The Art Journey

Highlights from Burnsville 3 Day Plein Air Workshop

2011-10-17T21:03:00.002-04:00

On Thursday September 29 thru Saturday October 1, the Blue Ridge Fine Arts Guild hosted my 3 day plein air workshop in Burnsville, NC. I had 9 enthusiastic participants who were fired up and ready to paint. The weather started out beautiful about 75 and sunny. On day 1 we started off at Sandra Gates studio for a 55 minute talk and then headed for Mountain Farm, our 1st paint spot, near Burnsville. The Farm specializes in growing Lavender and raising goats. The location had a wonderful vista of Celo Mountain which is just below Mt. Mitchell. There I did a 1 hour demo and then everyone jumped in to paint.

Most of us couldn't resist painting at least a piece of the mountain.

Sandra picked up Subways for everyone. After lunch most students continued working on the 1st painting, as it was one of those days that was most enjoyable and most didn't want to quit.

Day 2

On Friday we left at 8 am to go straight up Roan Mountain which takes most of an hour. We all stopped at Bakersville to check the weather as I was concerned about some showers moving in from Tennessee. Susan showed me a picture on her phone she had taken from her mountain home and it appeared Roan was in the clear. Also Steve checked the radar on his I-Phone. What would we do without our devices??? Several of the ladies said lets go up even if the weather is a little bad. Then off we went.

We parked up at the Cloudland Parking lot on the NC side, which has some real nice restroom facilities. This is one of my favorite locations in all of North Carolina to paint. I was glad we got to go up as several of the students had never been. It started out cloudy and everyone started an overcast scene before lunch.

This is a small 8 x 6 demo during the lunch hour as the sun began to shine.

Most started on their second painting in the sunshine as occasional cloud would brush our heads - what fun - trying to capture them!

As usual up at Roan the weather is unpredictable; the winds began to increase and clouds rolled in again and I could swear I saw a snowflake!!!

About 4 pm we threw in the towel and headed for the coffee shop in Spruce Pine.

I tell you, a cup of coffee never tasted so good as to come off a cold wind blown mountain and drink coffee with your painting buddies. As the smartphones began the get the weather updates we saw the weather man's forecast was way off for Saturday. He was now predicting high winds and a hi of 47 with sprinkles. We had planned to paint the South Toe River. I think everyone was happy to switch to the indoor studio under the circumstances. Sandra Gates was so kind to offer her studio for all of us for the day.

Day 3

On Saturday morning we started at 9 am at Sandra's. I gave a short talk and explained my process of using my plein air studio to produce larger paintings indoors. I reminded everyone to spend some time drawing out a detailed plan before starting. This was a great exercise as most of us had no way to produce a photo image of any value. So we had to rely on our plein air study and memory. Some had never done this before, so they got to try it out. I think most of us learned something in the process. At 4:30 pm we cleaned up and had a little group exhibit. I had one of my studies which turned out really well, So everyone put their name in the hat for a drawing for a give away. It was a great workshop and again I want to thank everyone who made the sacrifice to attend! I look forward to next year.

Below is a slideshow video of some of the beautiful scenery and fun we had!

2011 Roan Mountain Trip

2011-06-21T13:03:00.003-04:00

During the second and third week of June I made my annual Roan Mountain Paint Trip. This is the fourth year I have been up. I had such a good time this year I can hardly contain myself. This blog is a great way to share some of these experiences and encourage other artists and nature lovers to go up to Roan Mountain to experience some of the beauties. While I was up at Roan I enjoyed painting with Craig Franz and Arlene Daniel. My trip started Tuesday June 7 at sunrise until Wednesday the 8th about 3pm. and I returned again on Tuesday the 14th and returning Wednesday the 15th. I was able to overnight in my truck again. The conditions were beautiful and varied as you can see in the images below. We had threatening skies but missed many rain showers. The paintings below are in order of each day I painted. Some I would consider completed paintings, but many I will work on later through the year as well as use for inspiration for larger studio works.

6-7-11-(1)

7:30am

8x10 oil on linen

6-7-11-(2)

9:30am

8x10 oil on linen

6-7-11 (3)

12pm

8x10 oil on linen

06-7-11 (4)

3pm

8x10 oil on linen

6-7-11 (5)

7pm

6x8 oil on linen

6-7-11 (6)

8:45pm

6x8 oil on linen

6-8-11 (1)

7:30am

9x12 oil on linen

6-8-11 (2)

10am

8x10 oil on linen

6-8-11 (3)

11:30am

9x12 oil on linen

6-8-11 (4)

1:30pm

10x8 oil on linen

6-8-11 (5)

6pm

8x10 oil on linen

#5 was actually done near Bakersville, NC on the way down the Mountain.

6-14-11 (1)

7:30am

9x12 oil on linen

6-14-11 (2)

9:30am

9x12 oil on linen

6-14-11 (3)

11am

8x10 oil on linen

6-14-11 (4)

1pm

8x10 oil on linen

6-14-11 (5)

3pm

5x7 oil on linen

6-14-11 (6)

3:45pm

4.25x6.25 oil on canvas

6-14-11 (7)

4:30pm

9x12 oil on linen

6-14-11 (8)

8:45pm

6x8 oil on linen

This was a first for me, to paint a sunset and moonrise just moments apart. The painting above was a

6 x 8 sunset obviously just roughed in about 15 minutes, when Craig Franz said to me, "Look at that moonrise!" I dropped everything to do another 6 x 8 of the moon rising between the clouds. This was a real finale completing 9 for the day.

