Some Tree Work

Shepherd

20x24

oil on canvas

Field Three

20x24

oil on canvas

Spring Light

En Plein Air

8x10 inches

oil on linen

 

Notes From My Tree Journal

 

As you can see here, I have been doing a lot of tree work this year. I have been focused on Live Oaks for a couple of months now. Last year I did a lot of pines. I rotate through the trees I like a lot. I'd like to work on some Sycamore trees this year, as they are so pretty. I have also been painting some cabbage palms again after taking time away from them last year. I think I improve my painting skills by sort of taking breaks from a kind of tree for awhile and then rotating them back into my portfolio again. Trees are very difficult to paint well and there seems to be a lot of painters who treat them generically, as if they are all the same. Serious tree painters know that they have to be painted with thought and care and with knowledge, so study is all important to me. I want to master the art of tree painting someday, so I must continue to work hard.

 

 

The Woods

The Woods

40x48 inches

Oil on Deep Canvas

Linda Blondheim Web Site

 

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

 

 

I worked on this painting late at night for about 3 weeks. This fall has been so busy that this is the first large painting I have had time to do. I have painted every day but on small studies. it is good to get back to my regular schedule again after months of travel and then the shopping season.

 

 

This painting is of the Jackson's Gap area of Paynes prairie. It is a favorite part of the vast prairie here in North Central Florida. The giant Live Oaks rim the prairie edge and they are lovely specimens.  I spent quite a lot of time studying limbs during this process. I wanted to get some reference photos of forshortened limbs on these big trees. This painting was a true pleasure to complete.

 

Artist in Residence Project - November 9, 2014

Notes From My Residency Journal

Today started sunny and perfect for painting. The citrus groves at Fair Oaks are in fruit and by December it will be time for picking. The steward of the estate had beautiful sturdy fruit crates made, with Fair Oaks imprinted on the ends. He also has cute red baskets with handles for guests to take home full of fruit. The groves are special, beautiful and are wonderful subjects to paint. The tree below is one of my favorites.  I spent the morning in the grove enjoying the process of painting. I could hear the birds, and Shane barking and playing with his ball while I worked.  There  is no place I would rather be than wonderful Fair Oaks. 

After my painting was done,  I decided to clean up my golf cart. It had been well used last weekend during the retreat. I finished my chore and headed out with my walking stick to look at the citrus trees. I found one in the new grove that was quite interesting. It looked like a combination of lemons and limes, with stripes from stem to end. I forgot to ask about them and I am curious about what they might be.

Soon my host arrived with yummy lunch from Blue Highway Cafe in Micanopy. This restaurant has wonderful food. The salad is really good, with pecans, chunks of cheese and excellent blue cheese dressing. We also enjoyed excellent Paninis and huge brownies for dessert. It was really swell.

This was my day to teach at Oak Hammock, so I had to leave with fond memories of another day in paradise.

The Invitational Retreat at Fair Oaks

Mary Jane,Kate,Kathie and John look over the great art supplies donated for the artists by Gamblin, French Canvas, and Art Alternatives. 

Mary Jane Volkmann painted down by the pond.

My wonderful assistant, Carolyn.

Notes From the Retreat

A year's worth of planning and saving produced my most successful retreat this weekend. My budget included food and supplies and I just about finished within a few dollars of budget.

We enjoyed three days of companionship as well as good eats and impressive paintings. The weather was crisp and cool on Friday, windy Saturday and chilly on Sunday. All three days worked well with no rain. A beautiful experience for all of us. 

More stories to come.

Trees

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29739284

You will enjoy this story about champion trees in England, shared by my friend Mary Jane.

I've been working on Palms for this study rotation. I do ten painting of each subject in small format. It really improves my technique.

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A rotation of tree studies

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

I have been doing ten 8x10 studies of various subjects for the Daily Paintworks web site. I'm in the middle of a 10 day study of trees. I could paint trees for a hundred years and still be completely intrigued by them.  These studies keep me in study mode, which is the best place to be for a painter in my opinion. There are too many advanced painters who stop studying painting when they become established. I will always be a student of painting and these tree studies help me to advance my skill level. 

Live Oak 3 Study

8x10 inches

Acrylic on canvas panel

A simple Palette

Tree Paintings

 

Notes From My Tree Painting Journal

 

 

Lately, I've been fooling around with a more subtle, less saturated palette for painting. I used it for this painting, using a bit of gray in the greens and blues for scenes.  In the last year or two I have been painting trees in this field a lot. The trees are nicely spaced and shaped in interesting ways rather than the classic central trunks I often see. The clouds have been spectacular too in the last month or two.

 

 

In this painting, I used Ivory black and lemon yellow for the green in the largest tree, with more of a black bias in the green and the moss. There was a bit of cad orange in the moss gray as well. As the scene recedes, I began to use blue in the greens mixtures biasing the mix to further blue as the trees went back, until the back row has almost no yellow in it. it was my 5 color palette and easy to achieve harmony and balance in the color for the painting.