New paintings

Hi all.

I lost the ability to update this blog for a while. I'm back now and ready to give an update about my latest work.

I'm entering into my seventh year in a row participating in Plein Air Easton. It's been a great run and every year that I apply, I fully expect not to make it in. The quality of artists in this competition is second to none.

Many of you know that I am a professional Architectural illustrator. As the field has moved toward digital art production, I have re-trained myself and learned new methods. However, as I my true love and educational background is in traditional painting, this change had me longing to pick up my brushes and not stare at a screen all day. To fill the creative gap, I began to explore plein air painting in 2009 and started competing at Easton in 2010. It's been a very interesting experience trying to put together a system for translating my style and technique to working out doors.

In 2013, my brother in law and I designed a new outdoor watercolor table-pochade box. After several years of trying to find the right equipment, the best choice for me was to create a custom setup specifically designed around my style. My brother in law is a truly gifted woodworker and artisan and the box he built for me has been in use continuously since it was made. It probably has been the single most important aid to my outdoor work. Shown below is the easel we call the Aquabox.

Also take a look at the pre framed paintings from last years 2016 Easton competition
 Thanks for being patient and I will put up more work for you to see.

Hi everybody

I am furiously getting ready for Easton in two weeks! With so many excellent painters I have found that my work needs to have a special spark. Not exactly a gimmick, but rather, a clever twist that separates it on the wall from the other paintings. In the past, I have experimented with odd sizes and compositions and this years work will also have some interesting twists. Stay tuned! I will try to post as I paint the week of July 14 at Easton.

I also wanted to show you this sketch done in a new kind of sketch book. It is made by a new company called Cottonwood Arts and it contains a series of hot press-like  illustration panels bound into a sketch book. When you are finished painting, the board can just be peeled right out and is ready for display. They also make a canvas panel book and several other interesting products. This stuff is high quality, seriously cool and reasonably priced! Go figure..!

Check them out at www.cottonwoodarts.com

Sketches

I love to work in sketch books and do small sketches of my work in all kinds of media. In many ways they are superior to my finished work as they capture the essence of the subject I'm painting more closely . These are all little paintings pulled directly from my sketch books.

Plein air season is here!

My first Plein air painting of the season!

Painted in main park, mt Lebanon Pennsylvania on March 28. Watercolor , unlike oils is difficult to do when the weather is cold ....

Plein Air Easton 2013

As promised, here are some of the paintings from last years competition.

Hi

I must be the worlds worst blogger. Problem is that I would rather. Spend my my time painting and drawing than becoming a web master!

I have once again made the cut for Plein Air Easton 2014! This will be my 5th consecutive year. I love this competition because it really is a true test of your skill and preparation as a painter. You need to deal with the extreme heat( sometimes up to 100 degrees) and humidity, the bugs and ticks, lack of sleep and fierce competition from the best Plein air painters on the planet. I remember my first year feeling like I had been dropped into the Hunger Games for painting. While all of the artists are very congenial, make no mistake that they are there to compete and this is no "make yourself feel good" workshop environment. As you work your way though the week, you always feel the clock ticking in the background as you hope to create your best work in the most awkward conditions. Although it is not for everyone, I love the opportunity to plan and execute my steps through this artistic mine field.

Shortly, I will post a whole new crop of paintings for you to see including my work from last years stop back and take a look,

Thanks

Dave

PLein Air Easton is Here once again!

For my fourth year in a row, I have been selected to compete in the Plein air Easton Competition. I consider this the premier plein air painting event in the country and is always an exciting and creative time for me. As I am a professional illustrator with a full time job, I really only have the opportunity to do one of these events per year, and if you have to pick just one...Easton is surely the best pick!

I try to plan my strategy and approach very carefully and build on my experiences of past years. Since you need to bring everything with you to create and frame ten pieces, it is a lot to organize.

Watercolor is not the most forgiving technique for plein air. While it may seem simple, the logistics of creating a large scale piece in the heat and humidity of Easton has proved to be a formidable task.

As I seem to have finally figured out how to load thing onto this blog, I plan to show my progress this year in Easton, every evening of the event, so stay tuned! In the meantime, I will load up abunch of paintings and sketches from my sketchbook for you to take a look at.

Tell me what you think!

HEre are some photos from last years Quick Draw in Easton where it poured!! I still managed to get it sold!