Category Archives: plein air painting

Plein air painting, old buildings

Posted on July 10, 2016 | Comments Off

Hoosier Desk Building, Final. Watercolor / pen and ink, 11 x 14, Kit Miracle

Today I decided to paint this old factory building. It has undergone so many renovations and additions over the years. Very interesting from many aspects. I selected this broad scene (and it really could have been a panorama if I had brought larger paper with me). I may end up doing some close-ups of the interesting architecture over the coming months.

Today’s challenge was to work with some speed in order to beat the changing position of the sun and the shadows. This is why so many artists like to paint on cloudy days. I don’t so I just have to paint quickly or remember where I want to keep the sun and shadows even as they move.

Plein air painting, Hoosier Desk Building. Beginning

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Posted in pen and ink, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, kit miracle, painting, pen and ink, watercolor

Sometimes you’ve just got to paint

Posted on June 26, 2016 | Comments Off

When pigs fly. Watercolor / pen and ink, 12 x 16. Kit Miracle

We’ve all heard the admonishment that you need to create art every day. But…life gets in the way. Jobs, family, gardening, etc. Sometimes I find all my have-t0′s overwhelming my urge to create. This weekend I just had to paint.

Yesterday, before I could get overly involved in the rest of the home tasks, I trucked my painting gear out to the front yard and painted this flowerbed which has been calling me for weeks. It seems to be a symphony of purples, mauves, and yellows this time of year. The heat was oppressive. The humidity was drenching. But I had a great time.

For you gardeners out there, you’re looking at purple cone flower, bee balm, weigela, daylilies, lambs ear, and a giant yucca. The flying pig is a bit difficult to make out but he’s one of my favorite yard statues, as he bounces on his spring in a strong breeze. Symbol of not-quite-lost causes.

Giant Moth Mullen Watercolor/ pen and ink, 16 x 12 Kit Miracle

Then, this morning I decided to capture this weed, Giant Moth Mullen. It is already 5 feet tall and will probably top 6 or 7 feet. It has fuzzy leaves, similar to lambs ear and the most interesting curly-type leaves and stalk. It will eventually have a tall spike of yellow flowers which in turn, will produce seeds that the goldfinches love. Probably how it came to be growing near my cellar door. Majestic!

BTW, I was inspired by a blog challenge by James Gurney, who held a recent competition of people who paint weeds. This painting is not entered as it is past date, but I thought it was a perfect subject.

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Posted in art, country living, pen and ink, plein air painting, Uncategorized

Tagged art, country living, gardening, kit miracle, painting, pen and ink, plein air

Plein Air Painting In the Neighborhood

Posted on June 15, 2015 | 1 comment

Mentor Road, Birdseye, Indiana, oil on canvas, 18 x 24, Kit Miracle

Writers are often advised to paint what you know. I believe that this advice holds true for artists, too. You know your own neighborhood best, the most attractive features, the back roads, and the best seasons to view the scenery.

My neighborhood, as the title of my blog implies, is a rural one. This time of year the farmers are baling hay. Those big round bales often remind me of the wonderful haystacks of Monet, and their rotund forms litter the fields until they’re tidied away in neat rows.

A couple of days ago, I rode around the neighborhood looking for likely painting spots, especially with an eye to catching some hay bales still lying in the field. Other criteria for me are where can I park and will I need permission to go onto someone’s property. Most people are very gracious about allowing artists to venture on their land but it’s always best to ask if you can.

Today I returned to a likely spot. Actually, I had intended to climb into the field but found that I liked the view from the road better, especially with the roof of a house showing which added an interesting focal point. The painting went well and I came away with a pretty complete piece. Some challenges were the wind so I had to improvise a weight for my portable easel. Also, the flies were ferociously biting me. Glad to have brought bug spray which is always in my travel bag. And finally, I am positive that the manure spreader which passed my position three times, intentionally spilled a bit on the curve on which I was painting. Really!

Anyway, here is the final product and a few preliminaries. It was painted on a toned canvas, 18 x 24, and took about two hours. Feedback is always appreciated.

Hay bales, one potential view

Final view chosen. Loved the overhanging tree, the shadows and the contrasts.

First laying in on toned canvas

Final painting with scene behind. About two hours.

Improvised weight to hold my portable easel in the breeze.

Car studio. Easier than packing everything and a lot roomier.

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, Birdseye, country living, hay bales, indiana, kit miracle, Mentor Road, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air

Using red gel to determine values in your paintings

Posted on May 18, 2015 | Comments Off

Sometimes using a piece of red gel (acetate)- as in lighting gel – will help you see the values of your subject and painting better. This seems to work best with landscapes as the red gel counteracts the greens, just leaving the values.

