Yesterday Debbie went for a bike ride. I on the other hand wanted to ski up to our secret stash and see if there was enough snow to be worth while going back on Christmas. As you might have guessed I put my painting kit in my pack just in case, and when I got up to this spot I thought why not? It was pretty cold and a little cumbersome painting with gloves on, but I did it. Then I realized I forgot a box to carry the painting back down to the car, so I had to hold the painting in one hand and my poles in the other to ski down. It was a little rough, but I made it. The painting actually didn't turn out this good. I worked on it a fare amount when I got home, from memory. I am pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.  By the way, there is enough snow for some good skiing. We will go back tomorrow and on Christmas. I'll leave my paints at home.

I finished the angle this week as promised. I guess it turned out OK. It definitely was a great lesson in value.

 Today a few of us got together and painted portraits of this lovely young girl.

 Weds. night I painted this. I love the hat.

 Friday night I looked around for something to paint and came up with this.

Windy and cold pleinair

Yesterday Sharon and I braved the cold and wind to paint in Boulder canyon. This is the back side of Castle rock. We were both pretty cold by the end of two hours. A big gust of wind hit us right at the end which sprayed dirt and dust all over my painting. Who says painting can't be extreme?

Friday I approched one of my neighbors and asked if it was alright to paint on his property. He was very nice and said I was welcome on his land anytime

 Sat. I went onto his property and painted this. It is neat that I have more options at home for plein air.

 This is from Weds. night. It is quite a bit larger than I am use to working at 24x16 .

 I have been working on this painting for several days. It too is 24x 16. I wanted to see if I can work this big taking my time and still make it look as spontanious as a smaller painting I do in one sitting. I still have the angle to work on. It should be done in time for next weeks blog.

fun with candles

Today Lilly came to Classical Art Academy to pose for a few of us. This is what I came up with.

 This past week I go interested in attempting to paint candle light. It was a great exercise in getting the values just right.

 Here's my little angle figurine again.

This of course is from Weds. night. I didn't have the energy to push this one very far Weds. night, so I just kind of let it be a rough sketch.