I have been doing these studies to work on drawing & value accuracy.
They are shown in the order that I painted them, left to right, top to bottom.
Numbers 1, 5, 6, 8, and 10 are copies of Masterpaintings; the others are painted from photographs, either mine, or from http://www.Unsplash.com
Most of them are in oil paint; # 8 &9 are in gouache.
This has been very instructive and helpful. I like seeing the progress through them. I know that I’ve become more accurate in my drawing, as I can do a check using the Procreate app on my ipad; I overlay my drawing at a reduced opacity on the masterpainting or photo, and can see how they line up (or don’t!). I’m making fewer adjustments for the later paintings.
Fine gold acrylic ground, 9×12 insFine gold acrylic ground, 9×12Raw umber found on linen, 9×12Chromium oxide green ground, 9×12My set-up and the modelMostly palette knife, on hard board, 9×12Palette knife on board, 9×12Palette knife on green ground, 9×12Palette knife on green ground, 9×12The model, with my set-up, 9×12Trying a blue background, 9×12Part way through! Linen canvas, 6×8
Our Plein Air group from the Fall of 2024 decided to go indoors for Nov-April, and practice drawing or painting people from life. In the absence of a paid model (we’d still like one!), we have been taking turns to portray each other.
We sit for each other for 35 minutes each, thus my sketches above were done in 35 minutes. We usually achieve 3 models in our 2.5 hour time. It’s a great opportunity to experiment; I’ve tried different surfaces, different ground colors, different paint color combinations, and different application methods.
I moved from brush to palette knife, mainly because the knife is quicker and cleaner. It works OK for getting down the basic values and colors, but I prefer the brushes overall.
We started the first couple of weeks with an immobile, silent model, but it was so quiet that we all felt sleepy! We decided to have the model free to talk, and move slightly—it became much more interesting and enjoyable for all of us!
From April onwards we have been alternating indoor work like this and plein air work around the town. I appreciate having a group of artist who show up to paint and draw together.
I painted this for the Library Big Read 2025 Art Exhibit at the Vigo County Public Library, Indiana, which was based on the book ‘Sitting Pretty’ by Rebekah Taussig. I read the book, and found it enlightening and thought provoking.
From her viewpoint of life in a wheel chair, she thinks that mobile people view the disabled as either heroes to be admired or victims to be pitied. I wanted to illustrate what can be possible in a wheelchair, I hope not in a heroic sense but in the same sense as celebrating anybody else’s achievements.
I was delighted to receive an Award of Merit for one of my paintings from the Swope Art Museum Plein Air Event, at the awards ceremony yesterday evening.
The juror was Julio Suarez, professor of Art at Hillsdale College, MI. He gave an enjoyable and interesting plein air demo yesterday evening, accompanied by thunder, but we never felt rain.
Musallem Union, Rose-Hulman, 11 x 14 ins, oil on canvas board
This was painted in one session on the morning of 6/24/25. The main part of the building pictured here is the Dining Hall in the Union building.
I painted from the small beach on the side of the lake— a great way to spend a morning!
I love painting outside! When the Plein Air event is in my home town, it is so exciting! This is the third year it’s been held and the third year I’ve taken part. I had a great time!
It was intense in time and heat; I tried to get out early on 4 mornings to catch the morning light. I aimed at 7 am, but usually hit 8 am. By 11 am the temperature was in the mid 90s, so I came home and went out to paint again on 5 evenings, 7-9:30 pm.
I like to choose a theme to reduce the time I spend deciding where to paint. This year my theme was the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which accounts for 5 of the 6 paintings. The other one is a farewell to JoAnn Fabrics, before they take all the signs and wording down.
I had great interactions with the public (someone even wanting to buy one of the paintings!) and fun talking with the other artists. This for me is a very positive side effect of painting outside.
This painting was recently awarded People’s Choice Award at our RCAA member Show in Marshall, IL, at the Gaslight Art Colony. The Show is over, but this painting is still on display there until the end of December.
It’s the first time I’ve received a People’s Choice Award, and I’m delighted!
Wabash River, Fairbanks Park, looking north. 9 x 12 ins, oil on PVC board.
This is my finished painting, started the previous week. It was lovely to be out there, enjoying the scenery and sunshine, moving paint around on this super-smooth board with my palette knife.
A few people walking along the path stopped to investigate and chat a bit. I used to be fearful of this, but have grown to appreciate it. The comments are always very positive, and the people seem genuinely happy that someone bothers to paint. I felt that maybe people have a sense that there must be something okay with the world if artists can take the time to observe, concentrate on, and record the beauty around them.
After the William Turman Plein Air Event at the Swope Art Musem in Terre Haute in June 2024, I and a couple of other participants decided to go out painting more regularly.
Since the last half of August we have been going to local parks almost every week on a Friday morning. We found a good routine was to go to the same site two weeks in a row, sometimes to finish a painting, sometimes to explore a new idea that came up the previous week.
Here are two paintings from the first week, August 23, 2024:
Wabash River, Fairbanks Park, looking south. 9 x 12 ins, oil on hard board
Then I tried part of the same scene with a palette knife, on a smaller board:
Wabash River, Fairbanks Park, looking south. 8 x 8 ins, DaVinci board
And I started a painting of the river facing north, using oil crayons as an underlayer ‘drawing’:
Courthouse from the ISU campus, 9×12 ins, oil on linen canvas
On June 13-16, 2024 I took part in the second Plein Air Event in Terre Haute. This year we were allowed 10 blank canvases, up from 5 last year. I could not manage to paint 10! I ended up with 5 paintings.
I decided to have the Courthouse as my focal point this year, painting it from different directions at different times of day.
Thumbnails on the first morning, from the N EastFirst block inAnother viewDetail, oil on linen canvas boardFinished on the second morningHow I kept the sun off my palette
I decided to try this view again on Gessobord, so I went back later on the second day to block in the shapes, and then returned on the morning of the third day to finish it.
This view received an Award of Recognition!
I also painted to the west of the Courthouse, at Dewey Point at the Wabashiki wetland, over two evenings:
The view across the Wabashiki Wetlands to the Courthouse, and a poor photo of my painting of it. I had lots of fun interactions with people at this spot, I was in a hurry to go to the next spot to finish painting there, and forgot to photo any of the painting process!
My third location was in Fairbanks Bank, on the banks of the Wabash River, but this year I turned my attention to the Courthouse instead of the river. I painted two paintings from slightly different locations.
Unfortunately, I also forgot to take progress photos here, and this is not a clear photo. I like this composition, and I was happy with my use of greens, and the brushwork. The top 3 photos are from the 1st visit—a beautiful calm, quiet evening; I painted the ‘block-in’ (first layers of colors). I felt I was getting into my stride.The last photo here is a poor representation; I was hurrying out of the door to get them all delivered to the collection point.
When I returned to complete it the next evening, lots of people started arriving for a family concert (a local Wind Band) playing in the Amphitheater! I had not expected this, and it was a very different atmosphere! It turned out to be really fun. Lots of people stopped to look at what I was doing and make comments, or tell me their story; children were especially vocal and engaged. A girl told me she loved my painting and it ought to be in an art museum, and then she picked a clover and gave it to me as my award! Beautiful experiences!
marymayhewart 