Backyard Maple - Plein Air

Took my wife in to Dr. appointment (everything's okay) this morning, brought her home, tucked her in to catch up on some sleep and did a quick plein air in my backyard while she slept.  This was fast and dirty, but I kinda' like it!

6"x 8" canvas board

Plein Air Evening

Wow!  This evening was absolutely perfect for painting outdoors.  Grabbed my easel and collapseable bucket and headed outside. This is the same setup I'll be using at Thomas Kitts Plein Air workshop coming up Aug. 15.    This view is from my backyard toward one of our favorite neighbors, Dennis and Mary.  What caught my eye was the white fence framed by those two large trees and the old rusty burn barrel.

I started out with plenty of light, but by the time I got to the details the light was pretty low.  Can you guess how the painting looked when I came inside and put it under the lights....yep, a bit on the light side.  I tried using a few things I've learned from the Richard Schmid November DVD I've been watching.  The collapseable bucket worked great for hauling various items outside and then doubled nicely has my paper towel trash can.  Thanks Kevin MacPherson for that tip!

So here's tonights effort.

6"x8" canvas board

Evening's Plein Air Effort

Grabbed my easel as soon as I got home and headed outside this evening.  This is just one of the views from my backyard.  As the sun sets it strikes that tree just right and sets bark this bright golden color.  Certainly didn't do it justice, but so some improvement over my last plein air attempt so I thought I'd post it.  6"x8" canvas board.