"Cliff at Dallas Road" oil 8x10

I put away my new pastels and went back to my beloved oil paints for this plein air sketch - a windy day at the beach on Vancouver Island. The sun was kinda hazy but I painted against the light anyway.

It felt so good to be enveloped in nature once again. In between brush strokes I marvelled at the aerobatics of the crows and seagulls overhead - I even put a few of the braggarts in my painting!

"Lighthouse - San Juan Island" pastel 9x12

Limekiln Lighthouse is an icon of San Juan Island, Washington State. I love the islanders, what a grand bunch of go-ahead folk. And the fact that they support ART is a double bonus for me! I am using my pastels from my childhood plus some new ones that I bought online. The pastel medium allows me to work quickly in the hatching style natural to me. Yay...

"Sepia figure" 4 x 6 soft pastel

Delia sat for us at the Goward House Portrait Painters session today. I wanted to do a rapid sketch, concentrating not so much on a likeness but a successful FORM. The way the light falls was important to me too. I think that a brief treatment can be quite strong, depending on the subject of course.
Click for a larger image.

"Lioness" Conte Colour 8 x 10

Click for a bigger image. This picture is available from my Fine Art America site (see link on the right).
This lioness is in the Kalahari Desert. I drew her using my new Conte pastel pencils on grey textured paper  What fun!

"Plein Air Spring" acrylic 6x8

Surrounded by light, this plein air painter is taking advantage of the glowing sunlight.
I like it when a scene jumps out at me and I try to record the sensation as accurately as possible. Futhermore, I like to see brush strokes in my work. That and raw throbbing color. Whoa, Wilson!
Click the image for a bigger view.

"Bush & Wildflowers" oil 6x8

This is my oil I painted in the studio after making a plein air sketch in pencil. Once again this is an exercise of Edward Seago's procedure when he made notes sometimes when on location - and he worked them up later at home. Click for a bigger view.

Pastel portrait "Bruce" 9x11

Click for a bigger image. I do have a small box of excellent Talens pastels but only about two dozen so it is quite the challenge getting skin tones and savage blacks - anyway Wilson, stop complaining 'cos the sitter chose THIS portait to take home with him today!