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Category: Painting
plein air crocus flowers – 3-9-21
car loaded with art supplies…let’s go paint! 
these crocus flowers are such a welcome burst of life and color after a long winter. I’m going to use them as a model for a painting! 
I used my sketchbook to work out the composition, now it’s time to setup and paint! 
I was not a good scout, and showed up unprepared. I forgot to pack my tripod mount, so my paint box will just rest on the floor. Good thing I picked a subject so low to the ground! Time to get to work! 
artist, Betsy Adams is here from Ripley, Ohio painting in pastel 
Concord, Kentucky artist, Sue Ellen Gorman joined us-painting in acrylics 
underpainting for the crocus flower painting 
starting to add color to the painting! 
the finished painting! Spring Crocus flowers 8×10″ oil on hardboard – SOLD! View of Maysville from Aberdeen – Plein air 27 April 2021
I have been painting with an artist friend who is visiting Maysville and just getting started plein air painting.
Today, we picked the view of Maysville from Aberdeen. My ‘demo’ painting is on the easel. This was painted with the same limited palette as last time: burnt sienna, yellow ochre and ultramarine blue.
Here’s a close up of the ‘demo’ painting.
Maysville View from Aberdeen, OH 8×10″ oil on panel
a special painting commission – downtown Maysville
I usually say no to commission work, but every now and then the stars line up, and I agree to do one. This impressionist style oil painting was a gift from friends to a friend. A portrait of her house, to celebrate a milestone birthday. Im thrilled with how it turned out! And now that she received it, I can show it off to you all!
Plein Air Painting – downtown Maysville, Kentucky 31 October 2020
An old warehouse in Maysville, Ky was recently demolished, giving us a new view of downtown.
October 31st weather was sunny and cool, so I loaded my paints in my car, to try to capture the view.
It is a big, wide view, and I wanted to capture it all! I used 2 9×12 panels to create a diptych of the panoramic view.
The closer we get to the winter months, we don’t have nearly as much light in the sky, so I had to race against the setting sun to capture the view. I am inspired by the impressionist tradition of painting directly from life, without the aid of photography. It forces me to use loose brush strokes to capture the essence of the moment.
Another one of my favorite things about working from life, is being outdoors, and a visible part of my community. It can get lonely when I spend a lot of time alone in my studio. My friend, the photographer, Lorraine Marcella stopped by to chat while I worked, and I had her take this snapshot with my camera to document the painting.
This view is so new and interesting, I could paint at least 10 more paintings from this spot. Hopefully, they don’t start building soon.
The church steeple on the right was just a little too big, so when I got back to the studio, I fixed it!
Plein Air Painting – Live With Sue Ellen Gorman -Ripley, Ohio 14 October 2020
Hi everybody…I’ve been painting and hanging with my artist friend, sue ellen gorman, in ripley ohio. Thought I’d invite you all to look over my shoulder for a while I paint.
Plein Air painting – Riverside Drive Augusta, Ky 13 October 2020
Good morning from augusta, ky! This the little river village where it all started for me TWENTY YEARS AGO. And this building is where one of my first friends Jane had an art and antique gallery. Wow! How time flies. It’s good to be back!
plein air painting the licking river near blue licks state park – 10-9-2020
I thought I’d take a short drive south to a view of the licking river from a bridge.
I made a underpainting, studying the values of the scene
I was so concentrated on the painting, i forgot to take photos of any other steps. This was a challenge, because it was an overcast day, so the light was diffused.
the finished painting!!!
Plein Air Painting – Goldenrod and Ironweed
Going to try something different today…I’m WALKING to a location to paint. Since I’m carrying all the video and painting gear, it’s forced me to get down to basics. Will try to live stream, provided I didn’t forget my cellphone or brushes.
Going to try something different today…I’m WALKING to a location to paint. Since I’m carrying all the video and painting gear, it’s forced me to get down to basics. I really want to paint this goldenrod (kentucky’s state flower) and ironweed…but not sure how close I want to get to the ticks?!
the finished painting!
Plein Air Painting at the Stone House in May’s Lick, KY – 19 September 2020
The weather is cooling down, so I have the outdoor painting bug!
I decided to visit my friends, Mike Averdick and John Gerwe. Two friends that live nearby, who have been restoring an old stone house from the 1700’s.
Most of the trees still have their leaves, which makes it a little tricky to get certain views of architecture. Behind the house are some apple trees, and a clear view of the house, so I decided to paint there.
Here’s a 1 1/2 hour long LIVE video with a walk around the house, and the first hour of painting
here I am getting started on the underpainting 
a close up–working on the colors in the painting 
the painting…almost finished-with the stone house in the background 
…just needs a few finishing touches! Thanks Mike and John for the hospitality! I had a great time painting at the house! I want to come back later, when the leaves aren’t in front of the house 🙂
Plein Air Wednesday – 16 September 2020 – Aberdeen, Ohio
The weather is finally cooling down. That means it’s time to get the paints out and do some plein air painting!
Some artist friends and I (8 of us) decided to meet at the river park in Aberdeen, Ohio, to paint from life. Since we’ve had a sudden drop in temperature, the cool air hitting the warm river water caused a lot of fog.
photo of fog lifting–after an hour of painting! I’m used to using the directional light from the sun to make colors and shapes look good in a painting. Fog diffuses all that light, and mutes the colors of the landscape…making painting from life a bigger challenge for me.
Every now and then, I have been broadcasting LIVE videos on facebook, while i make art. With this scene being such a challenge, i thought i’d try to tackle it with an audience watching the struggle. If you are interested, you can see a replay of the video here:
During the live demo, I decided to challenge myself, and use a limited palette. A palette that does not include the color BLUE. My goal was to demonstrate that the color choices aren’t as important as values (dark and light). To my eye, a foggy morning scene has LOTS of blue in nature, so painting from life without using blue would be tricky…but if i am careful about my values, it should still look ‘right’
palette with titanium white, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, quinacridone magenta, quinacridone violet, viridian and grey – no blue Another challenge of painting ‘plein air’ (from life) is that the sun moves, and the scene is always changing. Towards the end of the painting, all the beautiful fog has disappeared!
In addition to the challenges of the limited palette, fog, and a changing landscape; it was the first time I had ever seen many of my artist friends in person since the pandemic started in March…so there was some long overdue socializing as well.
In spite of all that, i’m happy with the finished painting. I learned a lot about fog and color theory…and captured a memory of a really fun day!
We had so much fun, we are going to try to meet (weather permitting) again in 2 weeks (september 30, 2020). If you live close to the Maysville area and want to join us, send me a message for more details.