Main Street

"Main Street"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on canvas panel
I'm revving up for the plein air event I'll be attending next weekend. I'm not fond of, nor practiced in urban scenes. I've avoided them from the beginning of my art experience. Yet, the promoters of the event are looking for — hoping that someone will paint the downtown area of the city.  So I'm willing to give it a try. 

 This is the first of four paintings I did today. It's acrylic and I used a scraper to keep my lines straight. I'll post the others to let you see how I'm improving.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Plein Air Wisconsin

"Plein Air Wisconsin"
16" x 20"
Oil on canvas panel
It was earlier than I'm accustomed to being awake, as we drove north out of Illinois. The light was warm and the sky was hazy on the horizon. Clouds hadn't even decided what shapes they'd be for the day, at that hour.


Painting outdoors is a passion that reveals itself only when I'm doing it. The thought of dew, bugs, heat, humidity and sunburn line up in a pretty impressive list before each outing. I love it once I'm in it, but man, oh, man, I don't delight in adversity of outdoors versus my lovely studio.

Thank you for reading my rant.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Queen Anne's Lace

"Queen Anne's Lace"
Wisconsin fields sway with color and texture, hazy-late in the summer. The "Queen Anne's Lace"  petticoats along her sinewy roads and lanes flutter in the heat and wave in that proper queenly fashion.

Oh, boy was this fun. I put actual lace on a canvas then smeared joint compound over it. Pulled up the lace and painted over the texture.  When you go to my gallery on Dailypaintworks.com and run your cursor over the art, you can see the texture under the paint.  I've done this on many pieces, but they all sold before I could photograph them. 

Thank you for visiting today.  It's always fun to know you're there, reading and looking at what I've been doing. 
Carol

Cathedral Pines

"Cathedral Pines"
24" x 24"
Oil on wrapped canvas
My daughter took us into this Wisconsin pine forest on a hot July afternoon.  The trees were old, the light intense and sideways.  I'm told Sunday School classes used to be held in this very spot, thus the name "Cathedral Pines."  High humidity activated the robust scent of pine and earth.  It felt good here.

I knew when I saw this place that I'd try to paint it, but without showing the height or enormity of these trees, they look like any other pine forest clearing. I enjoyed painting it, however.  The tree trunks and pine needles in the sunlight were a challenge, but not as difficult as painting the haze without making it look like sky.  So I overlapped it onto the shrubs, where sky wouldn't dare go!

This painting is listed with, and for sale through a Daily Paintworks Auction. 

Thank you for stopping by today.
Carol

Gull Stones

"Gull Stones"
8" x 10"
Oil on wrapped canvas
There weren't as many seagulls up in Door County as I thought there would be, considering the amount of water and the number of tourists.  This, one feather was the only evidence of their presence. Although, strangely enough, someone standing next to me with binoculars said he was watching pelicans circle overhead.  I Googled it when I got home. Yup. White ones.

The weave of the canvas shows through my thin painting style, and gives a neat texture to these rocks.  It's more pronounced in the photo than in real life.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through a Daily Paintworks Auction.

Thank you for visiting today,
Carol