Plein air watercolor painting of an old farm from across the spring fields.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches 100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This watercolor painting was done just outside Petoskey on a huge hill that overlooks the town and Lake Michigan. Its an area I return to year after year. It has dramatic rural views, something I love to capture in plein air watercolor landscapes. This particular scene  created a “Z” composition.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a distant farm from the autumn fields.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 8 inches       SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Some of the painters around Saline, Michigan are coming together to exhibit artworks of a special farm near our town. “Visions of Braun Farms” will be displayed in January and February of next year in downtown Saline. I have completed one piece, but on Sunday I thought I’d try another plein air pastel landscape painting of the beautiful old farm. The fields had all been plowed under and there was very little local color this late in November. But I was drawn to the buildings on the crest with the tractor tracks leading up to them. As I painted, a storm clouds appeared to be moving in so I included them to create a little drama.

Plein air pastel painting of a farmhouse and fields in late afternoon.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches       $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

What a perfect afternoon for plein air pastel painting! The autumn leaves have all dropped here in Michigan but the fields are still colorful and the light today was fantastic. I’ve wanted to paint Braun Farm in Saline for years now, and I finally got the push I needed when I found out that my pastel group is going to have a show with this farm as the only subject matter. Its a beautiful old place right near town, owned by a couple of brothers, who, I believe, have put the property in a land trust so it will never be filled with industrial sprawl. The light on the fields in late afternoon is almost dreamlike and sooooo peaceful. It was just begging to become a pastel landscape!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a distant barn seen from the fields

Pastel painting 9.5 inches x 6 inches       SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This beautiful old farm on Judd Road in Saline caught my eye last weekend. On cloudy days, it would seem like the landscape should be dull and drab, but its really the exact opposite. All the colors become hyper saturated in relation to the dismal sky.  I love autumn in Michigan when all the crops turn rusty ochre. To me, a pastel painting of golden soy bean fields can be more exciting than the traditional landscapes filled with brightly colored fall trees. I painted this piece on white paper that I had underpainted with a bright red watercolor wash. I like to leave some of that red color peaking through the pastel to unify the painting.

Hope the weather holds so that I can get out again this weekend…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of rolling fields and a farm in the distance.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6 inches   $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

The fields are all starting to turn and the colors are becoming more like autumn here in southern Michigan. In the late afternoon, the sun casts a warm, golden light on the farmland near our home. To me, it is simply irresistible.

I am constantly drawn to this type of  pastel landscape painting, over and over again. I swear it is because, in some earlier incarnation, I was born and raised on a MidWest farm very much like this one. I can’t explain my fascination with barns, and crops and fields in any other way. I certainly don’t know much about that lifestyle. I just can’t stop painting farmscapes!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of an old farm in Michigan

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

It was a beautiful and sunny on Saturday, so i wandered the dirt roads west of our home looking for a likely subject to paint. I did this pastel landscape sitting under a shade tree on Lindeman Road. The gorgeous old farmhouse looked like it had been build in the mid 1800’s but was beautifully kept up with loving care. Even the crops looked neat.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of two old barns nestled in the crops.

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Popped out Wednesday evening to do a quick  pastel landscape painting out in the farm lands around Saline. All the crops seem thick and healthy this year which is wonderful for the farmers. Its a little difficult, however, for us plein air painters. The corn is so tall, its hard to see over the top!

While I was painting this pastel, the owner of the place came over to check me out. I could tell he was a little perplexed as to why I would want to paint his old barns. I told him that I thought they were beautiful. He opened up and told me all about the farm’s 100 year old history. (HE’D only lived there for 50 years!) I just love learning about the history of my area AND painting to my heart’s content…

Plein air pastel painting of a farm and golden field

Pastel painting 11 inches x 5.5 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This is another pastel landscape of the same farm in my last post. Completely different view and format. I spend so much time driving around trying to find the “perfect” scene, but this just goes to show that you can sit yourself on one acre of land and make multiple paintings of the same subject.

I really love doing these types of house portraits and have done quite a few commissions for people who want to have their homes made into pieces of art that they can keep forever. If you, or someone you know would like a similar keepsake, contact me at:

jill@jillwagner art.com

Plein air pastel painting of a shaded farmhouse surrounded by fields of golden wheat

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This is a plein air pastel landscape of the farm I fell in love with on Sunday. It was such a perfect day and the wheat field was so massive and awe inspiring, that it just took my breath away. I spent a good 2 hours in the midday sun painting 2 farmscape views. I would have stayed longer if the sun and bugs hadn’t wore me down.

A big thank you to all my pastel buddies over at the WetCanvas.com pastel forum. Whenever I am in a quandry about a painting, this talented group of pastel artists always gives me good advice to improve it. Its really great to have fresh eyes view your work because sometimes the artist is just too dang CLOSE to it!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a barn and other farm buildings.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6.5 inches   $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Another  plein air pastel landscape of the farmlands around Saline, Michigan. I painted this one in the late afternoon again, waste deep in a field of wheat. It was a great location except for the millions of bugs that almost ate me alive. And of course, I forgot my bug repellant!

I’m so excited about the 4 commissions I am working on this month! I will be posting a few of them in the next couple of days.

And, (oh my god!), I’ve joined the twitter nation. If you liked to follow my tweets, catch me at http://twitter.com/jillwagnerart

Have a great 4t of July weekend!

Plein air pastel landscape of a farm and fields of spring wheat in late afternoon

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

When I paint from life outside, I usually set out in the morning. For a change, I decided to try some pastel landscapes in the afternoon light. For plein air painters, morning and afternoon are the prime times because of the lovely yellow-orange light and the great shadows at those times of day. I found this luscious field of spring wheat south of town and set up all of my equipment on the side of the road. Quite a few people stopped by to chat and one woman asked to take my photo while I was painting. Turns out this is her favorite view and she has taken photos of the scene every month or so to catalog the seasonal changes. I was happy to oblige but darn it! I forgot to ask her if she would like a pastel painting of her favorite spot!

Pastel plein air landscape painting of an old farmstead

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This beautiful old farmstead sits right in the middle of a whole gaggle of subdivisions. It seems to be holding on to its proud farming tradition and had a certain spunky diginity to it. I hadn’t captured it in my watercolor farmscape series yet so I thought I’d give it a try in pastel. While I was painting, the one and only policeman in our township stopped by and sternly asked me what I was doing. I must have looked pretty darn suspicious there, sitting on the side of the road– with my pastels….