A wonderful summer evening

I wanted to share this picture I took Saturday evening at the paintout at Villa Catalana Cellars. There was lovely live acoustic guitar music by great musicians, a colorful sunset with drifting clouds and a light breeze, and lots of happy people enjoying the food, wine, art, and wonderful weather.

If you're an artist interested in participating, contact Burl & Cindy Mostel at Villa Catalana Cellars.

PS. I made some progress on my painting but forgot to take any red, so I just worked on the foliage. Next time!

Paintout time again!

It's the annual Art In The Garden party at Villa Catalana Cellars in Oregon City this evening, and I can't believe the weather is this cool! Tickets are still available at their events webpage. Lots of food, wine, artists, and art! I'll be there working on a new painting and bringing along several of my previous paintings of their beautiful gardens and winery.

I'll be trying to turn this value sketch into a real painting:

Maybe I'll remember to bring the right colors this year!

Gettin' corny

I was visiting my friends in the gorge last week, and they hosted a group of plein air painters while I was there. Fortunately I had brought my gouache paints and stuff. The others were mostly hanging out on the bluff over the river, but I picked out a well-shaded spot, out of the strong wind gusts, that just happened to be next to their corn patch. I like gouache; it's easy to paint with, and like acrylics can look very much like watercolor, but can also be opaque. On hot and/or windy days it's way easier than trying to keep acrylics moist.