Warm and Cool - Day 3

8x10

oil on linen

Day 3 of the challenge.

Got to go painting on location today with my painting friends Daggi and Pam.   We set up at King Gilette Ranch of Las Virgines which is a California State Park that was recently renovated.

I'm so inspired by Mark Daniel Nelson and other painters that are able to abstract the landscape and find great compositions that divide the space in such an interesting way.  That's the kind of art I'm drawn to and I'm working on painting more of what I'm drawn to in my own art....not always easy...

I wanted to fill up the canvas with the building, but I think I could have pushed that further and I was pushing the color, but it was a challenge to figure out how to create the reflected effect on the building and whether to go warm or cool, since I could see both.

All in all it was a really nice day and the second sketch I started captured the kind of composition I like even more, so...I will add a little more detail to it and maybe post it later.

I'm finding that with the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge I need to let go of thinking I have to always finish and just concentrating on painting as much as I can and post my process instead of getting myself stuck.  Paint and move on!

The title "Warm and Cool" also refers to the fact that the temperature today was both warm and cool.  We saw little icicles hanging off the cherry blossom and whereas I got really warm by the end of the session Daggi who was painting in the shade was getting so cold that she was shaking and I suggested that maybe we needed to send in a picture to the Extreme Pleinair Painting segment in the PleinAir Magazine, although we'd have a hard time convincing anyone of the frigid temperatures in Southern California....

Happy Painting!