. It has a fun bit of forshortening

This weeks painting

I painted this landscape from a photo I took in winter while at Arches National Park. While painting I was constantly going back to the desert in my mind, feeling the light breezes and listening to the dead silence. Definitely one of my favorite places.

 This is my pallet for this painting.

Red charcoal figure drawing

I didn't have time to get more grey paper before class, so I tried going back to the red charcoal. I struggled a bit. Not having used this medium for awhile, it felt a bit uncomfortable. It's OK but not one of my best.

Last weeks figure in oil

I decided to convert another Wed night drawing into a painting. This one took a bit longer than the last one. I struggled a bit with colors especially in the shadows.

another Wed night figure drawing

I painted this today from a drawing I did a couple of weeks ago in class.

Portrait of Darrel and Joyce in oil done

I've finished the portrait of Darrel and Joyce.  I guess I'm pretty happy with it. Darrel's shirt was a little challenging. If you remember the photo, he is wearing a multi colored striped shirt. I really didn't feel like painting all those stripes, so I simplified. The challenge was in seeing the shading through all of that color.

latest progress on portrait in oil as well a Wed. figure drawing

Here is the progress I've made on Darrel and Joyce in the last two evenings. It's not quite as exciting as when their faces emerged, but still fun to see. The third picture is from our Wed. night class.

Darrel with his hair done

 I finished Darrel's hair and beard tonight.

Portrait in oil of Darrel and Joyce

I found time to paint today. Here is the progress I made on Darrel and Joyce's portrait.

Figure drawing of female in white top

This from our class last night. I loved the challenge of her dark skin and white top.

Portrait of Darrel and Joyce in oil 2

I hope this isn't too annoying for those of you who get e-mails every time I post. I've actually worked on this a couple of times since my last post. I really do enjoy painting more when I can devote a large block of time. This work is a couple of one hour sessions. It's a bit frustrating because the paint on the canvas drys and the new paint doesn't blend the same.

Also I do want everyone to feel free to make comments. Constructive criticism is welcome. I know I am no Divinci, but I am always striving to be better, and I may not see ways to improve that others may see.

Portrait of Darrel and Joyce in Oil

I thought it might be fun to post my progress on my latest painting. I worked all day on this. I hope to post after each session and have kind of a history of my process when I am done.

Last nights figure drawing

This figure drawing in charcoal and white pencil is from last nights figure drawing class. It was good to be back with the gang after a week off. We were lucky to have my favorite model who comes up with some fantastic poses. On this drawing I tried to soften my usual cross hatching as well as introduce a kind of checker board cross hatch for the back ground.

land scapes from vacation

I just got back from my trip to Mexico and south western Colorado. I was able to do a little drawing and painting. I spent a couple of days at Chaco Canyon Where I did the Charcoal with white pencil. I also spent some time in Telluride where did the oil painting of Wilson peak on a 6"x8" canvas board. It was done in about two hours. It's no masterpiece, but I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.

Seated Male in Charcoal and white pensil by Bill Meuser

This is last nights drawing. I am really beginning to like this medium. It is a quick way to get detail in the lit areas as well as the shadows. Tomorrow I head for New Mexico. I hope to see the Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keef lived and painted. I also want to experiment with some landscape oil painting of my own.