Quickies

All of these paintings were done in less than three hours, and mostly in one sitting. I had to come back after the first layer dried and add in the bright whites in the clouds. 

Weaver's Needle, 5x7 inches, oil on canvas panel, finished.

Weaver's Needle, detail of clouds.

Port A Dunes,  5x7 inches, oil on canvas panel, finished.

Port A Dunes, detail.

Wupatki Grasses, 5x7 inches, oil on canvas panel, finished.

Long Landscapes

Two 4x12 inch landscape paintings on canvas. First one is of Four Peaks in Arizona, and the second is a view from Big Bend, in west Texas. 

Four Peaks, 4x12 in, oil on canvas, probably finished.

Four Peaks, detail. 

I changed the color of the blue in the sky on Four Peaks, the first color just didn't match. So the clouds aren't quite blended to the sky in a few places, but I don't think I'll spend any more time on this one.

Big Bend, 4x12 in, oil on canvas, finished. 

The sky is one of my favorites, it came out a subtle blue and blends into the haze of a hot afternoon. 

Big Bend, foreground detail.  

The paint on the rocks at the bottom is shiny from the Galkyd medium, to help it stand out from the far away background. The sky and the mid-ground was painted with no medium, so it's matte. I also found  a new trick for making really thin lines. The grasses were very tedious to do with a paintbrush, so I dipped a thread in paint, pulled it tight and stamped it down. Paint stayed exactly in a thin line, and some of it kept some raised texture. I think curved shapes could be made by carefully dropping the string from one end, too.