February 7, 2014

Nice day, but I only came home with a couple of paintings in the creel.  Since I set this goal for myself, I'll be making these up by painting more than my goal of 4 a day, during the next few days.

The day started a little late, I had a couple of errands to do ($7.99 haircuts at Great Clips).  Already late for my normal start, and on the way to my first spot for the day, I ended up spending about an hour or so helping a guy with a BMW Z4 Roadster get out of a ditch, that he ended up in while driving it on an icy, snow packed country road where there's a drop off of about a foot or two on each side.  Not a good place for a high powered rear wheel drive sports car.  He was resting on an axle, but we managed to dig him out enough so that with his wife at the wheel, he, a lady jogger who came by, and I were able to finally push him free.

When that was over, I was at the time of day when I normally would have already had two paintings finished.

I was secretly thinking... "Good, it's only going to be warmer, later!".  The things you'll do to try making a situation for yourself better, or seem better.   I painted the first one, wiped the second one (which you can't see), painted the third one, and wiped the fourth one... which is also absent by default!  That's how it goes some days... I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

More coyotes, in fact, it sounded like the entire country side was crawling with them at one point this afternoon.  Howling all over the hills and valleys around me.  Saw three of them patrolling a fence line on my way home.

Also, this project has now turned my Honda Odyssey into an official 'paint mobile'... unless I can clean the cadmium orange and red off of the upholstery on the driver's door.  I know I can remove all of the hand prints off the door handles, and the brush marks off of the windows, no big deal.  But this upholstery situation is troubling.

Enjoy...  I'm going to get a good meal! :)

2-7-1 "A Warmer Morning" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

SOLD

2-7-2 "Cooling Afternoon" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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February 6, 2014

It was a warmer start today... -9ºF.  The high today... a raging +4ºF!!!

After yesterday and spending the day in the van, I said... "Screw it... I may not get another chance this winter to paint in this frigid weather... I'm painting in the 'open air'!"  I am getting acclimated to these temps now.  But, I'm not an idiot, so I put on layers of extreme cold weather clothing.  Being an outdoor guy from Minnesota, I could cover every square cm of my skin, head to toe, with at least 4" of insulated garb if I needed to.  Today I wore my LaCrosse -120ºF boots, and was toasty warm.  I did stick a hand warmer under my outer sock in each foot.  I felt tropical all day long.

And an absolutely stunning day it was!  There was so much color, from sun up to sun down, that I wish I could paint about a dozen studies a day to try to grab some of it.

When I paint in these kind of temperatures, the oil in the paint gets stiff of course, just like the motor oil in your car engine.  There are a couple of things I do to make it possible to move the paint around at these temps.  First, I make use of a non oil medium, like Liquin, or a thin oil medium, like Winsor & Newton's 'Drying Linseed Oil'.  Both of these have a nice fluidity, even when it's this cold.  Secondly, I make liberal use of smallish sized palette knives.  I may apply most of the paint in the painting with a knife, scrape it back down, manipulate that with a brush... what ever works.  With those two methods, and using OMS as needed to thin the paint, it's really not a big deal.

I was lucky today, NO WIND.  If the wind were strong, my tune would be sounding different.  Tomorrow... +38º!!!  I can't wait, and am very glad I painted the special qualities of light and color, that the frigid atmosphere presents.

My coyote buddies were back around the hood again today.  One coyote a quarter mile out in the middle of a flat, snow covered field, looking small and wandering around, looking for a mouse most likely, is a lonely sight.  I also had a great experience today.  Not far from where I live, there are about 250 elk who've made their way out of the higher altitudes to lay in the sun and lounge all day in safety.  They're a little far off of the road, but it's an impressive sight.

Thanks for looking in...

2-6-1 "Nine Below" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-6-2 "Ridgeline" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

SOLD

2-6-3 "Oxford Rd Farm" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

SOLD

2-6-4 "39th St View" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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February 5, 2014

I woke up to -12ºF... with a wind chill of around -25ºF.  That's Minnesota weather!!!  After going around the horn about this with many friends, and numerous PM's to me about how I should be careful about freezing body parts, I decided to paint with acrylics today.  Since acrylics freeze, it meant that I would have to accept a day painting from my van.  Not because of the cold, of course, but because of the medium?  Ok... I admit to giving in to the day.  But that's the last one.  It's way too uncomfortable to spend a day painting inside a vehicle.  It's cramped, it's hard to find a place to park where there's something interesting to paint, that I can get a good view point to paint it from, and it's just not right! ;)

Truthfully, I tried it outside and after about 5 minutes, it got cold fast.  Good news for me is that on Friday it's going to hit 38º and by the following Friday, 48º!  Can't wait.

More coyotes out and about today.  They're so gorgeous this time of year, thick winter coats and the acuteness of an eagle while on patrol for a lunch morsel.  My admiration for these animals is growing daily.

2-5-1 "Cement Plant" - acrylic - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-5-2 "Flood" - acrylic - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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This painting is of what was a pasture, until last September's flood.  This area that you are looking at was about 5' underwater during it all.  Entire acreage's were eroded and wiped away.  I painted this area a number of times prior to the flood, this was a very peaceful, pastoral field.  Now it looks like a mini Grand Canyon.  

2-5-3 "Muted Compliments" - acrylic - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-5-4 "Sundown" - acrylic - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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February 4, 2014

Snow day!  Today was a good old fashioned cold winter day... the kind I left behind in Minnesota?  Not so it seems.  It's beautiful, and I actually like that I get to paint it.  But it has put the chill in my bones, that's for sure.  Knowing it was likely to be snowing all day today, before I went out on location this morning, I made a stop at Home Depot.  I had an idea that if I found the right ingredients, I could rig a shelter that used my raised tail gate as a support.  With about $35.00 in materials in hand, I rigged up a very useable wind/sun/snow break as you can see in the photos.

