Friday, September 28, 2007

Daily Painting Practice - Plein air Day 18 - Neighbors

My wife/still life flower provider, planted these white marigolds as an experiment this year. I used them in yesterday's painting. She does a great job providing me with an endless supply of material for still life flower arrangements. Our goal is to eliminate as much grass as possible in our lawn and replace it all with flower beds. The purple Russian Sage on the left is a favorite of my wife and of the honey bees.

click on the image to enlarge the picture

Neighbors
9'x12"
oil on canvas board


I stood directly in front of my house and looked up the street to paint this. It is not a pureblood plein air. More of a hybrid. I needed to sharpen the lines of the houses and the pole. I did this in the studio. (I can't do straight lines outside yet) I also added more color to the Russian sage and the grass in the studio. I tried very hard not to blend the paint on the canvas as much as I usually do. I think this helped give it a cleaner look.

This scene is proof, I think, that you don't need to travel far to find the beauty of the common places we all see everyday.

2 comments:

René PleinAir said...

What a peaceful neighborhood you life in Peter. I dear not to think of it to paint just outside my home, ....

You getting a long just sooo fast.

Sarah said...

You are quite right, we all need to open our eyes to see fantastic things everywhere, lovely composition Peter.