Springtime on the River

This month I have been doing a lot of sketching with charcoal.  Using a live model in short poses I think that I come up with more believable figures in my paintings.  This painting was an old theme that I have painted before but I added the birches and like the result.  There is nice value change from back to foreground and a nice eye path. 
With all of my travels this month, I have not been posting to the blog.  Will get some of my recent pleine air work up.

Snow and Birches

We have not had rain in Northern California since November. Today, it looks like it is going to happen. The skiers will rejoice hoping for the mother of all storms in the Sierras.
I am posting a recent painting that I did of Birch trees. They are like soccer balls for the artist because of the white black contrast. Add a little snow and threatening sky and it makes a nice composition. We are waiting for a storm.

The Guest Cottage

Love painting birch/aspen trees and there were many of them in Canada. The guest cottage isn't really ready to topple over but this was a very quick painting. Sometimes when my painting gets ahead of my thinking, I come up with astonishing results. This is basically a cool green painting and the warm red note of color on the door of the house is perfect at the focal point.
I taught my senior class on watercolor how to paint birches and some are still marveling at it and putting them in all of their paintings.