Visit my Patreon Page for more painting instruction and Paint Along Videos!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Plein Air Palm Trees

'Three Palms' 5x7. Pastel

Sunny skies and 80 degrees today in South Florida. It felt great after a week in Chicago. It would have been a great day to paint but this trip isn't a painting trip. Not every trip is. This is a topic that comes up sometimes with my artist friends. What do you do when you are on a family trip? It isn't about painting. It is about visiting with family. But I can't help having the itch to paint. Especially when I am in a different location. I want to soak it all in. I want to paint something.

Today I gave into the urge to paint. We were out on my sister-in-law's patio and was taken by the three tall palm trees on the other side of the fence. I figured I could paint a quick study of the trees. I took out my trusty pastel kit and set up on the patio. I could only see the tops of the trees so I improvised and painted them up against the sky.

 

 

2 comments:

Tim Moore said...

i like the reds and blues in them...i live down here in mid Florida and marvel at some of huge palms here..we have a botanical garden at the college i work for and have been itching to go in there and paint..i also see you brought your toy airplane for when you are bored lol..couldnt resist..

robertsloan2art said...

These are great - I love the way you do palms. You give them so much character. It's hard when the basic contour sometimes looks like a lollipop but you got their raggedy liveliness!