Backyard Garden

This was my first attempt this season to work outside. I should probably have set up my easel, but I sat in an Adirondack chair with a drawing board in my lap. It was a little awkward, and the set-up prevented me from easily stepping back from the work to assess things as I went along. The original piece was larger, but I cropped it down to this little 5x7".

Plein Air in May

I did this outside on Monday morning. Finally had some sunshine and warmer weather. This is done on UArt sanded paper.

Corn Field in September

This pastel was done the week before last a couple miles from home. The cornfields have turned brown, but there is still not too much color in the trees. I was bombarded by gnats and falling acorns as I worked.

Plein Air in the Park

This is last week in Meadow Breeze Park, Washington Twp, NJ from the baseball field parking lot. Going over to the location this morning to add a bit more detail and soften the colors. Put it in the mat to photograph and will compare it to the edited version.

Plein Air in July

These are both 5 x 7" pastels done on sanded paper. I did an underpainting with the pastels and an alcohol wash to establish values. The house was done in the morning and the road with the long shadows was in the very early evening. I needed to put a mat over them to take photos since the sanded paper was curling.

Plein Air on Mountain View Road

This is right up the road from where I live. It's a spectacular view. I perched on a milk crate with a drawing board in my lap and worked on this early last week in the late afternoon. My order of Mount Vision pastels had arrived and I was trying them out for the first time. They're creamy, but not quite as luxurious as Sennelier pastels.

Plein Air Landscape Block

This is a landscape that I did in pastels in Harmony, New Jersey last summer. It's a beautiful, peaceful spot. The name really fits the place. I decided to make a print of it the other day and mount it on this block of wood.

The block is available here.

Quick Sketch Landscape

I did this little pastel sketch a couple weeks ago, while some color still clung to the trees, up the road from where I live. The telephone poles seem rather primitive and they certainly do mar the countryside. Perhaps when I do the finished landscape I will not include them. That ability to edit things away is certainly fun.

Phillips' Mill Annual Art Show

I found out on Wednesday that the piece pictured below, "A View from Katie's Porch", won an award at the 81st annual Phillips' Mill Art Show in Bucks Count, PA. The opening reception will be on September 27. This landscape is the view from my friend Katie's 18th century stone house. It takes my breath away every time I go by.