The Brilliant Summer Sun

As July closes, I'm reflecting on the beautiful and productive month I had swinging the brush at the canvas and expecting it to land in all the right places. I must say, I think it worked out pretty well. It took nearly two weeks to finish the most recent piece ("Aimee with Lutyens at the Pond") due to weather fluctuations. But all in all, I'm feeling quite good about this summer's foray into figure painting with The Brilliant Summer Sun as the subject. I absolutely LOVE painting in the summer sunlight, but since I insist on painting plein air and never from photos, I do become a prisoner of the weather and its vagaries. That said, I really love outdoor, in the open air, summertime painting. Here's my month in review, going backward in time.

"Aimee with Lutyens at the Pond"

We returned to the place where we started the month, our beautiful water lily pond. It's there where the swirling, jewel-like colors provide the perfect foil for the warm and creamy tones in the figure and the bench. Add in the dance of warm and cool that happens throughout the painting, and we have a tapestry of visual delight. "Aimee with Lutyens at the Pond,"  oil on canvas, 18" x 24".

Throughout July, as mentioned in previous blogs, I went back the figure imbedded in the landscape for my subject. I've posted these paintings previously, but I wanted to re-post them as a kind of mini-retrospective reflecting my and Aimee's efforts during July, 2015. As always, the paintings that are still available can be found at my "Figures" category on the Home page.

Have a wonderful week! And don't forget to register for our upcoming Artist's Retreat, August 31- September 4. It will be wonderful and takes place right here where all these paintings were created.