Was it better before?
48X36″ oil on canvas
Today this painting went in yet another direction. I decided to change the landscape to an actual place way up in the foothills that I ran to with some friends a while back. Now it is looking down into the valley below.
It’s still a work in progress. The paint on this one is really thick so it takes a long time to dry. The question I’ve been asking now is, “was it better before?” I have said that so many times in the past, but in general now I just keep moving forward from wherever I’m at.
Here are a bunch of before pictures of this one. I like it better now.
I just found this little YouTube video of one of the foothill trails I run on. I didn’t take the video. But you can see how peaceful it is up there.
Coastal Abstracts
Black Cliffs 2
I painted Black Cliffs again but in a less literal way. My hope is to find my style somewhere between representational and abstract. I think this is what that is. You can see that it’s a landscape, I think. But definitely abstracted.
Remembered Morning Run
11X14″ oil on canvas
Yesteterday I went out for a run in the foothills and took a bunch of pictures. The sky, light, and hills were beautiful. Today I looked through the photos so I could paint the scene. I wanted to paint an abstract of just being there so I put away the photos and painted from memory. I like how it turned out.
Done!
Here’s a little slide show of the progress.
Black Cliffs
16X20 oil on canvas
I’m still at it with my plein air abstract landscapes. Today Inwent out and basically did an oil sketch and a start to this painting outside and then came in and finished from my memory of the place. I’m not sure it’s finished yet. And I’m hoping it doesn’t look like a total mess.
***I worked on it some more because a few things were bothering me. Here it is again.
Oregon Coast
Last year I did a portrait of some kids playing at the coast in Oregon. After I finished t I started a smaller Oregon Coast painting with no kids and a different composition. Today I got it out and worked on it some more. I think there might be too much contrast between the wet and dry sand in front. I’ll leave it alone for a while and then look at it again.
More progress, getting closer.
Castlerock from Morningside
14X18 oil on canvas
Today I went out and did this plein air painting. I had to brave the wind and ended up painting right out of the back of the car with the canvas laying flat in the back. My canvas kept blowing away at first. Note to self- bring along the thing that slides down from the top of the easel to keep the canvas from sailing away.
Castlerock is a well known and beloved landmark for all of us in the east end of Boise. From where I live it’s .9 miles to the summit. I know such measurements because I am a runner. With several GPS devices. I can tell you how far all sorts of things are from my house. And I can tell you where the bathrooms and drinking fountains are too. Just FYI.
This landscape had me a little freaked out, as in I thought it looked ridiculous, until I pulled out my palate knife and scraped back some things and smoothed others. Now I like it.
My hope is that my paintings won’t all look the same… but looking at the 3 I’ve done recently, I can see that they are different and represent different things.
Jill Millward Artwork 