6-14-11 (9)

9pm

6x8 oil on linen

6-15-11 (1)

7:45am

6x8 oil on linen

6-15-11 (2)

9:30am

8x10 oil on linen

6-15-11 (3)

12:30pm

9x12 oil gesso board

6-15-11 (4)

2:30pm

5x 7 oil on linen

Craig Franz

Try painting these colors!

Standing here to paint is a bit overwhelming, but everyone should try it. Just to stand here for a couple of hours to figure it all out.

My Father's Day gift created by my Daughters and money from my 5 kids

I hope to encourage you to take a trip up to Roan Mountain this summer. Most of these scenes were painted from Cloudland and Roan Gardens for a map to see the area and location click this google map

Why Should I Take a Plein Air Workshop?

2011-04-01T21:01:00.001-04:00

1. Learn to Paint Faster and More Efficiently

Because of the dynamics of painting outdoors we are pushed to capture our subject matter quicker than in the studio. The dynamics of course are the weather and moving light source, including moving clouds, cows, boats, people, and shadows. These variable features require the artist to paint with energy. Painting with an experienced workshop instructor will teach you how to grab a bigger brush, paint on smaller canvases, use fewer colors, and to get those initial colored shapes in quickly. As you begin to practice a bolder approach while painting outdoors, speed and efficiency will be the end result.

Marc Hanson Workshop with his Dog

2. See Demonstrations

During most plein air workshops your instructor will demonstrate painting outdoors, and a good instructor will explain the whole process while he or she paints, including why they selected the scene and how to approach it with paint including value and color relationships and handling their medium. Not all instructors can answer questions while painting fast, thinking, and explaining their process, so have a note pad ready to write down questions that might come to mind during the demonstration in which you may revisit these questions with the instructor when he or she may have more time to articulate an answer. You won’t be able to learn everything you need by watching an instructor demo, but it will help. It is especially enjoyable if the instructor produces artwork that you admire or is intriguing to you.

3. Finding Solutions to Our Painting Struggles

As artists, we all struggle, for life is full of trials and testing and art is no exception. Maybe you are having trouble with mixing color, composition, simplifying complex subject matter, knowing when you are finished, mastering a certain medium, selling your artwork, using fewer colors, or organizing your outdoor equipment without bringing the whole studio. I have found solutions for many of my painting struggles as a workshop participant with the help of an instructor as well as other students. Surprisingly many solutions will be discovered within the group of artists you are painting with. When choosing a plein air workshop seek out ones that will address some of your current struggles in art.

4. Immersion

Just as in learning a foreign language it is often helpful to immerse yourself in the language. A plein air workshop will allow you to work plein air without interruption away from the family, work, the cares of life and other distractions. Several days of intense instruction, painting exercises and group painting is a great way to immerse yourself into outdoor painting. I know this sound like a lot of work, but the true artist at heart would consider this experience a VACATION!!

For those interested in a 3 day plein air workshop in the mountains of North Carolina, I am announcing today my fall 2011 workshop in Burnsville, NC – September 29 thru October 1, 2011.

Burnsville is a beautiful quaint mountain town Northeast of Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest point East of the Mississippi River in the lower 48. This workshop will be limited to 10 students so if you are interested don’t procrastinate in reserving your spot in the workshop. For more information go to http://www.scottboyleart.com/workshop.htm for more details.

Limiting Color Choices Outdoors

2011-03-01T21:00:00.005-05:00

I really appreciate what Arthur Wesley Dow says about color in his book Composition. On page 161, he states in the first sentence, "Color, with its infinity of relations, is baffling; its finer harmonies, like those of music, can be grasped by the appreciations only, not by reasoning or analysis."

In the past I have used a fairly large palette of colors outdoors. However, reading this profound statement from Dow has caused me to rethink some of my ideas. So I have been limiting myself further for the sake of appreciation. You might say reducing the infinity of relations a bit. So here is what I have been working with lately - the primaries, cad red light, ultramarine blue and cad yellow light, plus yellow ochre. Of course you can paint with the 3 primaries but the yellow ochre just make me happier and gives me a quicker flexibility. The mixed pile on the left are the 3 primaries mixed about equally plus titanium white. The pile at the right are those primaries plus yellow ochre and white – Lovely!

Here is a small quickie out back 8 x 6.5. It was a warm cloudy misty afternoon and as I painted this location the sun began to peak through the overcast which added drama to the scene.

Here you can catch the mood; as you can see I used up all my blue and yellow ochre. I didn’t really have much to start. The cad red light goes a long way.

And here is one from out back of an old play house next to a wonderful Beech Tree. The light on this day was similar, overcast giving way to near sunset light.

