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I often get asked how do I start my studio pastel paintings, well that's a great question. I do have several methods I rely on depending on my subject and what I want to end results to show. The painting I choose for this article was from a 9x12 plein air study I did while in  June Lakes Ca. My paper of choice was white Lux Archival, it takes all wet mediums and has a wonderful tooth that holds up to some of my heavy handed strokes. I chose to do a watercolor underpainting because of all the rich yellows [...]

I love the ocean she shares her rhythm, storms and light. All subjects that make for great paintings. Painting waves can be challenging at first but once you educate yourself on the anatomy of a wave you will begin to understand its form. Here are two reference books that really helped me both by E. John Robinson you can find them on Amazon: The Seascape Painter's Problem Book and Marine Painting in Oil. John explains in detail the different types of waves; transparency, breaking, stormy and rolling. I thought it would be interesting for you to see details of some of my [...]

    Painting with pastels is something I love and have experimented with for more than fifteen years and it's well worth my journey. Today's blog is about pastel underpaintings. I personally love all underpainting techniques and teach in my workshops the pros of starting a painting with this technique. I was first introduced to this concept by artist Albert Handel in one of his videos and then by Richard McKinney when I attended his plein air workshop, I have never looked backed.   OK so let's dive right into the process of underpaintings. The process uses any water based medium such as watercolors, acrylics or [...]

light and shadows [...]

"The Gathering" 11x14 Oil One of my greatest joys about being a plien air painter is that I get to hike and explore the wilderness. One of my favorite areas is the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Ca.  While exploring and taking pictures I came across this outcropping of granite rocks.  I loved that little tree surrounded by large boulders in warm sunlight. I was so jazzed and wanted to start a painting right then and there but unfortunately I had to head back home. However there was time for a quick Notan study. I just wanted to capture [...]