June 09th, 2016

I have been remiss in the last few weeks of even documenting some of  these color sketches. Feeling like I'm taking a few steps back rather than forward.

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I did these this morning en plein air with what I could decipher of the pastels I brought. I decided to leave my sketching things at home and only bring my pastels and some small sheets of paper. This worked well as it forced me to not return back to my standard thumbnail sketch routine. This is the second sketch, and I really only took about 10 minutes. I wanted fast and loose and try to figure out value changes on the fly. If any of you try plein air please do not be fooled by how easy the pros make it look. It is extremely frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

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This is the last attempt. I was at least trying to get a little bit of composition in the picture. Again did not start with any thumbnail sketches which becomes super confusing when trying to fit things onto a 5x7 sheet of paper.

This was the first try. Took the longest. Completely overworked. No real composition worked through. I was trying to concentrate on color and atmospheric perspective. Both of which I realize is a complete failure.

I was really stoked when I thought I would use up some cheap oil paint I had kicking around. This 10x10 oil on panel is my FIRST attempt at oil painting. I did it quickly, only focusing on dark shapes and a quick mix of primaries I had. I was so happy with it I decided to buy some better quality paint, research set up and what needed to be done.  My second attempt I was happy with.(I have not taken a picture of it...just hadn't gotten around to it). I used a very cheap brush so I am finding a better quality to do the next.

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This is my very first still life oil painting. To be fair, I did not spend a great deal of time on this. I mixed all the value change colors first. That took about an hour. Then I put the paints in the freezer. Two days later I took them out and painted for about 1/2 hour and back two days later to work on it for another 1/2 hour or so. I was getting too far ahead of myself with trying to lay in the paint and get it to stick where I wanted it to.  I lost patience and thought I would start again on another still life later. Or do another quick photo reference oil. I want to eventually work en plein air in oil. But that may be a while in the future. It is hard enough to get pastels working for me. One step at a time.

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