Nature Walks

2011-01-28T20:35:00.002-05:00

Beginning in 2011 I am now well into my 40’s and feeling my age, have begun a new chapter in my life. I call them NW’s, or Nature Walks. Starting in January I implemented an exercise program of walking every morning to blow out the cobwebs. Now my home is about 45 minutes west of Charlotte in rural Gaston County of North Carolina, and I am grateful to have a vast wilderness behind my backyard. I can tell you this has become a most enjoyable experience.

I start at the creek which borders my backyard and from here I follow it upstream, crossing several tributaries taking me about 25 minutes round trip. I have been enjoying so many interesting things, like springs bubbling out of the ground, flocks of birds in the bushes singing their hearts out, changing moods of light with each sunrise, thinking of all the things I want to paint on the trail, deer trails, many beautiful stands of trees and Bushes – including Beech, Yellow Pine, White Oak, Giant Yellow Poplar, Hollies, Mountain Laurel, and Briar Patches.

Besides the discipline of exercise I look forward to utilizing the assets out back to studying nature and all it's subtleties and as an artist creating many interesting plein air works as well as saving expensive gas!

The Mystery of Christmas

2010-12-24T22:09:00.003-05:00

"North Carolina Christmas"

This is a scene I painted this week when I was inspired by one of my favorite webcams which is on Purchase Knob in the Smokies. I have it on my firefox coffee cup, which every time I open my firefox browser it will come up along with all my other favorite tabs. I love the variety of light on the mountains from moment to moment. I guess you could say this is my Holiday or Christmas Card to everyone!

The Magic of Christmas

I kind of resisted the commercialism of Christmas and with this painting I desired to downplay the lights and tinsel of the season. I wanted to inspire a deep and meditative mood during this season. A sort of quiet and introspective scene. Many of us will reflect on the past year and consider our lives and the impact we have had on our world. I know this has been a year I will not forget as my father-in-law, Nelson Silver died suddenly on September 22^nd . He was a great man of god who touched the lives of many people. I think if I could be half the man he was I would have a great effect on this world for good. I am going to miss him greatly. For me, the magic of Christmas is God’s Grace. He continues to offer the world a Savior for our sin problem. I know during this holiday period there are many different views and feelings and I just wanted to tell each of my friends and acquaintances how grateful I am to know you, and to have crossed paths. I look forward to painting and enjoying life with you all next year.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!

Scott and Esther Boyle

2010 Roan Moutain Trip

2010-07-04T18:41:00.002-04:00

On Monday June 21st artist Craig Franz and I met at Carver’s Gap before sunrise to paint the Roan Highlands. Our destination was Grassy Ridge on the North Carolina side of the Appalachian Trail, which is about a 90 minute hike with heavy back packs, quite a stretch for 2 out of shape old men. It was a beautiful morning in the color saturated light with cool crisp 58 degree air. Can your senses imagine the aromas that go with this photo? It was the beginning of a glorious day.

After recovering physically from our climb on Grassy Ridge at 6,200 above sea level, I painted this 8 x 10 oil study in the morning low light at about 8:45am.

Though the Rhododendron bloom was early this year, I used my artist license to add in these blooms. I just thought they ought to be there.

The next scene was mid morning as the sun was more overhead and the clouds were beginning to form which would add the drama for the rest of the day. This was an 8 x 10 oil study

This is my good friend Craig Franz from Linnville, NC. He was a real man to lug this huge easel, lunch and water up the mountain. Even though we missed the Rhododendron bloom, it was a blessing to get up on this ridge to paint for the day!

My next one was a vista of the beautiful clouds and with the moving shadows on the mountains. It was getting really hot in the sun so I eventually ended up sitting under the Fir tree on my right for some shade relief.

Here is my 8 x 10 oil Cloud study. What initially drew me to paint it, was the intriguing cloud shadows on the mountains. I attempted to capture the effect along with the feeling of the sky.

After having an interesting chat with a retired university professor I painted this 10 x 8 oil study on Grassy Ridge looking down the mountain to the southwest with hwy 261 towards Bakersville in the distance.

After doing 4 studies on Grassy Ridge I started my journey back down to Carver’s Gap to have supper with Craig at 5pm. I wish I had more canvas and time to paint what I saw along the way. It was all about the cloud drama and the light effects from them.

Now I say back down the mountain. That’s not exactly accurate. To go down to Carver’s Gap, you have to go down and back up about 3 times. Here is a photo of the Appalachian Trial up Jane Bald, NC is on my left and TN on my right. I got so tired one time I had to lay down under a tree for a while.

Down at Carver’s Gap parking lot Craig and I had a good time sharing painting stories. I was fascinated by the cloud shadows racing over Round Bald so I did this quick 8 x 10 oil of the drama while heating up a pan of chili I began to see some unusual clouds over my shoulder from the west. These were gray clouds headed right for me really fast. The hand writing was on the wall. So I reverted to the pack up mode. It all happened so fast I didn’t even get to eat before 60 mph winds and heavy rains hit. I had to eat in my truck. After it ended I went up to the Roan Gardens parking lot to sleep in my truck for the night.

The next morning I had oatmeal before sunrise. I did this 6 x 8 oil on the Roan Gardens overlook platform and captured the sunrise peaking through the Fir trees.

