Saturday, June 16, 2012

Monique

12x16
     I thought I would post a few of my 3 hour figurative studies.

Friday, June 8, 2012

TAMARISK TREE


    You can look up this tree's history if you want, another spelling is Tamarix. I think it goes back to biblical times, a very fast grower (considered an epidemic in some places).  It's one of the bushes down in the riverbed and this one is about 175 yards from the spot I hit my golf balls from. Right now the county is thinking since we've had some wildfires lately, that when the monsoon hit in a few months, there will be more flooding than usual because of the added run off. They now have big tank looking backhoes digging all these Tamarisk up...for what reason I don't know. Someone said they are going to re-route the river. I've seen the floods hit here and they just sweep these trees right up and carry them away; along with a few small culvert bridges and a few RV trailers that are parked too close to the river. It will be interesting to see what happens when the flood hit.

Friday, June 1, 2012

SAGUARO PURPLE MTN

     This is the view across the road from my studio. It seems I'm painting a lot here at home. It's because it's handy and it's going to get too hot, soon. It was in the 90s by the time I was done today.
     I've also been excited about finding out that my Standard (12x16) Palette will fit into a medium size back pack (Kelty Redwing 50)! All I could find before were those huge Mt. Everest expedition types. This one is great, it only weighs less than 20 lbs. with all my essential painting equipment and has plenty of compartments for extra stuff (like the kitchen sink). It comes in s/m or m/l and has a waist adjustment strap to balance it on my hips.
     Here's a photo of it with my palette and wet panel box still inside.
     Here I am in the shade with one of m dogs, Jack. I'm using my 12x16 palette to paint that little 6x6 and I'm using the left wing to mix my sky colors. I love extra paint mixing room, that's one of the reason's I invented my Coulter Plein Air System.  (artboxandpanel.com)