Soaking Friends

During a visit to McKinney Fall State Park I saw this group of people soaking in the water. I took a quick photo and this is the first painting. I liked the way the water distorted the shapes of their bodies.

Swim Hole

This painting was done on my second outing on a very hot day last week. We spent the morning in the botanical gardens and the afternoon at McKinney Falls State Park. I didn't include the swimmers and sunbathers. The surface I worked on was Masa covered with gesso. I will do a painting with the swimmers. That will be a fun series.

Trees And Bluebonnets

The study for the two larger previously posted bluebonnet paintings. I had a pretty productive day at the gallery. This is the study that I completed before the two larger pieces. I won an award a few years ago and one of the prizes was a small piece of La Carte paper. I finally got to use it. I may buy more.

McKinney Falls Bluebonnets 2

This is the largest version of this image. I coated some gator board with Golden's fine pumice gel and copper pigment as an underpainting. I then applied the pastel. This is another exploration of the photo of bluebonnets from a few years ago.

Watch Yourself

I had to include some people while I was painting over at McKinney Falls. They were everywhere enjoying this so called winter weather here in Austin. I liked the red rocks that the water flowed over in this area. I worked on it a little after coming home the version below was what I did onsite.

No Water

I worked on this a little after I got back home. The image below is what I did on site. I go back and forth on the issue of leaving them as is or cleaning them up later in studio.

Looking Up Upper Falls

This was the last painting onsite from my recent visit to McKinney Falls State Park. I got down a nice skeleton onsite and fleshed the rest out at home.

Forest Ballet

This weekend at McKinney Falls State Park I focused on the trees because there wasn't much water to paint at the Lower Falls area. This section was fun to paint as it reminded me of a complex dance routine.

Lower Falls Plein Air

The last painting attempted in the rain. We thought the rain would go away but it didn't. Fun stuff in watercolor.

McKinney FallsPlein Air 3

This was started in the field but completed in the studio. This was the upper falls area of the park. The water reflections were amazing and constantly changing. I think the trees are cypress.

McKinney Falls Plein Air 1

This is the first of the plein air sketches completed at McKinney Falls State Park in March of this year. I think it reflects the nervous energy one has in the initial minutes of starting a painting session outside.

3282012 McKinney Falls plein air 1

A nice drizzle was falling when I literally threw down some color notes and hid the painting to protect it from the rain. I had completed the value sketch with copic markers and pretty much laid down broad lines to define my message in about 10 minutes.

McKinney Falls Archway Study

Doing a little exploration for the next painting. I will eventually work on a larger pastel for this image.

McKinney Falls III

This is the last of the ones done at McKinney Falls State Park with Plein Air Austin. Have a Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, etc ....to all

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