Green Lakes State Park

"Green Lakes Park"  9x12  Acrylic  More Info

Green Lakes Park, just outside of Syracuse, NY is perhaps my favorite place in the world. It is a magical place to take long walk, along beautiful trails that seem to go on forever. There are two lakes there, that are the crowing jewel of the park. These lakes are a stunning turquoise caribbean blue-green. I have never attempted to paint them because I feel I could never capture the beauty in paint. Here is a scene from one of the winding roads.

I'm leaving tomorrow for New Hampshire, to teach a 4 day plein air workshop. We will paint the lush scenery and grounds surrounding the Gibson House B&B, I'm looking forward to it. Happy 4th of July!

Green and Greener Pastures

Green Lakes Trail  7x7"  Acrylic  Click for more info

One of the most common issues with painting plein air landscapes is...all that green. Everyone loves lush green landscapes, but we also have a backpack full of colors that we are dying to use. This setting is in a beautiful park in Syracuse, NY, called Green Lakes. Not only is the lake green, but everything else is too. Sometimes when I'm trying to introduce more excitement to a monochromatic scene I either choose a harmonic color scheme to base my interpretation on, or play with temperature relationships, or use the setting as a springboard to design a more interesting composition and modify the shapes accordingly. The one given is a quick value sketch, so I can stay on track no matter which path I choose.  Below is a photo of the landscape. Altho the colors may look dull in the photo, it was actually inspiring, dramatic and colorful, and thats what I hoped to communicate.

There are still a couple of spots left for my workshop in Tuscany in late September - it's sure to be fun!   Here is the info.

Other workshops:
Clemente, CA Nov. 10, 11, 12. Click here for more info.

Carmel, CA Nov. 3-7. Full w/wait list. Click here for more info.

Greenville, NY  May 17-23  Click here for more info