oil painting

There is nothing like spending the day on and in an active volcano. Kate and I were at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is a phenomenal experience. We hiked the Kiauea Iki trail, which first skirts around the rim and then through the floor of a crater full of steam vents. We ate lunch at the Volcano House which features a buffet and a view of the main Kilauea caldera.

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Kate and I are currently in Hana, Hawaii which is on the island of Maui. Yesterday was a long day as we flew from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, then to Maui. Then we rented a car and did the 3 hour drive to Hana. It is a famous drive, as it is only 44 miles, yet takes a few hours even if you don't stop. It winds around like a sidewinder and parts of it narrow down to one lane. Needless to say, we were pretty tired when we finally go to our hotel. So this morning, we took it easy and as Kate laid out on the beach I did this painting.

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One of the many fine things about the Chattahooche River is that you get to call it "The Hooch". You also can enjoy it within the Perimeter of Atlanta (I-285). Today was a great day to be out there. Kate and our bluetick Illy joined me for a fun day hanging on a little beach area in the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. There were several families and dozens of dogs for Illy to meet and charm with her easy going hound dog personality. I was able to catch her in a typical pose of hers while wading around.

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I went out painting this weekend and did a couple of exercises recommened by Marc Hason (see previous two posts). I have also posted these items over on The Black & White Painting Challenge blog, which was setup by Jan Norsetter, who also took Marc's workshop. Jan invited all the students from the workshop to add content to this blog, and it started as a challenge to do 7 of these exercises in a week. While few took on the challenge, some of the folks have continued to complete several of these exercises.

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I had heard about "Minnesota Nice" before. Wikipedia defines this as "Minnesota nice is the stereotypical behavior of long-time Minnesota residents to provide hospitality and courtesy to others." Well, it was much more than that for me on this trip. I finished Marc Hanson's 3-day workshop Sunday and it was fantabulous. I highly recommend studying with him. He did three demos (you can see them at his blog).

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I was able to go out to the park and do a quick 5x7 oil sketch of a tree. I took my hound dog Illy with me, who did a nice job entertaining those that came by. It was a great exercise to focus on a tree study. Painting on the smaller canvas is quite challenging. To see some awesome paintings this size, check out Marc Hanson's blog http://marchanson.blogspot.com. He just completed a painting marathon that is very impressive. I'm going to take a workshop of his later this month, and I'm excited to get to learn from him.

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For the second time this year, I found myself painting in a swamp (see post Eauxil Painting for the first). These are the only two times I have ever painted in a swamp. In any situation, oil painting demands that you simplify the subject matter. When you look at what you have to simplify when painting in the swamp, it almost feels like you have a gun to your head. Which, in some swamps, might actually happen if you venture too far off the beaten path. I also did a quick watercolor sketch from the campsite.

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Okay, ready for another challenge to plein air painting? The weather forecast. No, not the actual weather itself, but rather the predictions of what it will be. Granted, forecasting the weather in Georgia appears to be more difficult that in Texas. I went back to Madison today. This is despite a forecast of rain and thunderstorms all week. Luckily, I've learned to go anyway. And it rained just a minuscule amount at the end. A better effort than two weeks ago. I learned a lot about the colors and structure of the property.

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Mother Nature really doesn't think much about painters. It is as if her astounding beauty is worth all the crap she can throw at you as you try to enjoy it. As I've written in several posts, she likes to present all kind of obstacles to you when you paint. As if painting wasn't challenging enough. Well, I got the best of her this week. I'm getting married in June at really cool antebellum mansion turned B&B called Madison Oaks in Madison, GA. In conjunction with the event, I'm going to do several paintings of the place.

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Right now I'm in the Big Easy and I spent the last day of 2008 painting at the Barataria Preserve. The preserve is part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park, just south of New Orleans. I started the day with a serene and peaceful hike through the swamp and finished it with this painting of a very interesting old tree on a mound called a midden. If you have been reading my posts for a while, you will sometimes read about the challenges of plein air painting. Unlike the studio, painting outdoors often makes demands of the artist beyond just the painting itself.

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