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10″ x 8″ oil on canvas
This is the other painting I did on Sunday. This is from the same spot I painted the Dome painting.
This is painted from the N side of the Wilamette River looking back toward the downtown business district. The large building in the distance is Portland’s closest thing to a sky scraper at 30 floors. It’s the US Bank building, locally known as “Big Pink” for it’s copper colored reflective surface.
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6″ x 8″ oil on Raymar panel
I may be a little obsessed with this dome.
Sunday was a beautiful day and I found this great site with a panoramic view of Portland, from the “ugly ” side. This is an iteresting part of town. Although it’s filled with freeway overpasses and concrete plants and railroad yards, there has been a bit of gentrification and there are some good restaurants and music venues in the neighborhood.
I did a couple of plein air sketches, then had nice IPA and burger at the Widmer Brewpub down the block. A satisfying day.
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11″ x 11″ oil on canvas
All three of the pieces I had in the Town and Country show have sold, which is nice. The gallery asked me to bring a couple more pieces down and I delivered them today. Since I hadn’t really been thinking about selling, I hadn’t signed any of the work I took to the gallery and since I hadn’t decided on how to present the work, when I took it to the framer, some of the work is now difficult to sign permanently in the frame. The gallery owner asked me to sign them on the back.
I have never gotten comfortable signing work on the image. I think it can be especially distracting with these really small works. Next time, I’ll have to plan better.
I recently did some scenic backdrop painting for a local theater company and I really enjoyed painting large. I’ve painted large in the past and there are several problems it brings that I’m not eager to deal with. One is storage, and another is the cost of framing.
The painting above is a bit larger than I’ve been painting but not much. I can deal with this.
Note that the figure on the sidewalk is knee deep in concrete or, perhaps is walking on his knees.
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6″ x 8″ oil on panel
Sauvie Island is popular with bicyclists, fishermen, bird watchers, hunters and plein air painters. The easiest place to meet up is the Cracker Barrel convenience store, which is a short distance from the bridge that is the only way on and off the island. I did this little sketch of the fields across the street from the parking lot, last Saturday while waiting to meet the group I was painting with.
Portland plein air painter Celeste Bergin showed up to meet another group of painters, which she wrote about on her blog.
A couple of things are different in this painting from the others I did during this weekend. One, I didn’t use any alizarin crimson, two, I did this by myself while waiting for my painting companions to arrive. I find that I’m able to get into a sort of meditative state of mind while painting alone that seems more conducive to what I need to enjoy the process.
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8″ x 10″ oil on canvas
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I spent 2 cold damp days painting on Sauvie Island last weekend with Eric Jacobsen. I’ve been fussing with this since I got it home and I’m going to stop now. There are some fundamental problems with it, like the fact that I cut it in half with the stream. The point was just to get out and get some PA practice and I accomplished that.
This one was painted on day one from a covered wildlife viewing stand. It rained off and on all weekend.
Pocket Sketchbook Meditations
