A few years ago I did a little plein air oil painting in a little grove of aspens above the Aspen Grove area of the alpine loop (near Sundance, Utah). It is a favored location of mine. I painted this location a long time ago way back in 1975. That painting was made for one of my favorite high school teachers, Al Davis. That old painting was a winter time view and it was a watercolor. Last time I talked to his daughter, Nancy, the painting was still hanging in her mothers home. I think of Al every time I drive past that spot. Another memory I have of that spot happened in 1977. my younger brother an I we on a winter camping Nordic ski tour. It was a full moon that night and we skied by the light of the full moon. We set up camp very near this little grove of trees and nearly froze to death. According to the weather it had been -40 degree Fahrenheit. That night. cars that were parked in the Sundance parking lot had frozen radiators. I learned a couple of things on that outing; I did not really like winter camping and checking on the weather forecast prior to any outdoor activity might be a good idea.

A friend at work was looking for a painting of Aspens or that Sundance area and I thought of that little stand of trees and started to work.  The results are included here I made a 16 x 20 version for my friend at work and I made a large scale work that has more of a golden tone.  I have exhibited the larger work a couple of times.  I am now offering some prints of the larger versionimpressionist paintings aspens paintings aspens art

I was happy about the results. Viva la palette knife!

I have been oil painting with a knife almost exclusively for the last several months or at least since June. I have fielded a couple of comments from online friends and collectors that are mostly positive. I think I am going to keep it up for a while longer and see where it takes me. I do enjoy the immediacy of the process. The painting happens fast and I can correct areas I am not happy with almost as fast as I originally painted them.  Knife painting feels clumsier than painting with a brush and for me that may be where the excitement is right now. Not having control makes each painting a bit more challenging and perhaps the challenge evidenced in the final painting is the magic  for me.

I use only a couple of knives; a small short trowel, a longer narrow trowel and a square ended blade. I do most of my painting with the long skinny trowel pictured in the middle below.

When I work on larger paintings I use a couple of larger trowels and a large spatula-like palette knife. When I use the knives to paint I often go directly to the color which I think is correct for the spot, particularly when I am painting “en plein air”.  At times when I feel that an overall tone might help create unity  I  block in the value pattern completely with a contrasting tone.

By laying down a thin layer of violet or blue I  may achieve a bit of atmosphere. By using a warmer tone underneath could imply the feeling of time of day or season or just make the painting more interesting.  A layer of color knifed on at the start of an alla prima* painting may make it more challenging for a beginner.
(* alla prima meaning that the entire process is completed while the paint is wet)

The Painting I put up today is a small study of Emerald Lake. Emerald Lake lies to the east of the Skyline drive road in central Utah, south of the Twelve Mile Flats campground. I may be mistaken, but I think the Twelve Mile Flats campground is the highest campground in the nation at around 10,300 feet.  I first saw Emerald Lake sometime during the 1960′s  while  riding to a  nearby snowbank to get snow so my grandmother could make  ice cream  for us on the fourth of July. I recall having a snowball fight while the adults shoveled a couple of bags of snow. The geology of the whole area consists of bright white limestone covered by rich dark soil which makes for some interesting contrast.

The title Emerald Lake #1 implies that there will be at least one more so check back in a few days and see what I make. Check out my painting give away link  at the top of my page.

Check out my works for sale page, if you are interested in this or any of the works on my site that are not listed there contact me.

I made it back from the mountains and Rhonda and I survived our third annual fall sprint triathlon (Camp Yuba Tri). I am back at school and jumped back into my oil painting studio by palette knifing this little green, blue and yellow gem. It is a view from the top of Ferron canyon. I  just completed the view shown below of a little bed of Asters that had escaped being eaten by the herd of sheep grazing in the area. There has been a sheep camp at the top of the canyon for several years complete with sheep herder and his friendly dogs and horses. Ferron canyon is one of many canyons that link into the Skyline Drive, a road that follows what I call the spine of Utah. The road on Skyline Drive runs along the top of a mountain range where the average altitude is around 9500 ft with the high point being 10700 feet which is just above Ferron canyon, the location of the featured painting . I have painted many paintings in the area and will continue to do so. Watch for more paintings being added to this post.

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While hiking with my family up near Buffalo Peak a few days ago a cloud shadow passed over as I was crossing one of the meadows along the trail and the contrast between to hazy pinkish summertime Mt. Timpanogos in the distance and the shadowed cool maple trees and meadow in my foreground caught my attention. I determined that I would give that contrasty feeling try. At the request of my internet guru Daniel I have included a short little tutorial on my working methods the subject is sketching landscape values with gray Prismacolor markers. I use them both in my sketch book and at times as an under-drawing for painting the advantage of using the markers is that they come in ten different values so if I draw my design with a light marker I can then fill in different values rapidly with the other markers in my little video I use a 30% 70% and 90% cool gray markers. I have painted over Prismacolor markers with oils and acrylics and I have never had any problems.