I discovered some wonderful obscure trails through Roan Gardens and found this beautiful early low light scene where the mountain appeared a lavender color. This was an 8 x 10 oil study.

For the last and final painting I did this 6 x 8 oil of Roan Gardens by 11am. The scene had turned cloudy so the colors were more subtle, a sort of melancholy scene.

Next year I hope to see other painters to come up to this heavenly place to paint and explore as a group!

April Plein Air Paintings

2010-05-09T23:53:00.001-04:00

April 2nd on the beautiful Cane River near Burnsville, NC. It was a cool crisp morning about 10am the water was a deep blue color as an elderly couple planted potatoes in the distant field.

On April 10th I was at Germanton, NC for the Germanton Art Gallery's Painting North Carolina Plein Air Show and sale. I painted this one on Saturday about 11am back behind the Gallery. I titled it "Spring Light"

On April 13th I was with the Charlotte Plein Air Painters at the Charlotte Museum of History painting the Hezekiah Alexander Home. I was attracted to the warm stone face of the house and the dark bushes with mustard green highlights and the overall intense sun light.

On April 20th I was in New Orleans, LA with my paints. It was a bit of a dreary day and I wondered around a bit before I settled on this scene of colored patch work in the overcast light near Bourbon St. These by the way or nice homes in the French Quarter but residence must keep their shutters closed due to the the crime.

This is at Wing Haven in Charlotte. I along with other artists were invited by the Charlotte Garden Club to paint in the gardens as a part of their fund raiser on April 24th. This was the side door at Wing Haven. Here I wanted to capture the feeling of sun and shade.

I still have a couple of openings for my 3 Day Plein Air Oil Workshop in Charlotte, NC June 1-3, 2010. For more info go to http://www.scottboyleart.com/workshop.htm

Being Selective

2010-03-16T12:18:00.000-04:00

Oh are we ready for spring! Yesterday was a beautiful day and I just had to get outdoors. And what do you do when you go outdoors, well paint of course. Out back behind my house was the logical direction, so I will show you what I found.

There is beauty and inspriation everywhere as I go about, but I am becoming more selective before I start to paint, for I have made a lot bad paintings in the past. I still do paint bad ones, but I try to learn from my mistakes when I understand them. One foudational step in creating a good sound painting is to consider the design of the scene. I ask myself, does the beauty have a design possibilities?

8x10

As you can see there is a backward S pattern in the water that takes you through the scene and the dark creek bank in the distant tree is a focal point. The interest to me also was the beautiful warm color in the creek bottom, the quickly moving clouds across the blue sky with the feeling of spring. These types of scenes are always a challenge for me because in my past life I would paint every branch and rock. You just can't do that outdoors in 2 hours; this forces me to be looser and more suggestive in what I am conveying. I feel this approach is more exciting. I hope you can find something out back to paint this week.

I will be teaching an 3 day plein air workshop June 1st, 2010 near Charlotte, NC. I will spend time with 10 students concentrating on the basic elements of oil painting and will include exercises to reinforce foundational skills needed to paint outdoors more effectively. For more on this artist workshop go please visit http://www.scottboyleart.com/workshop.htm

Painting Snow

2010-02-03T17:36:00.001-05:00

I have really been inspired lately reading Stapleton Kearn’s blog, especially his endurance for the cold. If you enjoy plein air painting you will learn a lot reading his blog. For the past 2 months we have had regular snow storms about every 2 weeks or so and I have had many opportunities to get outdoors to paint and explore the subtleties of snow. The definition of subtle would be: difficult to perceive or understand, delicate, faint, and mysterious. I was debating with some of my teenagers that snow is rarely white. But it is a bit elusive unless you spend time outdoors to study it. In this post I will show you 2 recent painting of snow, one under overcast and one in morning sunshine with shadows.

Here is the start of a study of Jacob’s Fork at South Mountain State Park in NC. The previous night they had received 10 inches of heavy snow.

This photo shows the cool light of the overcast on my son's skin and jacket.

Here is the finished 9 x 12 oil study with some minor corrections back indoors. You may be able to perceive cool lights of the snow, and reflections, greens, grays, and the warm shadows of the river bottom, forest darks and snow shadows. Now these temperature differences in the colors are just whiskers in difference.

Here I am painting last weekend about 9am in the morning when the sun came out. Oh what a joy this is! The color variations of snow in sun are a bit more bold and easier to paint. But the trick here is to carefully catch the color of the shadows on the snow. Now I am referring to a clear sunny day with blue skies. Now when the sun is low on the horizon, as in this scene, the shadows will be more blue and beautiful. As the sun gets higher in the sky the shadow become more lavender and grayer.

My finished morning snow 9 x 12 oil study, finished almost all outdoors. Just a little bit of clean up work and signing indoors. I hope you can see the temperature difference with this painting from the other. The lights are warm and the shadows are cool, which is opposite of the other painting in the overcast light. Again no where have I painted this snow pure white out of the tube. The sun lit passages have cadmium red and lemon added to the white to indicate sun light on the snow. Taking photos of snow rarely reveal these subtleties. The artist must dig and study to get them right by painting plein air.

