Pochade Painting Mt Tom

This was a quick plein air sketch done in late August with lots of juicy paint and a pallet knife on 9x12 Ray-Mar panel.

The view is across a portion of Paradise Pond in Easthampton, MA, looking toward Mt. Tom.

It is an attempt to use three specific transparent primaries, plus white. It is also an attempt to put more paint onto the canvas. If I can maintain the strength of color, and boldness and gesture,  while bringing in a bit more "considered" detail, I would be happy.

("The Real Color Wheel," by Don Jusko.)

August Skies

The skies of summer were breath taking this year.
Thunder storm clouds formed in the azure skies each  hot afternoon.

Summer Skies: Oil on Linen, 14x18

The barns in the painting are on Park Hill Road, in Easthampton, MA.

August, Wickland's Barns

Summer pastures..hazy mornings, cyan skies...red-tailed hawks:

Hint of red in the Swamp Maple in the back pasture.  The challenge was two-fold. To use a restricted the pallet of three new--to me--transparent primaries, plus white. (Holland's Indian Yellow- #PBR23, Quinacridone Magenta (# 545) and Thalo Blue (#T203).  Then, to create a sense of distance, across the field and up the hill, by applying the lessons of aerial perspective upon the value and tones of those three primaries.

Hilltown Summer: Blueberry Hills, Westhampton

The location of "Blueberry Hills," in Westhampton MA, was called "Fisher Hill" when we were children.  The owners  maintained a Wild Blueberry "plantation" on the site, which boasted 360 degree views of both the Pioneer Valley to the east and the Berkshire Hills to the west. The property has been subdivided into building lots.

Plein Air Hilltown Sky

Lofty Clouds over the Berkshires: 9x12 oil on Ray-Mar panel

Lofty Clouds over the Berkshires
Plein air study:
Oil on Ray-Mar panel
9x12
When I began painting there wasn't a cloud in the sky. A high meadow view framed by grapevines caught my attention, and I worked steadily for an hour.  Looking up from new grape tendrils, I was surprised by a brace of fluffy summer clouds racing over the Berkshire Hills. Tossing the first panel aside, I tried to quickly capture the essence of blue and white, and cloud shadows, floating over the distant hills.