It was hard to keep the fingers warm, and that's with glove liners, Atlas Nitrile palmed gloves, and fingerless mittens on.  On top of that, the paint was mixing with the snow most of the day, creating a very weird, granular mix.  It was nearly impossible to stick a brush into the paint and get any on the brush.  So, I painted most of these paintings today with a palette knife or two.  It was simply the easiest way to get paint on the panel.  I found that I enjoyed using the knife.  Only occasionally did I use a brush on the last three of the day.  

I had planned to go back to the same locations that I painted yesterday, and paint them again today with the snow falling.  That didn't work, except for the first one of the day, because the distance was obliterated by the falling snow.  None of the foothills or mountains that painted yesterday, were in view today.  Instead, I wandered the back roads close to my home, where there is always something of interest to paint.  

I saw a bunch of beautiful coyotes today.  Such an amazing animal, hardy and always an opportunist.  

I hope you enjoy the limited palette of a snowy day...

2-4-1 "Rabbit Mtn Redux" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-4-2 "55th St Flurries" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

SOLD

2-4-3 "Snow Day" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-4-4 "Frozen Road" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

SOLD

February 3, 2014

This morning was clear and cold!  Sunny, but it caught me by surprise.  I came about as close as I have in a long time, to freezing some toes and fingers.  When I started out, it was about +5ºF.  Fortunately as the day went on, it was a little bit warmer.  Word has it that the next few days are to be snowy and even colder...

I painted some local hills today because I could finally see them.  The first painting is of Rabbit Mountain Open Space, between Lyons and Longmont.  I've been told that it used to be called Rattle Snake Mountain, but it wasn't a good public image so the name was changed.

From there I went to a local 'wide' view spot, at the end of runway 29'er, where there is a large viewing parking lot for those of us who are airplane nuts.  Since there's no obstructions to the approach and landings, it provides a great view all the way west to the foothills.

Keeping in the same frame of thinking, I drove to Lagerman Reservoir, another Open Space area.  This also has a wonderful, unobstructed view all the way to the mountains.  Nice to be out there, so I painted the last two pieces for the day there.  The last one had a little bit of Rabbit Mountain in it again, hence the title.

On the way out I was pleasantly surprised to see 6 bald eagles on the ice.

Tomorrow should be interesting...

2-3-1 "Rabbit Mountain" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-3-2 "Twin Sisters" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-3-3 "Lagerman View" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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2-3-4 "Rabbit Brush" - oil - 8x10

©Marc R. Hanson 2014

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February 2, 2014

Sun at last!  What  a gorgeous day it was today.  The sun and new, dry snow, was refracting spectacular color all day long.  The warmth of the sun didn't hurt either.  The morning started out very overcast, but by the time breakfast was over, it was burning through and warming the landscape.  All day long the Front Range was barely visible, there is so much moisture in the air.  I'm not sure what's in store for tomorrow... it doesn't really matter... but I sure did like the sunshine today.

These photos are the best I am able to do at the time of night, with the lack of good light, that I have to work with.  They are approximations to what the original color is.

2-2-1 "Lemon Sun" - oil - 8x10 

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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2-2-2 "White Faces" - oil - 8x10

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

SOLD

2-2-3 "Crane Hollow Tree" - oil - 8x10

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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2-2-4 "Grouping" - oil - 8x10

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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February 1, 2014

So it begins... and not with a bang... but with the steady, soft sound of falling Colorado powder!  It snowed all day long, beautiful to see and be in the middle of.  But the build up of snow flakes on the palette is annoying.  Temps were pretty mild.  I started around 8:00 this morning, had two in the box by about 11:30, then went to lunch.  Mainly to warm up the toes and fingers.  It was a tough day to find color, it was so subtle.  The beauty of that isn't lost on me, but I am looking forward to the forecast sunshine tomorrow!  

2-1-1 'Rabbit Shelter' - oil - 8x10 

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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I didn't leave the property I live on to paint today.  There is plenty here, beginning with this side road and the base of the old cottonwood that is on it's edge.  I did like the soft, muted violets, blue-greens and pinks that I was seeing in the fresh snow.  I flushed a rabbit walking out here, hence the title.  

2-1-2 'The Path to My Studio' - oil - 8x10

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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For the second one of the day, I was walking around and decided it would be a good exercise to try painting the warm, barn red of my studio, filtered by the falling snow.  The shifts in color on the snow were very subtle.  To have something to paint, I played them up slightly.  

2-1-3 'Flurries All Day' - oil - 8x10

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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After lunch I stepped out of my van in the garage, walked around behind it to see this view out towards St Vrain Rd... it's out there somewhere, buried by fresh powder today.  Can I just say, it's not fair that I'm doing this when all of this fresh powder is sitting on the side of the mountains, waiting for my skis?  The things painters give up to do this! 

2-1-4 'Grays' - oil - 8x10

©2014 Marc R. Hanson

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This was the least interesting color of the day, nearly monochromatic.  But it was a most interesting time to be painting, judging by the interest shown.  I was standing out by St Vrain Rd, thinking that there wouldn't be anyone around.  It was non stop traffic, I was feeling a little too close to the edge with it all.  Interesting, some guy drives by, comes to a stop, backs up on the opposite side of the road and gets out and starts taking photos of me with a big lens???  Then he tells me he just spent about 4 hours up on Highway 36 where there is an elk that has met it's demise.  Seems every predator and scavenger in the country side is there feeding on it, and he was shooting them with his camera.  He said he saw red fox, bald eagles, coyotes, and various crows, jays and other birds on it.  That's about 2 miles from me... I kept on painting.