Scott is Featured Artist at Germanton Gallery's 17th Annual Miniature Show

2009-12-02T16:33:00.004-05:00

"Roan Mountain Trail"

30 x 30 oil

Friday December 4th from 6pm - 8pm will be the opening reception for Germanton Art Gallery's Annual Miniature Show. I have been greatly humbled to be this year's featured artist. They will have 27 of my paintings on exhibit (see my online catalogue) along with so many great national artists which include, Robert Bateman, Carl Brenders, Luke Buck, Scott Burdick, Brent Cotton, Addren Doss, Barry Eisenach, Mary Erickson, Louis Escobedo, Amy Evans, Trey Finney, Heiner Hertling, Matthew Hillier, Ralph James, Susan Lyon, Don Miatz, Jacob Phiffer, Rosetta, Joe Seme, Patty Bailey Sheets, Matt Smith, Marsha Thrift, David Turner, and Laurie Waterfield. Many of these artists will also be attending the Friday evening reception.

On Saturday December 5th the show will continue from 11am - 4pm. During the day we will be privileged to host UNC-TV's North Carolina Weekend who will be on hand to gather information for a future program. Please come out and join us for this exciting event. The Show will continue on Sunday from 1pm - 4pm.

For more information on the show and directions go to my homepage at http://www.scottboyleart.com/

I hope to see you there!

Scott

Back Yard Quickie

2009-10-31T09:59:00.003-04:00

Gibson Branch behind my house

I have had a lot of opportunities to paint fall colors this year. It has been just beautiful this year. Normally I have not been too inspired by my own back yard. I guess all I see are the things that need fixin and cleaned up. There is a small creek at the edge of my property called Gibson Branch; it runs through a huge wooded area next door. Well the golden glow was beaming in my studio window, so I grabbed my gear and headed out back. This little creek is a bit of a challenge to paint, but it is up to the artist to make something of all the voices calling out. If you are ever doing a wooded stream scene be careful with those big straight diagonal trees. They are nice in 3d space, but I do better leaving them out for the most part. What inspired me was the beautiful golden light coming from behind the trees and reflecting in the water. I teaked the photo of the scene but still it doesen't show all the beautiful color.....that's why we paint.

"Full Color"

(study)

oil on linen

I didn't have much time so I grabbed a scrap 5.75 x 5 and jumped right in. I started in overcast light with the sun peaking through, which I feel produces more dramatic color. I used a size 6 and 2 hog hair bristle bush and a sable liner. Done in 35-40 minutes.

Painting From Lack Luster

2009-10-17T17:14:00.004-04:00

On Thursday October 15, I headed up to Blowing Rock, NC to paint the fall colors at Cone Manor along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had a few things working against Me. For one, I forgot most of my painting panels exept for 2 - 9x12's, and secondly the weather was bad. All of this being said, I tried to make the best of it.

Carriage House at Cone Manor

The weather was overcast and misty. I was surprised how quickly the color had mostly come and gone at the 4000 foot elevation. I was opimistic, something would be worth painting. As I began to gather my gear the clouds and mist started to cover the top of the mountain, so I headed down to Bass Lake at the lower elevation.

Down through the woods I came upon a wonderful opening with a golden Maple tree and some blue grey mountain peaks breaking the horizon. Just as I began to paint the rain and clouds moved in. I was fortunate the air was still and I held an umbrella in one hand and painted with the other.

One thing that intrigued me during this lack luster day, was the subtle beauty in the color of objects on a grey misty day. You can see some of the wonderful colors in the grass below my easel.

Finished study or at least what I saw before the rain hit.

Down at Bass lake the rain had quit, but again not too inspiring. The lily pads had turned brown and most of the color had fallen to the ground. I only had one linen panel left so I kept walking and walking thinking there was something better around the corner. Finally I got tired and decided to paint the trail in the overcast light.

So here's #2. What I saw was a subtle golden light from the canopy of tall trees with some massive White Pine trees and cool high lights on the Rhododenron bushes. When I started this study I was in the deep woods sort of speak, but continued the struggle until something emerged. I hope you feel the overcast light in the forest.

Painting At Deep Creek

2009-10-12T10:05:00.016-04:00

Early on Wednesday October 7th my son and I drove 3 hours to Deep Creek at the south end of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina near Bryson City. During the drive I thought we might be fogged in, but it turned out to be one of those rare days. As we approached the Park, the clouds began to break as the sun was rising. As we stepped outside, the air was crisp, the smells unbelieveablly refreshing, and the colors were vivid. These photos do not begin show you what we experienced. So I will try to add words and paintings to describe it.

Deep Creek at 8:30am as misty fog lifts

this photo only shows 1/4 of the color I experienced

Painting at the creeks bank

This study was mostly about the water as it struck me the most, so I down played the details of the forest and tried to create movement and in the creek to carry you through the painting. So the water is what showcases the color of the trees. If you take away the water in this picture the trees loose their drama!

Next, after lunch I came upon Juney Whank Falls. What a challenge it is to paint waterfalls; they move us emotionally but to paint them...........is a whole-nother story!

As you can see it starts at a 45 degree angle looking up and then falls to my feet fanning out into wild waves of misty grey colors.

