Studio Oil

Decided on another landscape challenge for this very cold day. The studio is most comfortable. This is 9X12 Oil on Hardboard. In keeping with the times maybe I'll call it, "Bale Out." Dan

Studio Oil

I decided to have a go at the December Landscape Challenge from WetCanvas! this afternoon. There are three choices and I felt I'd been doing enough snow for a while so here's a scene from the Adirondacks. It's hot off the easel and there is glare from the sticky, wet oil. 9X12 on hardboard. Dan

Three Point Nine

Thank you BettyMay. As you might find, I put in a little time at the same spot this morning in different light - to say the least! This one took 50 minutes partly owing to the the fact that immediately after I'd drawn in some guidelines with a thinned brush I tipped the panel upside down onto the palette surface. So there I was, scraping off five different-colored blobs of fresh paint. One of the hazards of working in a cramped space with pochade box in your knees. Oh well, this is still more fun than working.

Field Oil Sketches

have a little plein air oil sketch to get on here in the WIP stage. This is done from the pickup cab, parked in the same place as Three Point Nine on 25 Dec. Conditions were entirely different: fog, haze, frost and COLD. But warmer than yesterday. By the time I took the photo through the windscreen, the fog had lifted somewhat so things were coming into focus. I'll put up the photo too and then continue work on the 5X7 Oil. Dan

Gmail - (no subject) - spitshine58@gmail.com

http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/11e73ac903ede00c

You don't have to be a plein air nut, but it helps! Ventured out for a while this morning before the temp had quite inched up to four degrees F. It began warming soon afterward though so I was comfortable in the passenger seat of my old Toyota pickup. This cold, snowy little scene is on the east edge of our town and I just like the way the contra jour light was finding its way through those bare trees. The sunlight was filtered but still quite strong. 8X10 Oil on hardboard. Dan

A Couple New Ones

I have a couple more to bring up. Not many faces nor figures done around here yet but these are fun. Both are images from summer attendance at an event featuring antique, horse-drawn machinery and related activities. The little guy and his new lamb friend were just trying to get acquainted off in a corner. I titled this one "Sheepish." In "Tongue Twisters" appear two participants at the same event attempting to repair a broken wagon tongue on a horse-drawn grain binder.
They were prepared, determined, and capable. The rig was ready to go and the team of horses ready to resume in a short time. Sheepish is 18X25 and Tongue Twisters is 16X20. Dan

A warm welcome to follower Maureen, our Australian friend. Wish we had a warm loaf of bread this very moment. Extreme cold here today with wind chill temps in the minus 45F category. Glad to have a goodly pile of firewood. Dan and Judith

We spent a beautiful fall afternoon plein air painting at Lake Faulkton, SD. Judith's results are posted on the left. The lighthouse on the right was painted by Judith from a photo reference on Wet Canvas landscape challenge. It won Best of Show and also a first place at The Faulkton Hat's Off to the Artist show. Both 8x10 oil.

Plein Air and Studio

In an ongoing attempt to add to our bank of images.

The snowy scene is a corner of our small town where pumps and tanks are kept to dispense heating fuel and vehicle fuel. As this is written we are adding to the mix in the middle of a typical blizzard. 8X10 Oil The river shown is within Fisher Grove State Park in Spink County, South Dakota. We painted plein air over a very pleasant fall afternoon knowing that we'd soon be limited to studio work. 9X12 Oil

Some art activity today. We took advantage of the balmy weather to get outdoors for some sketching time. When we left home shortly after noon it was already 9F above zero and had reached 14 degrees by the time we arrived back home. Dan's pencil drawing was done while sitting INSIDE the van, to be sure. Judith hasn't finished hers yet but will do so soon. Her farmsite painting is 9X12 oil on hardboard and was done from her field sketch after a recent outing just a few miles from home. We're trying to gain in the sketching department because the 'weatherguys' are again predicting lousy conditions and that will force us into the studio.

Painting Action

Time to build more into our blog with some explanation as we go along. Judith is pictured working en plein air at Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Arizona. The subject matter is unique: a sheepherder's dwelling which was dismantled and shipped to the US from Australia and then reassembled within this picturesque setting. The surrounding plantings are also native to Australia and brought from there. We had many "looky-loos" while set up with our easels including groups of schoolchildren on day trips. Dan is shown also painting en plein air at a three-day PA event near Timber Lake in N Central South Dakota. Our trusty Casita, 'SunnySideUp' provides good shelter from the elements. Our little ( 17 ft ) trailer also provided comfort as we traveled and painted in Arizona for five months! We are shown in front of Mount Rushmore National Monument in the Southwest corner of our state. It's about a 6-hour journey from our home.

Day Two and Counting

What a treat to see our first two visitors; Sister Jane and Niece Jennifer. Whatta laugh from Jenz: when she was just a cute little blonde thing I dubbed her 'Ol Homely Jenz' and she still remembers. I hope now that she's a lovely 'maturing' blonde thing she knows I was being a tease. Awright then, much more of this blizzard stuff and we're outta here for Arizona!

We begin our blog on this date: 16 Dec 2008

We are Daniel and Judith in South Dakota and this is our blog beginning. Most of our posts will likely pertain to either art or music; our two main interests. This introduction will be brief so as to ascertain that we have things in order. A more complete introduction and some bio information will soon follow. We invite anyone to follow and contribute. We'll include a couple paintings in order to test the image uploader. Judith's 11X14 oil painting is of a private home in Lincoln NE, done plein air while set up in a city park across the street. We had many schoolchildren stop to look and ask questions on their way home. Dan's is 12X24 Oil and shows an abandoned, rural schoolhouse located near our home. We will add content and images as time allows. Thanks for stopping in.