I’m not quite sure where I came across this idea but I always carry a piece of red gel with me. You can acquire leftover pieces from most theaters in your area, even some universities. They use the gels to color the lights for the stage. Or you can buy it new on Amazon.com or at a theatrical supply store. If you use a viewfinder, there is even a really neat gismo which you can buy at www.pictureperfectviewfinder.com which has the red gel built in, along with some value markers and different size openings for standard painting sizes. Try it. You’ll like it.

Piece of red gel, about 4 x 6

Folded over Picture Perfect View Finder showing the red gel and composition grids.

The Picture Perfect View Finder

Back side of the viewfinder

Landscape without the gel

Landscape with red gel showing values

Using the red gel to look at computer photo

A landscape painting with the red gel

A landscape final version showing the values in the photo on the computer

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Posted in oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, determine values, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, red acetate, red gel

Plein air painting with acrylics

Posted on May 3, 2015 | Comments Off

First of all I will admit that I am not an expert in acrylic painting. Yes, I’ve painted watercolors for over 30 years and have tackled oil painting for about ten years. But I’m pretty new to acrylic painting.

I got into acrylics painting artwork last year when I had some commissions which needed to be completed quickly. Mainly I was looking for something durable but which dries more quickly than oils. And after my last foray at a multi-day plein air event last month where I seemed to get Titanium white all over everything, I thought acrylics might be a good idea to try.

I have a beautiful little pochade box which I purchased last year but have never used so this was to be my designated acrylic box. (For now.) I loaded it up yesterday morning and drove out to a place down the road that I’ve been eyeing for a future painting site. It was so peaceful and I arrived just before the sun arose. I will say that the hardest part was attaching the quick release to my tripod, but after several attempts, I finally got it. Not too thrilled as it wiggled a bit but otherwise it worked. Then I unfortunately sat on my only plastic water container and smashed it. Humph! Artist ingenuity jumped up and I cut the bottom off a bottle of water. Worked perfectly.

The next test was the new mini Stay Wet palette that I added too much water to the sponge. The paper palette wrinkled a bit but I could work with it. Lesson here: try new equipment at home before you hit the road.

Here’s a photo of the beautiful rolling fields that I was trying to capture. I find that I really only have two hours to make a go of a painting before I lose the light but this was enough.

And here’s a photo of the field painting at the time I packed up.

When I got back home, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the colors or composition of the painting so decided to work on it some more. You can see where I lowered the clouds to emphasize the dawn. Then I pushed back some hills and brought forth some of the sunny highlights. I’m not totally satisfied with the overall painting but I usually have to live with them for a while. It doesn’t seem to have the personality of the scene I was trying to capture but barring that, isn’t too bad. What do you think? Which one do you like best.

So, lessons learned from my first acrylic plein air painting adventure.

Test out new equipment first before you take it into the field.
Be adaptable.
Acrylics are nice in that they dry much quicker than oils but are more opaque than watercolors.
And….don’t sit on your water container!

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Posted in art, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged acrylic, art, kit miracle, painting, painting instruction, plein air

Making friends with green

Posted on June 28, 2014 | Comments Off

French Lick Creek, final, oil on canvas, 24x30, Kit Miracle

French Lick Creek, final, oil on canvas, 24×30, Kit Miracle

Green is one of the most difficult colors for most artists to handle. However, if you’re going to paint landscapes, you’d better make friends with green. I think the biggest mistake inexperienced artists make is not really looking at the color. Green comes in many varieties – yellowish, orangey, silver, blue, purple. Even just looking closely and slightly emphasizing what you see will help you immensely. To learn more about the painting above and to see a demo, check out the page French Lick Creek, making friends with green, demonstration.

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, French Lick, green, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, toned canvas

Simplify your backgrounds

Posted on June 25, 2014 | 2 comments

Often, when we venture into the great outdoors to paint, we are assaulted with visual overload. There’s just too much out there! I find that a good way to approach the problem of too much is to simplify my backgrounds. In this recent plein air painting of June lilies, I could have added a lot of trees and stuff in the background but decided to emphasize the flowers instead. I chose to do this by painting the background with a muted variety of purples and blues. As you can see, this really makes the flowers pop. By the way, the orange day lilies grow wild in great masses along the country roads this time of year.

June Day Lilies, oil on canvas, 12x16, Kit Miracle

June Day Lilies, oil on canvas, 12×16, Kit Miracle

The original area with a busy background.

