Summer 2016 Landscape Paintings and Studies

Summer 2016 was a very productive one for me. I focused on honing my landscape paintings skills through plein air painting, drawing, and imagined landscapes. In addition I also bought several books which have helped inform my craft. To top that off two of my paintings were in Gallery North's Beauty of the Northwest 2016 Show in which my Lake 22 painting won the Gallery North's Member Choice award.

There is so much to write about I'll have to break it up into several posts.

Landscape Drawing from Nature

After my first trip to Lake 22 I decided to carry a small sketchbook with me during my outdoor painting trips. One is a tan toned paper sketchbook and the other is all media paper. I really like the toned paper sketchbook because it has an old master feel. I addition to graphite I use Sepia Pitt ink pens. I did do a couple of studies from nature at Discovery Park and elsewhere but the bulk of my drawings have been from my imagination.

Sketching at Lake 22, second trip on August 5th with my fiance Cheryl and my nephew Dylan. I only sketched a few evergreen tree tops during a lunch break. Had this been a solo hike I would have been sketching all kinds of stuff. I wanted to focus sharing the experience of the hike with Cheryl and Dylan. This was Cheryl's first real hike at moderate difficulty. Dylan has hiked with me before to Snow Lake.

Maple tree study at Discovery Park one evening. I probably spent 30 minutes on this one. I have been inspired by Asher B. Durand's advice to draw from nature. I have no idea when was the last time I did a tree study. Maybe 20 years ago.

The same evening I sketched the maple tree above, I made a study of the bluff at Discovery Park with Mt. Rainier in the distance. In fact I sketched both the tree and the bluff from the same spot. I just turned my chair around to face the maple tree. My vantage point was at the top of the sand dunes, looking south. The glaciers on Mt. Rainier were heightened with conte crayon.

I had planned to go back and do a small 6" x 8" oil study. I began this one at home using my pencil sketch, remembering the colors of the evening sky. The oranges on the bluff seen are part of the underpainting. I could finish this up from my imagination but I couldn't remember where houses were on the hillside. I'll save this for next summer, or maybe return this Fall.

One day I did a study of several small trees outside my bedroom window. I'm trying to slow myself down when making drawings such as this.

Imagined Landscape Studies

At the same time as I began focusing on outdoor drawings from nature I also began renewed focus on landscape drawing from my imagination, especially tree studies. Earlier this summer I avoided using invention in my landscapes because I felt that I did not have enough knowledge to successfully do so. I did paint a handful of landscapes from May 2015 up through May of this year but I felt they were lacking. Hence my goals to draw and paint from nature. I am aware of many old masters making invented landscapes throughout art history. However their practice was informed by studies from nature outdoors, especially in drawings. Through understanding nature the old masters were able to use their knowledge in the studio.

I have been following the blogs of Erik Koeppel and Lauren Sansaricq, two contemporary landscape painters who have mastered the Hudson River School style of painting. I truly admire their work and practice as master artists. In addition the the landscape painters of the 19th Century Erik and Lauren have inspired my own work and my goal is to attend one of their workshops within the next two years.

About late July I began drawing landscapes from my imagination. I was inspired by Erik Koeppel's blog post on "Imagined Landscapes". I started by doing some tree studies, trying to figure out the masses of the foliage. Since I already had a month of outdoor studies under my belt I figured it was a good time to use the knowledge I had gained.

This may become a larger painting, based on 22 Creek at Lake 22 and Denny Creek near Snoqualmie Pass.

Recent hikes also inspired my work and I was able to draw landscapes based upon being in nature. Most of all I was inspired by the vistas I had seen while hiking switchbacks to Lake 22 last June and Snow Lake in Summer 2015. This led to a small oil study and a larger painting.

Imagined landscape inspired by the hike to Snow Lake.

Imagined tree study on a switchback.

Work in progress, small 12" x 9" oil study on ACM Panel.

Finished study of an imaginary landscape inspired by Snoqualmie pass hikes, 12" x 9", Oil on ACM panel. This landscape is purely invention. The ridge line near Snow Lake wasn't as open or showed a distant vista. It is inspired by multiple views I have seen. I may turn this one into a larger painting this fall.

About the same time as the painting above I started a composition for a larger painting. This time the hike to Lake 22 inspired this drawing.

Work in progress. The actual ridge near Lake 22 ran parallel to the switchbacks. Like the painting above, I wanted to open up the landscape so my vista had depth.

Imagined landscape based on the Lake 22 hike, Oil on ACM panel, 16" x 20"

Painting the people was somewhat awkward because they are so small, yet large enough to show some articulation. I used a rigger brush to do this.

The combination of focusing on drawings from nature and my imagination has helped me develop my landscape paintings and I have grown more confident in this genre. In my next post I will share studies I had made at Discovery Park over the summer.