Day 44, Project 125 Ranch House, plein air paintings BECKY JOY

© 2013 Becky Joy      Day 44, Ranch House    oil    6 inches x 6 inches    $125.

This composition is reminiscent of yesterday's. I've been using the small paintings painted in the studio as a way to experiment, but also trying to find ones that I want to paint larger. What struck me about this scene was the grasses and the fence posts. I may do something similar to this painting, creating more foreground with the fence posts. I'll have to play with this one some more.

After painting this one, I worked on a couple of plein air paintings that have been hanging around the studio. The first one was painting in Zion last fall during the plein air festival. I liked the overall scene, but felt that it just didn't have the wow factor to it. I painted some shadow in the foreground which helped to bring out the background light. I also softened the mountains and clouds on the left side to help bring out the bright yellows on the right side. I think the painting is much more successful now.

© 2013 Becky Joy     High Desert Dance     oil   11 inches x 14 inches

Next up was a painting that had just literally five strokes on paint added to it. I painted this a couple of years ago in Escalante, Utah. I was attracted to the afternoon light and all the junk in and around this little shed. The pile of light colored "stuff" on the right is where I added a little more light. I wanted the attention there and it needed to be lighter to bring the viewer there.

© 2013 Becky Joy      Utah Storage    oil     8 inches x 10 inches

Tomorrow I need to get down to some serious painting. I spent too much time working on my facebook page this morning. Unfortunately, I find the computer and photoshop too much fun.

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Talk to you tomorrow,

Becky Joy

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Day #9, Project 125 Twin Lakes, CA Cabin BECKY JOY

© 2013 Becky Joy    Twin Lakes Cabin   oil  6 inches x 6 inches   $125.

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Day #9, a long time camping and up at dawn, not the norm for me, but I do get up at dawn for painting. This was painted at about 8 am after starting another at dawn that I wasn't able to finish. I liked the shadow shapes, but also the contrast of the red-orange of the cabin with the greens in the scene. The topography was also interesting to paint the flat field and the hillside with the cabin. It was a nice calm morning with the wind picking up in the afternoon.

© 2013 Becky Joy     Bridgeport, CA, Green and White    oil  9 inches x 9 inches   $900.

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By the time I painted this painting, it was windy, which is probably the norm in this region. I saw this scene the first day I arrived in Bridgeport, CA. Today I stopped across the street to see if I could park in a motel parking lot to paint. I was told "NO". So I went across the street and found a better view anyway. It was fun painting all the shades of green and white. I had to play down some of the whites to get a brighter white up on the peak of the background house. I also used a thicker brushstroke there and brightened the red roof next to the white bringing the viewer to that area. Below are photos of the above scenes.

          

Now, it's on the road to my next destination, Lake Tahoe, to my friends house. Nothing like stopping at a friends for a hot shower. Nice!
 Talk to you all tomorrow.
 Becky   Joy
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