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Posted in country living, garden, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, country living, garden, kit miracle, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air

Painting Main Street

Posted on June 3, 2014 | Comments Off

Main Street House #1, oil on canvas, 12x16, Kit Miracle

Main Street House #1, oil on canvas, 12×16, Kit Miracle

I went out painting this past Sunday morning in town. Sundays are usually pretty quiet if you’re painting an urban setting. There is a row of old houses on Main Street which have been renovated and provide some pretty interesting subject matter. The first house, with all the gingerbread and roses is almost too saccharine but I thought I’d give it a stab. I was actually planning to paint it from the other side (south) but since I arrived pretty early, I caught this morning light on the north side. There are some who would like to see every little detail but I believe that you should let the viewer’s eye fill in some of the details. If I tried to paint a photo-realist painting…what IS the point, eh? …then I think the painting would have lost a lot.

Main Street House #1 en plein air, Kit Miracle

Main Street House #2, oil on canvas, 12x16, Kit Miracle

Main Street House #2, oil on canvas, 12×16, Kit Miracle

A friend went with me this morning but she had other obligations and had to leave. I wasn’t ready to pack up so I turned around and then painted the neighboring house. I really like the light in both of them. I could probably find subject matter for several paintings in a few blocks of Main Street, especially if I come back at different times of day.

What does YOUR Main Street look like?

Main Street House #2, en plein air

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Posted in art, oil painting, painting instruction, plein air, plein air painting

Tagged art, kit miracle, oil painting, old house, painting instruction, plein air

Spring flowers

Posted on June 1, 2014 | 6 comments

June Roses by the Woodshed, 12x16, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

June Roses by the Woodshed, 12×16, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle

Spring flowers are almost a cliche. It’s difficult to paint them without getting too saccharine. But that is why we love them, isn’t it? Part of my spring busyness, as mentioned in an earlier post, is that I get carried away when I’m at the nursery. I always buy too much and then have to plant everything. This particular flowerbed is out by our woodshed and is probably the oldest one on the property. I think the rock wall was actually a base for a chicken coop, if I remember correctly what the former owner told us. The yucca and the weigila were already there but I’ve planted everything else. It’s always a fight between me and the wild critters who have eaten plenty of expensive perennials over the years. Since this flowerbed is furthest from the house, it generally gets the least attention so the plants have to be pretty hardy.

I painted this 12 x 16 oil yesterday morning. I love the strathing light. There was a nice breeze and low humidity so it was a pleasure to be at the easel again.

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Posted in art, country living, plein air painting

Tagged art, country living, kit miracle, oil painting

Spring Busyness

Posted on May 27, 2014 | 2 comments

Beginning around March, outdoor work really kicks up here in the country. This amounts to cleaning up debris left over from the winter, tidying flowerbeds, trimming dead branches, etc. Then preparing the garden patch and beds for planting. While it’s rewarding when it’s finished, at times I wish I lived in a condo near a big park. Well, not really but it is tiring.

This is also one of the most beautiful times outdoors here in southern Indiana. The trees start sporting a haze of pink and purple buds, understory trees like Dogwood and Redbud assault the eyes. Other times of the year, you wouldn’t even notice their scrawny selves. Spring also displays some of the most beautiful shades of greens from lime green to sea blue. By June, the woods and fields display a pretty even state of crayon green. Not my favorite color, I admit. Strange for a landscape painter.

This is also the time of year when I’m torn between my “have to” garden work and my vagabond painter self who just wants to toss the gear into the car and take off. I usually manage a bit of both.

Below are an assortment of a variety of spring paintings, some quite small at only 8 x 10, which is far smaller than my usual sizes. And, I’ll admit, while it’s always a joy to dive into the spirit of painting, the results are not always so great. Well, I tell myself, I always learn something. Even if it’s only something of what not to do next time. As usual, I always welcome your comments and feedback. Don’t be shy.

One of the most interesting colors is the limey-greenish-yellow of fields of wild mustard. I spotted this field one day with a dark grey storm rolling in which really set off the yellow. I did the first one from memory but it looks more like a Van Gogh spin-off. Later I went back and painted it from life. I think I like the second one better.

Abbett’s Field 12 x 16 oil on canvas – from memory

Abbett’s Field from life, 8 x 10, oil

This is a creek that I pass on my drive to work. Mostly attracted to the reflection in the water which is always a challenge. Again, from memory.

Creek near St. Anthony, 8 x 10, oil

And another drive-by painting of a farm with the distant blue hills, hazy sunrise and pond reflection.

Farm at sunrise on a hazy day, 12 x 16, oil

And this painting was started outdoors then brought inside. White oak trees have the most interesting spring green color with racemes of flower/pods. I didn’t quite capture it but it’s a good start. Since it’s near the house, I will try to paint it under other conditions and seasons.

White oak in spring with dogwoods, 18 x 24, oil

The final painting that I just completed is a goat farm that I pass each day. I love the evening shadows. They usually have about 30 goats but I thought that would be overkill.