What's in a title?

I have a heck of a time coming up with titles. When I do, I find I have already used them on another painting. I ended up calling this one Ranch Pond, which is very uninspired and if I can find something better, I will change it. I already used Reflecting and others that say similar things on other paintings. As often as I paint water and fall, I go through the titles pretty quickly. Any ideas will be appreciated! ( I have already used Double Vision, which would be appropriate).

One fine day

Combining two of my favorite themes, fall color and water. I love to paint reflections. I made a conscious effort on this one to not do purple mountains! At this time of year they get gold and even red as the tundra grasses change color, so why not? Purple and blue mountains sometimes seem a bit trite, but most of the time the color is dead on. This day was different and that is why I liked the reference photo I used for this painting. BTW, if you would like to read a good article about plein air painting, my sister found a great article in Huffington Post, of all places. http://adeleearnshaw.blogspot.com/2010/12/painting-plein-air.html

The Trail West

Another in my series of the landmark mountain in our county, Buffalo Mountain. I have been trying to approach it from different angles and in different seasons. I have hiked this mountain three times now, and saw mountain goats on it twice. I have lots of photos! I am attempting to paint the goats too, and so far have not produced anything worth posting. I am not much of an animal painter, but will keep trying and might post one, one of these days! This is a little larger than I have been painting in the past, at 11x14. I have been working on some 12x16s too and do like larger pieces for a change.

Another Blue River painting

I have been painting with my sister Adele this week, and have been turning them out, which is good! Here is one of the best of the week so far. Two of my more favorite subjects together; the Blue River and fall colors. I took a lot of photos this fall so have plenty to work on over the winter. As my color laser printer is having some issues, I decided to get some of my digital photos printed. I tried WalMart, Walgreens and the local grocery store, but wasn't really happy with any of them. Most were too dark. Have any of you had any luck with other places?

Painting in Arizona this week

I am spending the week at my sister's house in Arizona, and when I go there, I paint almost all day, every day. She lives in a canyon and my cell phone doesn't have service there, so work doesn't interfere and I can just paint away. I have been turning out 12x16's (one a day so far) and feeling good about them. I haven't photographed them yet, as I need to look at them for a day or two to be sure there are no glaring errors. Sometimes I just don't see the mistakes until I am looking at them with a fresh eye again. Then it pops out and I wonder how I ever missed it!

Here is one I did last time I was here. I bring photos with me rather than try to paint the red rocks! My sister Adele is also an artist, and she routinely paints every day, so I just grab an easel and try not to stand in her light or back up over one of her wet paintings.

Painting after Monet

I am taking a class at our local junior college called "Painting after Monet" and it is about painting in series. I tend to do that anyway, as I get stuck on one subject and like to really explore it. My subject for this series is Buffalo Mountain, a prominent landmark no matter where you are in the county. This one was actually done before the class started and I settled on a subject, but I enjoyed doing this so decided I would like to do more. I have aobuat 5 or 6 more to do!

Finally, a new painting!

I have been off this blog too long, but I just haven't had time to paint much. Therefore, I have had little new to post. The last week I have managed to get some painting time in, and here is the latest.

This is the start of a series of paintings I will do as part of a class I am taking through our local junior college. The title of the course is "Painting after Monet" and the idea is to explore one subject matter thoroughly by painting it repeatedly, but differently. I decided that I would like to paint a very prominent local mountain called Buffalo. I chose it for two reasons; first, I am just beginning to learn that distant mountains are better painted with temperature changes rather than lots of value changes, and I thought I would reinforce that by painting many mountains. Second, Buffalo is a somewhat solitary mountain with a very defined rounded shape. That will create composition challenges. It will be good for me to have to work through and I will post them as I get them done.