Cowsides

Cowsides___6x8 oil on linen___$250
This is another one from my November workshop in Fredericksburg...Hey KF, let me know what you think!

Cowside

Cowside___8x10 oil on linen panel___for K.F....I THINK!
I began this one as a one-color value sketch...demonstrating how our brush is a "shape-maker" and not a "line-maker" as a pencil is...I intended to fill the canvas with various views of the cattle in the pasture, but somehow ended up creating a composition with the elements there....ah well....I got carried away...

Moonlift

Moonlift___8x6 oil study on linen panel___$190
Yesterday's painting is literally the "other side" of this one. I painted it facing west as the sun went down, and called it "Sunslide" for a special reason. Immediately after painting it, I turned to the east to paint the full moon rising. But because of the cloud cover, we never really saw the moon, but could see the "lift" of moonlight from behind the clouds. So that explains the title of this one....Both were "lessons" or demos painted during my last workshop in Texas. We had been hoping for some interesting skies and were mostly given CLEAR BLUE skies...until this one evening.

Sunslide

Sunslide___6x8 oil study on linen panel___$190
Here I resume works from my recent workshop in Fredericksburg...hello to the workshop gang! For the next few days I will post the rest of the finished studies. I title this one "Sunslide", because the sun did not set that day, it just "slid" out of sight"......Happy Holidays to all!!!

If I miss a few days of posting art, you can almost be sure something is not well...
I have lost a dear, dear Brother-in-Law....more of a brother to me, since he has been in our family from the time I was a little girl... Doyle Bridgefarmer married my sister, Mary in 1970, and was the father of SIX of my nieces and nephews....He was sick since summer, and cancer claimed him just before Thanksgiving....so, it has been a sweet month of much time spent at their house, and with all the family.
My family is rather fun-loving and very up-beat, so having this time to say long goodbyes has been good for many reasons, but now we have the long process of missing him...

Line of Light

Line of Light__6x8 oil on linen panel___$ 250 unless you were in the Fredericksburg workshop
K.R. remembers chatting with me while we waited for the sunset to BLAZE its spectrum during our last session of my Fredericksburg workshop. While telling her how the color "works" and what to look for, I did a color sketch. I had to make up the clouds to scatter the color, since we had only a few high, wispy clouds. The sky in the painting above was my "demo" for her, and illustrated my point...later on I added the coastal landscape...just for fun ...

Orange in the Dark

Orange in the Dark__6x8 oil on linen panel___$250 unless you were in the workshop :)
OK, I have a lot to say about this one! I painted it while we waited for the moon to rise in the workshop last week in Fredericksburg. K.R. was "shadowing me" and had lots of questions about the sunset colors and how fast they happen...I stalled and him-hawed while waiting for some good color, but it was just too bright looking into the sun...so I created a "South Carolina" landscape and made up a sky with the color I needed so I could tell her a thing or two....Well, in an INSTANT, 15 minutes or more after the sun was down, this BLAZE of color sizzled on the few clouds above us...There was NO LIGHT on my palette, and I only painted the VALUES, using what I THOUGHT were my bright mixes of orangey sunshine...I knew where the darks were on the palette, and used them quickly on the foreground when the color faded in the clouds. All the while I painted, I gave a disclaimer that there was no telling what colors I was using, and that it might not look so hot in the morning!...wouldn't you know it! This is the ONLY study I brought home that I will NOT change!...I guess I paint better in the dark...maybe I will try one with my eyes closed!

11-11-11 Moonset

11-11-11 Moonset ___6x8 oil on linen panel___$190 unframed
I miss my workshop buddies! Anyone who will get up before dawn and drag their paints out in the cold (it was 25 degrees one morning!) is a FRIEND of mine!!! And I have more than a dozen new ones after last week in Fredericksburg!...
Below is this painting above, in its plein air state! When painting fast (which I have to do when the light changes quickly), I often lay down only enough details that I can finish it later. All the info I needed in the field is there!...I was able to do a couple more such "starts" before the sun got too high...now I am home, finishing these! You will see such "finishes" in the days ahead! Let me know what you think! ESPECIALLY those of you who were with me when I started this one :)

11-11-11 Moonset_state 1__in Fredericksburg, Texas Workshop...My next workshop there is during June 2012. Email me for details! vvaughan8@yahoo.com

Chilly for Breakfast

Chilly for Breakfast__ oil on linen__sold to F.S.
We had a couple of paintouts at this location during my Fredericksburg workshop this week.
These cows look like they are all safe in the corral, but the gate was open the whole time and they were free to leave and roam up to our hilltop location....which they did! Cows are very curious and could not resist inspecting our easels and art gear!
Our hands froze on this chilly morning, but it was worth it to paint in such a great location!
(A BIG version of "Chilly for Breakfast" one will be on the easel right away)

End of the Day Lights

End of the Day Lights___11x14 oil on linen___$950 (unless you saw me paint this)
If you saw me paint this, then you are in my workshop this week in Fredericksburg, TX. This was my first demo...NOT a fast demo, because I talked a lot while demonstrating all the color you can get out of a BASIC limited palette of 3 ccolors plus white. It was painted from a photo of a place in Colorado's San Luis Valley (my FAVORITE place on earth to paint)...I will teach a workshop there in August next year...e-mail me if you'd like info!....
We are painting en plein-cold-air this week, and enjoying warm beverages afterwards. Wait till you hear the stories!...I have to wait till after we are through tomorrow to share...just in case my workshop is blogging tonight!

Art Student - JK

JK___18 x 12 sketch on paper___for JK
My student sketches usually have some lesson that is easier for me to SHOW than to tell...This was a quickie in class not too long ago. Since then, we have ventured into clay and then oils, but I want to take the students to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, soon. The weather is cooled off and the animals will be active and fun to sketch.
Various "life matters" have prevented me from posting lately, but hopefully things will settle down soon!