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I returned to Kelley Point Park last week for some Plein Air painting but could not get near the vantage point I drew from before because the River is running so high. In fact, there was hardly any beach area at all.
8″ x 10″ oil on panel
The painting above was done mostly plein air at the park. Even though it’s almost July, we’ve had very few sunny days here and this was no exception. This park is a bit depressing anyway and the lack of sun had me feeling pretty low, as I painted this.
9″ x 20″ oil on mounted linen
The second and third paintings were done from studies I’ve been working from, some done on site a couple of years ago.
9″ x 15″ oil on mounted linen
I still feel like I’m struggling to decide on a direction style-wise, torn between pushing the work farther toward or away from my observations.
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Bill Sharp - paintings blog 
Hi bill..I love these paintings, especially the top one. Why don’t you do both and see where it gets you, which one satisfies you..I personally like the top one where you worked directly from observation…they’re true without stifling reality, it is creative and spontaneous. It would be great to see where your experimenting leads!
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Hi Ronell. I loved your posts about your time in Provence. Thanks for your comment here. I think I’m going to try not to make any conscious decisions on direction and just let the paintings paint themselves for a while. I am really drawn to the form of that object, I believe it’s called a dolphin. It keeps appearing in paintings whether I start out painting it or not.
I keep wondering if Laurel ever got to France. I should have just sent it to you directly. I wonder if you’d be interested in trading some work. I’d love to have one of your pieces.
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Hi Bill, sorry I don’t stop by much any more. As always I love your brushwork. I agree with the above. Don’t worry with the conscious decisions that much if it can be avoided. I find that when I can finally free my mind from all that is when I do my best most honest work.
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Hi Frank, It’s always nice to hear from you. Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I often look at your work for inspiration on brushwork.
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really enjoyed this series of plein air works, and went ahead and stumbled it for you. I especially like the dabs of color in the fore ground breaking up the pale blues. I rely heavily on drawing for my watercolors, and always admire artists who can carve away a scene with their brush instead. nice work and blog, Nick
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