I continue to enjoy oil painting with my knife! This oil painting of Utah Lake from the Buffalo peak trail is an interesting example of the perspective of disappearance as Leonardo da Vinci described it. Everything gets lighter and more blue as it appears to recede into the distance. We now call it atmospheric or aerial perspective , however the effect is the same now as it was for Leonardo the process makes us believe for a short time or perhaps longer that we are seeing space as opposed to the reality of the flat canvas. Understanding how to make or suggest space is one of the keys to landscape painting whether it be “en plein air” or in the studio. Art students should know the rules of aerial perspective described above They should also consider overlapping, and the rules of placement and scale every time they draw or paint the landscape.
I saw many potential compositions along the trail to Buffalo Peak and it only takes me 30 minutes to drive up there. So check back soon and see what kind of space I can make of those vistas.

PS don’t forget the insect repellent when you go out drawing and painting during the summer. The itchy welts on my legs will remind me.

I am sitting in my living room looking at a 40 x 30 oil painting of Stewart Cascade. I painted it about two years ago. It was made when I was using only a palette knife to paint with (no brushes).   The design is from a plein air painting I did on location the summer of 2007. Rhonda and I love the little hike from Aspen grove over to Stewart Cascade. It is only  a couple of short miles, with the chance of seeing wildlife,wildflowers and the occasional Sundance celebrity. We have been hiking and cross country skiing in the area for many years. Both of us hiked this trail while we were high school students in Orem High schools Unified Studies course. I think it is one of our favorite spots. I have had this sweet palette  knife work on my wall for nearly a year now and I have an itch to put up something new , a painting from another one of my favorite spots . Maybe One of my recent Arches paintings, several of them would fit the frame or perhaps something new and very blue from Cozumel (since I am rhyming only time will tell). check Ebay to see what small studio or plein air paintings I have for sale there this week. If you are interested in giving this Stewart Cascade painting a home contact me via e-mail.

I found this nice little plein air study from my trip this(2009) summer to Colorado. I was there as part of a painting workshop taught by noted California plein air artist Ray Roberts. This little work is for sale at my ebay store. Another painting I put up for sale on ebay this week is a Study of Salem pond. I painted it in July of 2009. I hope someone will give these two little gems a home I enjoyed the beautiful outdoors as I made them now hopefully someone will give them a home. In my studio sometimes, I feel like the little old lady who lived a shoe who had so many children(painitngs) she(I) didn’t know what to do. Enjoy some of my painting demos while your here and contact me if you are interested in giving any of my work a home. I should be posting another time lapse studio painting soon, so check back soon.
I painted both of these little paintings using my Guerrilla painting”plein air” box it is a sweet little painting box!

I was cleaning and re-arranging my studio space and discovered several paintings that I had forgotten. A couple of years ago I took a winter trip to the San Rafel Swell area of central Utah. I painted one smaller painting down near the San Rafel river and then on my way back up the Buckhorn wash road I stoped and started this palette knife painting which I later completed at home. I really like the subdued colors of winter in the canyon.
The next find was a colorful 11 x 14 canvas was sitting in a corner behind some larger canvases It was painted in 2006. I drove up American Fork Canyon to Silver Lake reservoir and spent a wonderful morning painting this view of Timp “en plein air”. I was close to a hiking trail head area so I was able to visit with several curious hikers.
The next canvas I found was in my 11 x 14 drying box! This view of Provo peak was completed “en plein air” in late June or early July of 2009. It was near where Daniel And I were planting Elderberry bushes. I remember walking a little ways up the trail towards Buffalo peak and being chased back towards the road by a horde of biting flies of some sort. Anyway this painting is the view from just above the Squaw Peak road where it drops into upper rock canyon. I saw a beautiful cinnamon colored bear very near (600 yards) the spot where this painting was made. If you like these paintings they will be placed on Ebay sometime in mid December 2009.
As I continue to clean and re-arrange my studio I will add “found paintings” to this blog there are quite a few little stories to tell.

Last week my son Daniel and I spent some time up in the Wasatch mountains planting elderberry bushes to help the local wildlife habitat. The group we were working with planted about 300 plants. Notice the half dead looking sticks in the left side of the photo. I plan on heading back up there in the fall or next spring to see how many of the plants survived.
I was impressed by the view so much that the next day I went back for some painting. On my way up I was surprised to see a cinnamon colored bear in the road. There were campers in the area, so I hope the bear got away without encountering any more people. I was able to get one little (9×12) painting done it is the view from one of the spots where Dan and I planted the elderberries looking towards mount Timpanogos.

I just returned from a four day painting workshop in Colorado. The workshop was led by noted California plein air painter Ray Roberts. It was organized by Marty from Art in the Aspens. It was a great workshop. It was fun to rub elbows with a group of plein air artists from Colorado, Texas, California and Wyoming. Here are some of the artists watching Ray demonstrate as well as discuss painting water. I included this shot of my color study in progess.