Venice Beach

Venice Beach Tower
Oil on panel, 8x10

Venice Beach in Venice, Florida has a sea-green life tower.  Sea-green is one of my favorite colors.  This was an early morning view with soft, pinkish light on the sand and grasses.  Venice, Florida is a quiet city close to several beautiful beaches.

Quick Plein Air Paintings

Across The Sand
oil on panel, 7x5

Along The Beach
oil on panel, 7x5

Many of my plein air studies are small, quick, paintings  I like to get an impression down without a lot of detail.  I'm more interested in expressing feelings and a general sense of place and time of day.  If I want more than that, I will work on a larger piece in my studio from studies, drawings, and photos.  In both of these paintings I was drawn to the view of the water behind the patches of grasses and sand.  These paintings were done at Manasota Beach in Englewood, Florida.

Florida's Native Landscapes

Eternal
Oil on panel, 7x5

Eternal is a plein air study of Ollie's Pond, in North Port, Florida.  Ollie's Pond is in a small park that is surrounded by a beautiful, native landscape with sandy paths.  It is in an area that is still lightly developed, and hasn't been replaced by the horrible, artificial monoculture that is swallowing up Florida.  It is sad to see the relentless destruction of our native lands and wildlife corridors as the powerful, well-heeled development industry dismantle the laws that protect our environment.  I feel like I'm painting paradise before it vanishes forever.  Many of the new residents who buy homes here have no idea what the real Florida used to look like, or how unique it once was.

Vacation Scenes

Vacation
oil on panel, 10x8

Here is a typical beach vacation scene from Manasota Beach in Englewood, Florida.  I love the bright colors of beach umbrellas against water.  This is a very quiet, serene beach, even during the high season.  The Gulf Coast waters change colors all day long.  This was a late morning scene that I photographed after I finished some plein air studies.  I look forward to visiting the beach and doing more studies and photos.

Plein Air Painting In Sarasota Bay on a Windy Day

Windy Day
Acrylic on panel, 8x6

This is a plein air painting of sailboats in Sarasota Bay that I did when I was switching back and forth between oils and acrylics.  I used a lot of gloss medium to keep the paint flowing.  This was before I tried the Golden Open Acrylics, which are much better for plein air than the regular acrylics because they dry slowly.  I was very interested in the reflections of the blue water onto the white boats, and the feeling of the wind.  I like painting better than photography because I find it easier to emphasize certain qualities of a scene that I find the most inspiring, instead of making an objective copy.  I find that the biggest challenge of plein air is to make an interpretive, personal, and expressive painting rather than merely copying reality as if I were a photographer.  I realize that many people who don't look at a lot are impressed with the skill of artists who can make it look "just like a photograph."  I think seeing so much photography has made the public expect to see a photographic look rather than a work of art.  Fortunately, some people like a more poetic impression when they see it.

Painting Boats at Fort Myers Beach Paintout

The Sea Beckons
oil on panel, 11x14

I painted this shrimp boat during the "Paint The Beach - Sandcastles to Shrimp Boats" paintout in Fort Myers Beach in November.  This was my first shrimp boat painting, since we don't have any where I live in Sarasota, Florida.  It was an exciting subject to paint, with all the rigging, nets, and ropes.  I simplified it enough to get a clean looking study.  The quality of light was what interested me the most, as is usual when I'm painting from life.  The boat looked like it was just waiting to be manned and taken back out to work.

Plein Air Tree Study

Up High
oil on panel, 5x7

This is a plein air study of a pine tree with dappled, morning light.  The patches of light had a reddish color.  I noticed how the bark of the pines change from red to grey, depending on the time of day.  This is a very tall tree and I was looking up to paint the top section.  Sometimes I use a plein air session to do this type of quiet, simple study instead of painting a larger view.