River's Bend

River's Bend, Study 2

6 x 8 in., oil on linen panel

$120 + tax, $20 s/h

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From my notes, sketches, and studies from Marble Falls last week, I tried a more finished study of one of the compositions I had come up with. Since the first study had a self-imposed 30 minute time limit, it had a few miscalculations:)--I was able to work out some of the drawing flaws here and design this one a little more. It's still just a 6 x 8 study, but I'm planning to work on a larger piece from this one--just experimenting a little bit first.

-julie davis

Cool Hilltop

Cool Hilltop

8 x 6 in., oil on panel

Fortunately, spring has been relatively rainy in the Austin area this year--and we are grateful. It's made for a wonderful wildflower season, and the bluebonnets this year are no exception. This little piece came from my outing last week near Marble Falls. It was an on-again, off-again morning with the sun and clouds vying for dominance.  

-julie davis

New Award!

Evening Commute

9 x 12, oil on panel

private collection

I was very excited to find out this weekend that my painting, "Evening Commute," was given an Award of Merit in the American Women Artist's 2015 Spring Online Juried Show.  I've loved this painting, and am really happy the judge liked it, too.  Thank you, AWA!

-julie davis

Spring Studies and Bluebonnets

@ Turkey Bend Recreational Area, Marble Falls, Texas

Today I joined our Plein Air Austin painting group out in Marble Falls, Texas, to paint at the Turkey Bend Recreational Area (real name!).  Rain is moving in this weekend and as the bluebonnets are at their peak, the rains will probably knock them around a bit and cause grass to outgrow the flowers, so now was the time to paint them.  Though the water is still very low on Lake Travis because of the drought, the views at Turkey Bend are still gorgeous, with bluebonnets temporarily making up for the water loss in covering the ground in blue.  

You might be able to make out in the last photo that I chose to do four small studies rather than one more polished painting in the time I had (about two hours).  I can thank Jill Carver for this idea--more on the seismic-shift workshop I recently completed with her in another post (one reason I haven't posted in a month). Since I didn't have much time, rather than rush through a piece and be frustrated, I divided a 12 x 16 panel into four sections, and timed myself on four studies. I did spend about 20 minutes making several thumbnails in my sketchbook first. The first two studies were 15 minutes each, the second two were 30 apiece.  Note: they are not intended to be a finished piece--they are raw studies. The purpose is getting accurate color notes and the values correct, so that with my sketches and photos in the studio I can create one or more larger pieces. I found several compositions I liked, and simply turned my easel around to the next view when I was ready for the next study. I really like this way of working....I felt super productive and came away with material for several paintings.  Pretty fun!

-julie davis