Thursday, April 29, 2010

New pochade in the wild

Finally got to take the little Alla Prima Pochade outside for a proper session.


At the Berkeley Marina 6X8 O/P



It's been forever, but I finally got to use the new box. I actually "took it for a spin" way back when I first got it, but that session was unsuccessful, gear wise and especially painting wise. I ended up sending the box back to Ben for a quick modification, he put magnets on the top side of the lid to store the side tray when packed up rather than the bottom (the standard location). It's a small point, but without the change, it meant hving to screw the quick release plate on and off every time I set up and again when packing up. Kind of defeating the purpose of a "quick" release plate. Again, awesome service from a real craftsman, he didn't even charge me for the work, and I'm happy to report that everything works great! I thought I might have an issue with how small the mixing area is (it's REALLY tiny), but it actually made me scrape down the palette more often, which in hind sight is a good thing for me when trying to keep my colors clean. I'm still building my little kit ( I just got a new bag to carry it all in) but that's half the fun when you're a gear junkie : )

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Tahoe in Snow

Started this one outside, but the tree I was under was no shelter for sideways blowing snow.




Truckee River 6x8 O/P



This was as far as I got before being snowed out, a pretty fierce storm blew in pretty quickly forcing a hasty run back to the car. Still, it was more than enough information to let me play with and still be true to the scene (mostly). Once I got home, I saw how horrible my initial lay-in for the foreground river was and altered it for a more interesting angle. I also added a little more color because with the overcast, blizzardy conditions, it was pretty much just a black and white scene. A real nice subtle study in values. I don't know if adding color kills that effect, but it felt like it needed it. Maybe I'll go back and try it again in just grays.



Here's a picture from the previous day, the weather was much clearer, and my long slog uphill schlepping all my painting gear through knee deep snow only got me tired, and bad photographs. Still, scouting around for scenes was really fun, I just need to remember to pack the snow shoes next time. That and a lunch, dang I got hungry!