Quick Draw in Ouray

It was an invigorating paint out in beautiful Ouray this morning with many artists scattered about throughout the historic downtown and side streets. Doing an hour and 30 minute painting is a workout for me. With heart pumping and brush shaking I proceed to map out the large blocks and then fill in the detail to hopefully bring the painting to a finished state within the allotted time before the final bell chimes. There are areas I wish I had a bit more time to work on, but it was a great experience and good training. I should set a timer in the studio!

Final Painting: "View of Velarde"

Finally, finally got this little painting finished. I completed a large painting in-between for an upcoming show, Artist Alpine Holiday in Ouray Colorado. It's a little too disconnected when I start a painting and have a gap of time before coming back to it. I find that I lose the continuity of the original reason I was attracted to the scene. So the ending was a bit of a struggle with a little too much fussing, but here it is, finished at last.

Part 2 of "View of Velarde" Painting

Took a bit to get back to the studio to work on this little painting! Here again is the first stage:

Here at last is the middle state of the oil sketch I talked about last post.  As you can see below, I've blocked in all the color notes and more details, while trying to keep a painterly looseness. I wanted some farm animals so sketched the 3 under the big tree. I'll work on their shapes & shadowing more. I'm still tenuous on the overall color and may adjust the temperature as I feel my way through the painting in the next session since it has more of an orange tint than I would like. I may even add a vehicle or two next to the house. Often, though, if elements like trucks or animals are not in my initial oil sketch, they don't ever find their way into the almost finished painting. See you soon with the finished painting!