Here, quickly, are a few small paintings from last week in Tuscany. I was there doing some organizational stuff, and didn’t have a lot of time to paint. I was also enjoying a bit of a break after all my work for the South Carolinian show in May.
Portrait of a Young Girl. 35 x 25 cm, oil on panel.
Ben Painting at the Torricella. 25 x 35 cm, oil on panel.
Outdoor Self Portrait. 35 x 25 cm, oil on panel.
I painted only portraits and still-lifes. As I’ve wrtten before, the Chianti region of Italy is one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit, but the ‘big views’ aren’t great for plein air painting. The small olive trees make for poor compositional elements, the hills are too close together, and the ubiquitous vineyards consist of parallel lines, which landscape painters do best to avoid.
Morning Light, North Santee Delta. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.
Here is the second batch of my South Carolinian Lowcountry landscape paintings. These were all painted on a plantation in the North Santee River Delta about an hour north of Charleston.
Road in the Marsh. 43 x 35 in., oil on linen.
While the weather was good most of the time, the biting flies made working impossible anywhere except out on the dykes in the marshes. And there I had a lot of alligators watching while I painted. It was also pretty windy, so I was using a 4×4 as a windblock for some of the larger pieces (and as an alligator block too as I don’t trust large wild animals, even if the locals all said it was safe).
Rice Trunks. 31 x 39 inches., oil on linen.
Swallow Boxes. 12 x 8 in., oil on linen.
For the above painting I used a new rain-bonnet I made for my carbon fiber easel. When I have a second I wanted to do a blog post on plein air painting in pouring rain.
Rain bonnet for plein air painting in rain.
Gray Day, Minim Creek. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Minim Creek Sunset. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.
Twilight, Rochelle. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
These are all for my exhibition opening this Friday at Ann Long Fine Art in Charleston.
Here are the paintings from my second week of painting in South Carolina. These are also for my show with Ann Long Fine Art in Charleston on the 27th of May.
The paintings were done en plein air on a farm an hour south of Charleston on the Toogoodoo Creek, outside the town of Hollywood, SC. I didn’t leave the farm for a week as I find I can get much more work done if I’m not scouting over great distances. When I start driving and looking for views I find way too much to paint, and can never settle on something.
Creek Study. 14 x 11 in., oil on linen.
Mist, Ashe Farm. 8 x 12 in,. oil on linen.
Toogoodoo Dawn. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
The Lowcountry is flat and either marsh or live oak and pine forests. The get a ton of water here so the oaks get massive and are really beautiful subjects for paintings.
The Old Oak Alley. 31 x 39 in., oil on linen.
I worked on larger plein air pieces as I had a fair amount of time on location. The weather was also wonderfully stable for most of the trip.
The Cathedral. 35 x 43 in., oil on linen.
Study for The Cathedral. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Queen Street, Sunday Morning. 12 x 8 in., oil on linen.
Morning Light from the Battery. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
I’m currently in Charleston, South Carolina painting for my exhibition on the 27th at Ann Long Fine Art. Here are some of the paintings from the first week.
After the Rain, Broad Street. 12 x 8 in., oil on linen.
Charleston is one of the most beautiful cities in the US. The food is great and the people are all very friendly. It’s a great place to visit and to paint.
White Point Gardens. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Broad Street. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.
Many of the streets down where I’m working run close to east to west. Combined with the position of the sun this time of year, the north-facing shadows barely change length for the greater part of the day. Which means I have much longer to work on any north-facing subject.
Garden in Charleston. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Sidewalk, Meeting Street. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Longitude Lane. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.
The weather has been great, very Californian with the cool breeze and warm sun. It has been windy though so many of my paintings are on smaller linen-on-panel boards.
Afternoon Break. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Evening Light. 12 x 8 in., oil on linen.
Church Street Palms. 12 x 8 in., oil on linen.
I have some larger work still in progress and I’ll update when they’re finished. I’m off to the countryside this morning to paint more of the Lowcountry.
I was teaching a workshop with Oak Hollow Studios in Carthage, North Carolina this week. The class went well, and the weather cooperated, thankfully. Spring workshops can always be a bit risky.
Here are a few of the paintings I did during my free time:
Canoe, Backlit. 8 x 12 in., oil on linen.
Canoe Backlit #2. 11 x 14 in., oil on linen.
It was very, very green. March and April are months I often skip working outside as the bright greens of Spring can be a bit much. Small vignettes can work well though. And sometimes it’s just fun to really hit those acid greens.