Here you may be able to see some of the subtleties I mentioned, hints of greens from the reflected light from the forest and all variation of greys. I introduced a few spikes of the sky to add to the perspective. In this little 9 x 12 painting I used everything in my arsenal, pulling out quinacridone violet, cobalt blue, and ivory black which I almost never use - big brushes, little brushes, knives, paper towels, fingers, and signed with a toothpick.

Here is my 19 year old son Caleb fly fishing Deep Creek below the bridge. I try to paint where he wants to fish so we can hang out together. This time it was a good pick on his part. Here the sun is generally behind me in late afternoon and you can see just some of the color I mentioned, reflecting off the water and the photo is showing about 1/2 of what I was seeing!

This is Deep Creek just upstream of the bridge looking towards the light from the sun. Here again the photo lies, showing maybe 10 percent of the color. I could clearly see the cool violetly tones of the shaded stone bridge and the photo does not record it --This is why we need to paint plein air; so that we can begin to understand and learn how to represent colors of light with our paints. The more hours we stand in the face of nature with our palette and paints the more we will begin to understand and see color as an artist and to begin to effectively represent it with paint.

Deep Creek in full color

My son Caleb after a hard day of fishing. No fish for dinner as he is a catch and release guy, so we had Mama's Chilli - Mmm Good -and a few smores of course. The next day we painted a fished the Natahala River about 20 minutes away. More on that trip later.

If you would like to join me to paint plein air go to http://charlottepleinairpainters.ning.com/ for our latest free plein air event!

New Colors!

2009-10-04T15:25:00.009-04:00

In August I participated in the Avery County Arts Council Plein Air Competition at Banner Elk, NC. Many fine artists came out on a foggy morning to throw their hat into the ring. At the end of the day I was privileged to win 2nd place. I received an envelope which held a certificate from the Art Purveyors Art Store for Oil Paint. This Prize was donated by Mike Hill owner of Art Purveyors located in Foscoe, NC on HWY 105 below Grandfather Mountain between Banner Elk and Boone. A few weeks ago I stopped in to see Mike Hill to claim my prize. Mike is a dealer for M. Graham Oil Colors. I was overwhelmed when he gave me 1 tube of every Graham Oil Color he sells as my prize. That's about 50 colors a $500 retail value. Thanks Mike and the Graham Company! If you're out near Grandfather Mountain stop by The Art Purveyor Art Store or check out their site to see the wide range of products they sell.

"A Foggy Start"
Second Place at the Avery County Arts Council Plein Air Competition

Art and Literature

2009-09-18T14:22:00.005-04:00

I was amused and inspired this morning while driving my teenage son to composition writing class. One of his assignments today was to list ways men taught themselves to write. I kept asking him questions to his resistance about his assignment, thinking to my self, I wonder if I could do this class?

"Okay, Now read me everything!" Come ooooon Dad!!!! So he read about this English writer named Robert Louis Stevenson. Then I said wow, read that again! "Youuuu got to be kidding me!!!" No I'm serious!

This is how Stevenson attributes his great success as a writer. In his own words he says, "I was known and pointed out for the pattern of an idler; and yet I was always busy on my own private end, which was to learn to write. I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in. As I walked, my mind was busy fitting what I saw with appropriate words; when I sat by the roadside, I would either read, or a pencil and a penny version-book would be in my hand, to note down the features of the scene or commemorate some halting stanzas."

Doesn't this sound like a visual artist. Now you have it-the formula to become a great artist! It must become a burning passion that rarely ceases. Our minds should be always busy fitting what we see and experience into lines and paint strokes!

One thing I must point out about Robert Louis Stevenson, his greatest works of literature were completed during the last 10 years of his life. Some of his most famous were, "Treasure Island", "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", and "A Child's Garden of Verses"

The photo above is of Robert Louis Stevenson. 1850-1894

Plein Air Painters of the Southeast Come to North Carolina

2009-09-04T10:43:00.007-04:00

The Plein Air Painters of the Southeast PAP-SE Came to Leatherwood Resort and Equestrian located between Boone and Wilksboro, NC during the last week in August to hold a Paint Out and Artists Workshops. I camped out Tuesday through Friday and painted with many wonderful artist from around the state, several from surrounding states and as far away as Indiana! I'm not sure what the official count was but I would estimate around 40 artists came out. This was a wonderful event and a great opportunity for many of us to learn, share, and network. Some of the PAP-SE members who came to participate were: President - Diane Cruickshanks May, VP- Dee Beard Dean, Larry Moore, L. Diane Johnson, Paula Frizbe, Perry Austin, Loryn Brazier, Gavin Brooks, Richard Oversmith, Junko Ono Rothwell, and Michelle Morton-Public Relations. Thanks to PAP-SE professional painters for organizing this great event!!!

Artists Gina Strumpf and Dee Beard Dean in Elk Creek

Diane Johnson with her comfy setup

Clarkson Jones painting at our campsite

Larry Moore, from Florida painting on his Gloucester style easel

The Group painting Keys Cabin in the beautiful morning light

Not a word was spoken from these artists for 90 minutes as we were in deep concentration trying to capture the fleeting light.

artists spouses doing some serious book reading

Afternoon by the River

This is one serious painter who put us to shame; she drove 2 hours from Charlotte with her 3 yr old son to paint with us in the hot sun not to mention she is nine months pregnant.

