Light Canopy

Light Canopy, 9 x 12 in.

sold

I love finding a grove of spindly young oaks. Although my favorites are the natural groves that have a shape of their own, it's not unusual to find these small oaks kept in check along fence lines, where some unique vista is revealed through the trunks. These are some of my favorite views--I look for what the view will be almost as if I'm anticipating what is inside a wrapped gift.

-julie davis

Quiet Pond

Quiet Pond, 6 x 8 in.

donation to ARC of the Capital art auction

This one is from references from my trip to Idaho in July. More on the tree theme. I think this makes 19, but here I was focused not simply on the structure of the trees, but on the structures along the horizon line. I did enjoy the trees the most, though--it's like an illness.....

-julie davis

Point Lobos Rocks

Point Lobos Rocks, 6 x 8 in.
sold

I'm continuing to explore the ocean/rocks theme through photos I took at Point Lobos, and through the studies and color notes I made while there. The coast in that area offers an endless number of compositions--every time you turn there is a unique rock configuration and a new look to the light or water or both. I can see why so many artists spend years painting the area!

-julie davis

Point Lobos Cypress

Point Lobos Cypress, 6 x 8 in.
sold

While in California painting at Point Lobos, I saw, but never got a chance to paint, this scene, though it was at my back or just around a cove just about the entire time. I snapped several photos, and with the ability to use my studies on site for color references, painted this study this week. I've actually done a larger version already, and have had a good bit of fun with it!

-julie davis

Point Lobos Study 5

Point Lobos Study 5, 8 x 6 in.

sold

This was my final study during Kevin MacPherson's workshop at Weekend with the Masters. On the first two studies, he had us using very limited and differing palettes to teach relationships. For the last, we were able to use our usual palette. Mine is limited to a warm and a cool of each primary, plus white, so that is what I used here. I had quite a bit of fun with this fast piece, and particularly enjoyed the blues I was able to play with.

-julie davis

Point Lobos Studies 3 and 4

Point Lobos, Study 3, 12 x 9 in.

white, dioxazine purple, phthalo green, cadmium orange

The second painting day at Weekend with the Masters, I again spent the day with Kevin MacPherson. This time his focus was on using a (very) limited palette, to promote harmony in the painting, and to primarily teach that everything in a painting is relationships. The colors used in this first study are listed above. Seeing what color relationships we could build just using these four--and that they were not the primaries, surprised all of us, I think.

Point Lobos Study 4, 9 x 12 in.

For this next study, he gave us individual limited palette assignments. This one was done with white, my standard "black mix" (aliz., ult. blue, raw umber), cad yellow lemon, and cad red light.

-julie davis

Point Lobos, CA

Point Lobos Study 1, 6 x 8 in.
nfs

Point Lobos Study 2, 9 x 12 in.
nfs

Last week I was able to travel to California to attend the Weekend with the Masters conference and workshop in Monterey. I spent four days soaking in everything I could in a fantastic learning environment, and painting in some very beautiful (but cold!) spots.

These are the first two studies I did--both in Kevin MacPherson's class, and both at Point Lobos. Kevin's emphasis in this class was on simplifying the outdoors--a lesson that continuously bears repeating. Doing a thumbnail sketch, or several, and keeping those simple, can help focus your composition. As Kevin pointed out, there are many things vying for our attention when we paint outdoors. Finding your darkest darks and your sunlight and shadow sides, keeping your lines connected (versus creating various separate shapes), and finding the rhythms that go through your composition help to keep a focused composition.

It was quite foggy, cold, and windy the first two days we were outside--think eight layers--so we got plenty of "gray days" studying in!

-julie davis

Tree Study 18

Tree Study 18, 8 x 6 in.

This is a scene from a small pond in Idaho that I did from a little different angle while there. In this angle I wanted to include more of the pond and its reflections. I'm pretty pleased with it.

I'm headed off tomorrow for Weekend With the Masters again in CA--cannot wait! I'll try to post some from there, but down time is usually at a minimum, so I'm not sure what I'll get to do. I'm looking forward to taking some classes with Joe Paquet and Kevin MacPherson, not to mention many others I'll get to see demos or hear lectures from. Super excited, and can't thank my husband and kids enough for giving me the break to run and do this!!

-julie davis