Someone let me borrow a photo they took of a beautiful lookout spot here in Juneau, AK. I can just imagine how awesome it would be to sit here in the evening and watch the whales and seals and other wildlife out on the water. Beautiful spot! It was a pleasure to paint.
This is an 8×10 oil painting done from a photo I took down in Cohassette, MA while visiting my parents. On this particular day it was misty and overcast. I wanted to try painting this because of those weather conditions. It is very different to paint bright sunny day as opposed to a gray overcast day. It takes practice to see things in different light. I think that this is why I like to paint. I like the challenge of portraying the certain feeling a scene takes on in different lighting conditions. I really spend a lot of time observing the changes in light and shadow as well as colors under different conditions. It is really amazing to me.
This 10×8 oil painting was done of a photo taken while hiking here in Juneau. I really wanted to paint this as a challenge to myself. I loved the dappled sunshine on the shallow water leading into the picture. I think it turned out ok. I really tried not to overwork it. I may go back in and lighten up a few spots in the background, but over all I’m please with the results.
This is a little cabin in Juneau, Alaska. I’m not sure if it has an official name but we call it Brotherhood cabin. It is located right on the side of the road but its backdrop is Mendenhall Glacier. It is not directly at the base of the glacier but almost appears to be. Therefore it is always an interesting view. Sometimes the Glacier is beaming in the sunshine and the cabin is shaded. Or sometimes the Glacier will be cloaked in fog and there will be a beam of sun shining on the little cabin. In this shot, I liked how cool the grasses and Glacier were yet there was a nice swath of warm grasses and shrubs. If you are not familiar with the area, you could not tell that the Glacier is in the background. I was not able to make it fit in a picture of this size, but I’d like to do it in a larger size and put it in.
This is a little painting of one of my favorite views. It is looking toward Mendenhall Glacier where my husband and I walk all the time. On this particular morning, the silhouetted trees stood out to me. And I just love the cool colors of the green and blue background. I also like that there is a little bit of balance to all the cool colors with the warm reflection tones (of almost orange) coming in from the lower left corner of the picture towards the center.
This is Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. It is only 4 miles from my home, and a favorite destination for walks. I particularly enjoy how many blues there are here. Blue is my favorite color, and they are so beautifully displayed in the mountains here! I tried to add some warmth to the sandy areas to balance the cool. It might even need a bit more warmth.
I have been wanting to do this for a while. I liked it because I tried something new and used a gray-blue toned canvas, to help with the gray mood of this day. Juneau is very rainy, so this mood is very typical. Something about that, as well as the conglomeration of buildings and objects made me want to paint this scene. I am definitely drawn more to a strong, sunny scene, but I would like to be able to capture different types of weather and light conditions.
I really enjoy small town scenes like this. I have never felt adept at painting them but this shot made me want to give it a try. The view of Mendenhall Glacier on our road is spectacular. On this particular day, my husband was driving and it allowed me to get a good shot. I think it is always appealing for local people to see a familiar scene. I like how this one worked out.
This will be my final example for now of how useful a more detailed Underpainting can be. This is another wooded scene where my trees could easily have all gotten lost or run together as I went along. By having my Underpainting sort of map out my values, it was much easier to keep track of where my trees were separated. This also was helpful for me to see whrere it was important to perhaps place a darker tree next to a lighter one in order to distinguish it or make it more focal. It really is nice to be able to play around with your composition and value at this point before you have invested too much time. For me, it is invaluable when the painting has much detail.
This is an example of a two tone Underpainting where it was extremely necessary. I felt like there would be no way for me to keep track of my distant trees without a basic guide layer down first. This gave me a clear idea of my values before I started and also acted like a map for me to keep from having my trees get lost in the forest (so to speak). You can see that an Underpainting can be quite vague or extremely detailed. It is very interesting to play around with.
Art with my Coffee 