Trey Finney from South Carolina before supper

Painting Water Falls on the Cullasaja

2009-07-27T22:08:00.014-04:00

On July 20th I traveled to Highlands, NC to do some waterfall studies. This is the first time I have intensely focused on cascades. What a challenge! Not something for the faint at heart. These waterfalls are like hungry lions, devouring swimmers and plein air artists!

Here is a small video of the falls. Try putting this on 10 x 8 inch canvas. before the late afternoon light changes!

Between Highlands and Franklin, NC lies the Cullasaja River and gorge which contains dozens of spectacular waterfalls. This painting was done from the base of the gorge with a view of the lower part of a 200' cascade.

This is a powerful waterfall known by the locals as bust-your-butt falls. Two weeks ago a man died from being caught under a rock.

This 12 x 9 study done was done about 10am.

This is a cascade over a giant slick rock. You would not believe all of the major poison ivy I had to hike through to get to this one

6 x 8 study in shadow about 1pm

8 x 10 study of the same location with sun and more at a distance about 2:30pm

Here is a view of the King of the East. Whitewater Falls south of Cashiers, NC is the highest falls East of the Mississippi at 411'.

You can not appreciate the size of Whitewater Falls without seeing the movement of water. With this video you can begin to sense it's power and great size.

On Top of Roan Mountain

2009-06-26T16:53:00.019-04:00

In June I spent a total of 4 days on Roan Mountain on the North Carolina - Tennessee border hiking and painting. It was an incredible experience and I wanted to share just some of my trip. If you have never been to Roan Mountain, I highly recommend it. It is one of the most beautiful places in all of the East Coast!

A full palette of colors is still insufficient to capture this scene!

Noontime Clouds

On top of Jane Bald looking on to Round Bald. Not something I would recommend painting but I just had to try.

The trail you see is the Appalachian Trail which borders North Carolina and Tennessee. Here your Left foot is in NC and your right foot is in TN.

Just after supper.

Last light on Round Bald a view from Carver's Gap

Here is my kitchen, bedroom, and art storage room.

Painting at Cloudland Recreation Area was really in the clouds on this day. Just a note here about painting greys, you just don't use black and white. There are all kind of colors on a foggy day. I actually used about every color on my palette except black to paint this scene.

On my way home I saw this beautiful creek along NC261 at Bakersville, NC. I just had to stop and try to paint it. A bit too much information and a little overworked though very colorful.

All in all it was a great trip with 15 paintings, a lot of exercise and enough inspiration for a year's worth of Roan Studio work. If you would like to see more photos of my trip go to http://www.scottboyleart.com/Roan%20Mountain%20Trip.htm

American Impressions Exhibit

2009-05-24T12:51:00.006-04:00

On April 4th, 2009 I was in Winston-Salem to visit the American Impressions Exhibit. This Exhibit is on display at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston Salem, NC. This show includes about 32 incredible paintings from American impressionists artists from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who were apart of the prestigious National Academy (NA) organization in New York.

All artists and art lovers with an interest in impressionism needs to see this Exhibit at Reynolda House. Some of my favorites works that I saw were from Chauncey Ryder, Henry O. Tanner, Carl Rungius, and Aldro Thompson Hibbard. Overall this was an impressive show and very inspiring to any painter.

The American Impressions will be on exhibit till June 28, 2009

American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA)

2009-04-27T11:02:00.011-04:00

Painting by Christopher Blossom ASMA

American Society of Marine Artists is now on display through September 2009. My family and I had the privilege to see this marvelous Exhibit at the Spartanburg Art Museum in South Carolina. The Exhibit will be in Spartanburg through May 2nd, 2009 as it is a traveling exhibit and will move on to its next stop at Wilmington, Delaware.

Everyone who has some interest in art NEEDS to see this Exhibit! On display are 100 paintings and sculptures from the Greatest Marine Artists living today in the United States. If you enjoy fine art, this show will take your breath away! I asked my 14 year old daughter if she could pick the 4 best pieces and she said yes, but it would take a couple of hours for her to decide. This is from a teenager who was reluctant to come. My 9 year old after seeing the show wanted to paint with me when we got home.

Chapman Cultural Center including the Spartanburg Art Museum

For any of you who have not been to the new Spartanburg Art Museum (SAM) it is a beautiful facility and part of the Chapman Cultural Center. The Center includes 3 beautifully designed buildings which were finished in 2007 and costing $32 million. Scott Cunningham, Assistant Director and Curator of the Art Museum and his staff are to be commended for giving us the opportunity to experience this wonderful exhibit from the American Society of Marine Artists. Also going on at SAM is the wonderful Blossom - Art of Flowers Exhibit which continues till June 13, 2009

Plein Air Inspirations

2009-04-06T21:14:00.002-04:00

For those of you who do not know Artist Marc Hanson, I want to tell you what he is up to. Marc is a wonderful landscape painter living up in Minnesota and is a plein air master. For the whole month of April of 2009 he is painting 4 - 5x7 inch plein air paintings a day and posting them on his blog each day for a total of 120. He calls it "My Painting Marathon" Here is the link http://marchanson.blogspot.com

That is what you call hard work! By the way Marc is a great teacher also; I took his 5 day landscape workshop at Taylors Falls, MN 2 years ago. I highly recommend him.

