Short stocks, go long...peppers!

Painting usually takes my mind off such things, but I awoke like Rip Van Winkle last week to a much diminished stock market...very stressful. Well, we might not have as much money, but we can still enjoy a bottle of wine, some bread, and Italian peppers. Could be worse!

Weir Farm Apple Tree - Plein Air Study

I got alot out of today's workshop with Connecticut artist Alain Picard -- I focused on finding big shapes, using a range of values, unifying colors, and working out a composition that helps the eye move through the painting and defines a foreground/middle and background. There is so much information in an outdoor scene, it helped to have someone talk about how to simplify and make sense of it.
I don't know if it was due to the workshop or if I was just having a better day-- but there is a big difference between today's effort and last week's attempt at Tilly Foster Farm.

Plein Air - Tilly Foster Farm - 9" x 12" Pastel

This was done at a paint out sponsored by the Putnam County Arts Council. The weather was overcast all morning, then started to rain. Plein air is not my strong suit, although I'd like to get better at it. The good news is that I am taking a plein air workshop tomorrow...hopefully I'll learn something useful for my next outing.

Ablaze - Fall Leaves - 10.5" x 15.5" Pastel

Today I went for color and lots of it, which felt great! Just for fun I did a watercolor underpainting, then put pastel over it in places. It was a fun technique.