Alla Prima Portrait: John (Oil 20 x 16)

Thursday, VAC's portrait studio day. Today's model was John. Accidentally I took with me a board with pink underpainting. I didn't bother to change and just wanted to see what it would turn out to be.

En Plein Air: Bridge at Lehigh Acres Community Park (oil, 9 x 12)

I drove around this morning and ended up stopping at the Community Park and made painting of the bridge by the parking lot.

En Plein Air: David's Hay Trailer (soft pastel, 12 x 24)

I went to Maloy's Hay Company on Buckingham Ave. this morning. I believe it was the first time in my life that I painted plein-air landscape in soft pastel. Soft pastel has a very special flavor. It takes time and practice in order to get the special effect which only soft pastel can offer.

En Plein Air: Fence by the Road (Oil, 9 x 12)

I went to Lane's farm this morning and painting his fence.

En Plein Air: Owl Creek Boat Works on Weekend (Oil, 12 x 9)

I went to Owl Creek Boat Works this morning. It was true that I didn't expect people work on weekend except for some workers working on their own boats. Maybe Easter weekend was not an appropriate time for boating, it was extremely quiet today at the boat yard. I painted two of the docked boats.

En Plein Air: Trees by the River (Watercolor 9 x 12)

This is the first watercolor in 15 years if not 20. As I promised myself, I would try my hands on watercolor again. The feeling was not back but obviously, sometimes, I forgot I was painting in watercolor. I went with the Lee Plein Air group to Caloosahatchee Regional Park this morning.

Portrait Drawing: Pam

Yesterday when I was inventorying my art supplies, I realized some of the media I had not used for quite some time that things like watercolor and acrylic paints were drying. There were also soft pastels and charcoals. Therefore, I decided to use charcoal instead of oil for Thursday Portrait Studio. Today's model was Pam, an African-American lady.

En Plein Air: Early Fisherman (Oil, 9 x 12)

Somehow I woke up pretty early this morning. It was still dark outside. I always wanted to paint around the daybreak to challenge myself because I knew the lighting and color were changing every minute. So today it was the time. I rushed through my breakfast and hopped into the car. It was chilly. The temperature was in low 50s. By the time I was on the road, the day was just breaking. I didn't know where I should go but it was clear that I must find a spot as soon as possible. Shortly after I turned onto Joel Blvd., I noticed the sunlight shone through the leaves in a small park on my right. It was Charlie R Matheny Park with only a pond and a small island in it. I made a U-turn and rushed to set up.

As I was painting and the sky was lighting, I saw a red pickup pulled into the park which I had to myself till then. I saw an old man in a red life vest coming out of the vehicle. He pulled a red kayak from the pickup and put it on a two-wheel carrier. He pushed the vessel to the boat ramp on the other side of the parking lot. We greeted each other. It amused me that there was another crazy old man in the world like myself. So when he rowed to the middle of the pond, I added him to my picture.

It just became fully daylight when i was back on the road.

En Plein Air: A Flipped-Over Boat by a Utility Pole (Oil, 9 x 12)

I went to my friend Woody's boat yard this morning. At the entrance, I saw a flipped over small boat by a utility pole. I decided to paint it.

Alla Prima Figure Painting: Mark of the Artful Gardens (Oil, 14 x 8)

I went to the Artful Gardens again this morning. There were a whole bunch of FGCU students doing volunteer work there. My friend Mark was teaching them how to put the beam onto the two strong wood columns standing on the ground. I didn't know what kind of building they were trying to put up. At first, I wanted to paint one of the students. However, they were so mobile that there was no way I could grab anyone of their images. For a while, Mark was standing on the ground talking to them instead of modeling on the ladder. I decided to paint Mark. After all, he was less mobile. In about 15 minutes, he finished teaching and was about to leave. I asked if he could be kind enough to stay there for 10 minutes more. So while he was standing there talking about his wife and family, I rushed to wrap up the painting. It took not quite a half hour for the whole thing. When the college kids were taking a break and it began sprinkling, I decided to call it a day.

The Artful Gardens: http://www.artful-gardens.org/#!news/c11bq

En Plein Air: "Roadside Sunflowers" and "Having Had Good Days" (both 9 x 12)

Together with Lee Plein Air Group, I went this morning to Southern Fresh Farms. This was my second visit to the farm. People are very friendly there. They are also open to school children who are able to be exposed to and learn first-hand knowledge about agriculture and farm animals. This morning several busloads of school kids were there for a visit. I did two oil sketches. The first one took an hour and the second one even shorter.

Roadside Sunflowers

Having Had Good Days

Alla Prima Portrait: Anthony (Oil, 20 x 16)

It was VAC Portrait Studio day again. Today's model was Anthony. Everybody said it was the second time that Anthony posed for us, but to me it was the first time. I must have missed the week when he sat for us last time. Anthony was a good model and he came, to my surprise, in tuxedo. He said I did him justice in my painting.

Sketch Drawings: Images at Miromar Outlet Shopping Center

My wife and I went to Miromar Outlet Shopping Center this morning. My wife is a good shopper, so as usual, I simply went to the Starbucks so that she would not feel I was rushing her by standing by looking bored. I ordered my drink and then sat outside in the shade to draw people in my sketch book. I drew a couple of people there including a Canadian snowbird whose first name happened to be Mo, too. Mo eventually bought my sketch but kindly allowed me to post it in my blog.

Announcement

Friends:

I'll take a week's break before I resume my regular painting.

Sketch Drawings at Naples' Open-Air Concert: Americana

My wife and I went today to Naples, FL for an open-air concert which was presented by the Cultural and Performing Arts Center (CAPA). Americana was a great concert. It introduced various cultural fabrics that have been knitted together to form the richness of American music, including Jazz, Blue Grass, Gospel, Country West, etc. I grabbed a few sketch drawings there. The figures are about some audience and young volunteers. The following are four of the sketches. I apologize for putting in the wrong date.

Alla Prima Portrait: Susan (Oil, 20 x 16)

Thursday, VAC's portrait studio day. Today for portrait studio, we had two models, both named Susan. Like everyone else, I did one of them.

En Plein Air: Fire Wood Machine (Oil, 11 x 14)

At first, I meant to paint a rusty old farmhouse this morning across from the Meloy Hay Company. Because of the busy traffic on the road, I decided to go directly to the Artful Gardens. I painted a firewood machine by a pile of tree trunks.

En Plein air: Cookie Vendor at Church's Yard Sale (Oil, 11 x 14)

On my way to Buckingham Rd. where I planned to paint this morning, I passed the A-framed Congregational Church on Leland Heights Blvd. Some vendors were beginning to set up their booths on the church parking lot. It was only Tuesday! It brought back the questions I had last week when I passed the church: What were they doing? It was not weekend and why are they holding yard sale now? And they also did that for a number of days on end. Then I remembered the Congregational Church often organized charity activities for the needy people. It must be a similar activity to raise fund or something like that. There were  booths selling plants, honey, veggies, dresses, etc.

The tents in the sun caught my eyes and reminded me of the view to paint. So immediately I made a U-turn and got into the parking lot. I asked the person in charge, Wayne, if I could set up to paint by the church sign. He said yes and helped me by telling the in-coming vendors to set their booths at places further away from me. I really appreciated it because they might have blocked my vision if they had set up too close to me. When I finished, I thanked Wayne for allowing me to paint there. He looked at the painting and said with a smile, "I should thank you for coming here to paint.