Scott

Painting In Hawai'i

2009-04-02T22:34:00.008-04:00

Esther my wife has worked very hard over the last year and earned us a trip to Hawaii for 7 days from the company she works with called Stampin' Up. Not only was she good enough to take me along, but she let me bring my paints! We stayed just north of Kona on the big island. Where we were located, the annual rainfall is only 5 inches a year, irragated of course.

This was the first painting I did during our stay. I must humbly say it was a crash and burn, a wipe out, or should I say a wipe down. Never never paint the sun directly, unless you know what you are doing.

Big island is a good name for this place. Not only is the island big, the mountains are big also. The largest are over 13,000 feet above sea level. That is actually twice the size of the Rocky Mountains by comparison and are snow covered year around. And on the other side the weather is totally different. They receive over 250 inches of rain a year.

The eastern side of the island and one of the many waterfalls where it rains almost every day.

We got to see active volcanoes, but I was glad it wasn't too active during our visit. This time last year this volcano blew and sent boulders the size of cars into the parking lot right near where Esther is standing.

Painting at Black sands beach in the wind! You can see my hat influencing my palm tree.

Another quicky. Me, hanging onto the easel and leaning into the wind.

Mountain top painting at about 5000 feet overlooking the Pacific. About 50mph wind kicked up and started blowing black sand all over my paintng and into my eyes sent me running for cover.

Mountain drive where rainbow are common. What a diversity of landscape the big island has.

Hapuna Beach with beautiful white sand. These waves are seriously mean!

Nice spot to paint. It was in the shade, out of the wind and next to the men's room and water fountain!

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

2009-03-17T21:38:00.000-04:00

On Friday March 6, I visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO.

This Art Museum is truly a treasure. Its admission is always Free and on Thursdays and Fridays is open until 9PM. One thing that impressed me was the quality of frames. The taste and beauty was stunning and worth the visit just to see the frames alone, but there is so much more to this wonderful museum. Many many must have sacrificed for this great place and it's many treasures!

To see the photo album of my visit click on http://www.scottboyleart.com/nelson-atkins%20museum%20Kansas%20City.htm

Paintin in the Snow

2009-03-07T20:58:00.000-05:00

On Sunday night March 1st we had a beautiful snow storm with heavy wet snow and thunder. Monday morning the sun came out and illuminated beauty everywhere! Since we lost electricity I couldn't paint inside, so I went exploring to find a picture outdoors, but not too far from the woodstove. Not bad only about 50 steps to these snow heavy cedar trees.

This is my 45 minute study. After that, my feet were ready to go back to the fire.

February 2009 Plein Air Paint Out

2009-02-23T15:11:00.000-05:00

On Saturday the 21st. 6 artists - 4 painting, came out to enjoy the afternoon light in Dallas, NC. We all had a wonderful time capturing the historic courthouse in oils. To see photos of our paint out see the link below.
http://www.scottboyleart.com/february%2009_paintout.htm

This month begins my FREE monthly Plein Air Paint Outs near Charlotte, NC. Each month from February thru November I will publish an organized plein air paint out for artists. If you are interested in attending just visit the link below for the latest upcoming events.
http://www.scottboyleart.com/paint_outs.htm

I look forward to painting with you! Scott

About My Best Half

2009-02-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

If you have not met her, this is Esther my wife. As Valentine's Day is approaching I wanted to give her tribute. She is one of the great reasons for my success as an Artist. A wonderful critic with an objective eye who attends art and gallery shows with me, My accountant and cook, scheduler and agent, mother of 5 and home school teacher, but most of all my BEST FRIEND!

Happy Valentine's Day, Esther Proverbs 31:23

Richard Oversmith Still Life Workshop

2009-02-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

Oversmith demo painting

I attended a still life workshop with my friend Richard Oversmith this weekend along with 5 others. This was a 2 day workshop held at his studio in Asheville, NC. Richard is one of the finest artist today living in North Carolina and is still under 40. I have painted plein air with Richard many times but have always enjoyed his still life works. It was time well spent as I am mostly a landscape painter. Richard has impressive assortment of still life object to choose from and spent much time on compositional set up and lighting as well as 2 demos, a short talk on art appreciation and lot of individual attention and critiques when asked. If you wanted to see some of Richard's great brush strokes he was always happy to add a few.

Any artist looking for a good workshop to attend in North Carolina, I highly recommend checking out Richard Oversmith in Asheville.

How dark those trees are

2009-02-07T22:09:00.000-05:00

This is the Old Kiser Dairy Farm near my home in Bessemer City, NC. This is a study I painted in August 09. It was a hot day, about 98F. I drive by this farm many times a week in and out of town and I always have to look as an artist as I pass by sometimes waving at my neighbor Martin as I go. One thing I always notice is how dark green these summer trees are around the barn no matter how bright the sun shines.