Plein air pastel landscape painting of a bright Florida bridge reflected in a pond

Pastel painting 8 inches x 12.5 inches     $300

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This is another pastel landscape, that I painted on a piece of white art spectrum paper that had been underpainted with a rose- colored wash. Warm red is a great hue for outdoor painting because it is a natural compliment to the many shades of green that are found in most landscapes. Placing two compliments (opposites on the color wheel) close together creates a dynamic, vibrating feel in a painting. And although I know this theory from years of study, I sometimes forget it in the passion of getting all the gorgeous colors on the paper. If I underpaint before I start, I don’t have to be focused on adding reds to my greens…they appear on their own!

As a pastel artist, I try to keep the idea of contrasting compliments constantly in mind. For instance, if I want to paint a water scene, which is predominantly blue, I will often use an orange paper. Or if I am working on a pastel portrait with lots of golden tones, I might use a muted purple sheet.

Little tricks of the trade…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of palm trees and their shadows along a resort walk in Florida.

Pastel painting 8 inches x 12 inches     $300

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As a plein air pastel artist, I am always looking for 3 crucial elements when searching out a scene to paint: A dynamic composition, a strong sense of light and shadow, and of course, beautiful color. Sometimes I may find a majestic, monumental view that contains all of those elements. Other times it may be a simple, every day scene such as this shadowed walkway that caught my eye down in Naples. For this pastel landscape, I painted on white art spectrum paper that I had underpainted in various rust and rose tones. You can see the color peeking through all over the painting. I like to do this technique to unify and add some sizzle to the color.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of the the sun rising over the Everglades in Florida

Pastel painting 12 inches x 8 inches     $300

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The Everglades in southern Florida are pastel painting heaven. When we stayed in Naples, I spent one whole day driving back and forth on the Tamiami trail. Whenever I saw something that caught my eye, I would park my traveling studio (the family SUV) at the side of the road and set up shop out of the the back. The wandering rivers catch the light and make wonderful scenes for a pastel landscape.

Plein air gouache landscape painting of an approaching storm over the ocean in Florida.

Gouache painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

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Although we had wonderful weather on our trip, one day a huge storm moved in toward our island. I sat on our deck and tried to get the feel of the turmoil in a gouache seascape. It was dramatic for a while, but luckily the storm only created a short, refreshing rainfall. Since gouache is opaque, I was able to overpaint the waves in white to highlight the gazebo on the shore.

Plein air watercolor painting of a palm tree in a nature preserve in Florida.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

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I visited a nature preserve near Naples, Florida in hopes of doing a large watercolor landscape of the area. I quickly became totally overwhelmed by the immenseness of the acreage and settled on doing a watercolor painting of a single distressed palm. I wanted to capture some of the fading brown leaves next to the vibrant new growth.

Plein air watercolor landscape of a southern Florida canal.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100

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While we were in Florida last December, we drove by this picturesque canal right off a busy highway. The next day, when John was golfing, I returned to capture it in a  watercolor painting. The palm trees made a perfect frame for the bridge and slow flowing water.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a water fountain on Marco Island, Florida

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches 100

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We are going to be taking a southern vacation soon so I thought I would post some of the watercolor paintings I did on my last trip to Florida. We stayed in a beautiful condo on Marco Island and the weather was wonderful. You would think that I would be in painting heaven. But I find it very difficult to warm up to the colors and atmosphere of tropical locales. I must be too entrenched in the Michigan’s moody woods and rolling hills to fully appreciate doing watercolor landscapes in Florida. It always takes me a good few days to readjust my pallet.

This painting was done from my favorite position. In a lounge chair at the pool with a glass of wine!

Pastel painting of palm trees reflecting in a pond on Sanibel Island, Florida

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10.5 inches $200

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Another “travel” pastel landscape painting from one of our visits down to Florida. Sanibel Island is one of our favorite places down south. This is the view from our back window, right after a fish surfaced in the pond.

We had a wonderful southern vacation and a fantastic holiday. Now it is time to get serious in the studio. I have a whole pile of sketches ready to be made into full-blown pastel paintings and I can’t wait to get at them!

Plein air watercolor painting of a hotel viewed from a Florida beach

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100

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We just signed up for a week in Florida again this December and it reminded me of a few plein air sketches I did last winter down there. I painted this watercolor painting sitting on a comfy chaise lounge on the beach. Ahhhhh!

Plein air watercolor painting of a palm tree at Sanibel Island, Florida

Watercolor painting 4.75 inches x 7.75 inches $80

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Another Florida palm tree. There are so many palms down south, they all feel the same after a while. But if you look really closely, they have their own distinct profiles and personalities. This one looks like an old grandpa to me, a little worse for the wear but still very strong and vibrant. Painting quick, plein air watercolor landscapes gives me a chance to explore a more abstract composition and play with strong, bold color.

I’m doing the plein air paint-out up north today. Doing a “no rain” dance!

My friend Cecily Donnelly currently has an exhibition at the University of Michigan Hospital, main lobby. Check out the art review at:

http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/local-visual-arts-8909-umhs-gifts-of-art-cecily-donnelly/

Plein air watercolor landscape of palm trees at Sanibel Island, Floriday

Watercolor painting 4.75 inches x 7.75 inches $80

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

We love to spend time down on Sanibel Island during the frigid winter months. The landscape is SOOOO different there that it often takes me a while to adjust. The different colors, textures and vistas of this pretty island recharge my senses and I tend to paint with a bit of wild abandon. This psychodelic watercolor landscape was painted right outside our condo early in the morning.

This weekend I will be participating in a wonderful plein air event in Harbor Springs, Michigan:

” Wet Paint / Fresh Ink ” Show        Saturday • August 8th 2009 • 2nd Annual

Tvedten Fine Art (my new gallery “up north”) holds this invitational event every year in August. They are planning a follow up coffee table book to be published after 5- 7 years. It will depict the best paintings and writings of all of the past shows. 20% of the art sales and proceeds of the book will go toward supporting the local conservancies that work so hard to protect the beauty of Northern Michigan.

There will be an Opening reception August 8, 2009 – 6:30 – 8:30p.m. at Tvedten FIne Arts in Harbor Springs. Please stop by if you are in the vicinity!

Watercolor painting of a dock on the ocean in Florida

Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6 inches
$100

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This is a close up view of the Florida dock landscape in my previous post. While I was painting this watercolor sketch, the owners son came up to view my progress. We talked for a while and it turns out his girlfriend was from northern Michigan and knew of the gallery that represents me up there. I met a lot of people this trip who were connected to Michigan or my art in some way. Six degrees of separation and a small, small world!