Roan Mountain 2012

In this post is a record of my 6 day journey and 23 small paintings I completed.  All of them were done on the spot ala prima (all at once) except for #23 which I messed with.

On June 6, 2012 I met with my good friend and painter Craig Franz to paint Roan Mountain, this was our 3rd annual trip to paint Roan Mountain.  My goal this year was to become more efficient with my painting equipment. Everything was ultralight. All of my canvas's were 8" wide in various formats mounted on 1/16" museum board.  I was able to carry 8 wet paintings back to back in a box I constructed 8.5 x 10.5 x 3.25" using my 8 x 10 Open M Box palette, tripod, paints & brushes, OMS, food & water gave me 22 pounds of gear.  The other thing I did differently was to train, by hiking up a small mountain near my home about a month ahead of time. This made a huge difference.

#1 Study 6x8 oil on canvas -10am down Round Bald, Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge in the background

Craig Franz before our ascent up Grassy Ridge.  Craig is a real man with a real back pack, though he is going a lot lighter this year than last. We keep getting smarter.

Here is a good shot of my gear on Grassy Ridge about 6300' elevation.  It was an absolutely beautiful day with heaven like clouds and shadows.

#2 Study 8x6 oil on canvas - 1PM Spruce and Clouds on Grassy Ridge

#3 Study 5x8 oil on canvas  - 3PM Cloud shadows looking South across Grassy Ridge.  After this one we headed down to find us a campsite at Roan Mountain State Park which is 8miles down the hill on the Tennessee side.

On day 2 we were socked in with fog and clouds, fairly chilly about 49 degrees all day long.  It never did clear up and we stayed right near the parking lot at Carvers Gap.  Why go up and up when it all looks the same.  Here is an example of another smart old man decision!

#4 Study 6x8 oil on canvas - 9AM ah those subtle grays!

Here was my palette for painting the foggy scene.  Folks will ask me how did you mix that gray color, well there is! A little bit of everything plus white.  It is quite fun actually and it is really about knowing the personality of each of your colors.

#5 Study 6x8 oil on canvas - 11AM. I kept telling Craig that the sun was going to break loose any minute.  Well I got tired of waiting and just made it sunny by doing the same scene before but imaging the sun light.

#6 Study 10x8 oil on canvas - 1PM. Looking up Round Bald catching a glimpse of the occasional cloud breaks, here the blue in the sky appeared psychedelic, it was fun to attempt capturing it!

I wish we had taken more photos of  the painters together, here is one Craig took of me after getting a bite to eat.

#7 Study 8x7 oil on canvas - 3PM, Up Round Bald with more cloud breaks

#8 Study 8x8 oil on canvas - 5PM Appalachian Trail Cut-Through with cloud breaks looking South

Day 3 was beautiful day with thick fog in the valleys which lifted up to represent heavenly clouds by mid morning.

We were joined by my friend and artist Jeremy Sams, Jeremy is painting next to the rock

If you want to capture these kind of cloud in your painting, you've got to paint like a crazy man!

#9 Study 10x8 oil on canvas - 8:30AM on Round Bald Morning light

Craig Franz painting a high key painting!

#10 Study 8x7 oil on canvas - 10AM Cloud study looking West face-lit hill, added the trail for interest

#11 Study 8x8 oil on canvas - 11AM looking at the Appalachian Trail down Round Bald, Grassy Ridge in background

Photo of Catawba Rhododendron on our way up Grassy Ridge

Ah!! glad to get these off our backs!  It is hard to discern but the distant dark ridge is cloudland and Roan Gardens about 5 miles distance. the next hill is Round Bald with lots of up and down elevation change about 2 miles.

#12 Study 8x8 oil on canvas - 2PM, face lit greens on Grassy Ridge with cloud shadows in the distance.

Jeremy Sams taking a pose with his Shadebuddy Umbrella on the Top of the World!....East Coast that is

#13 Study 6x8 oil on canvas - 4PM cloud shadows over Cloudland and Grassy Ridge Rocks

Day 4, I painted this cloud view up Round Bald - #13 Study 6x8 oil on canvas

#15 Study 8 x 10 oil on canvas - around the corner the view of the sky looking up the AT was fabulous, and there were plenty of hikers to pose for models, but only briefly.

#16 Study 8 x 10 oil on canvas - AT down Round Bald, the scene here is face-lit greens with not much restriction in the visibility. Kind of challenging, so I thought I'd give it a try.

#17 Study 8 x 8 oil on canvas - Mid afternoon here I was struck the the brilliant light, kind of back & top-lit scene with mountain shadows in the background.

#18 Study 8 x 8 oil on canvas - slight right turn from the last one, looking up Round Bald did this cloud study.

Didn't get many photos of myself, here I am at arms length with my sunburned lips. Needless to say I spent a lot of time looking into the sun.

On Day 5 the following week, June 12, 2012 I came up with my 2 sons, This is Joshua, 19, who loves to run and do anything sports related. I didn't paint this day as the sun was just going down, and I had to make some supper

On our way up to see the sunset my son Joshua found this Salamander on the AT, he was so bright orange it didn't look real.  We moved him off the the grass as he was a slow mover.

Not much of a sunset but some really awesome clouds!

Day 6, June 13th I met up with several members of the Charlotte Plein Air Painters Did this #19 Study 10 x 12 oil on canvas - looking towards the sun with a heavy dew and mist in the air.

#20 Study 12 x 16 oil on canvas - around 10:30 AM clouds began to form in the vista

#21 Study 12 x 12 oil on canvas - spruce and vista, the light here is soft and face-lit

#22 Study 8 x 10 oil on canvas - this one was done after supper and some home roasted coffee as I saw the sunset from the Cloudland parking lot, great fun!

#23 Study 6 x 8 oil on canvas - here I just turned around and saw this awesome thunderstorm in the valley opposite the sunset.  This is a real quickie, maybe 15 minutes, all the colors changed so rapidly as the sun sank below the horizon.

This is my oldest son Caleb, 22, that same evening he hiked up to Grassy Ridge to camp on top of the mountain.

This is the same view he had from Grassy Ridge of the thunder heads

This is the sunrise my son Caleb woke up to on Grassy Ridge.  It helps he is a great photographer.

Day 7 I took my french easel up Round Bald to do, or start this 24 x 20 on the AT

Here is a large 30 x 40 studio work I am finishing from one of my 6 x 8 studies of Round Bald

Charleston SC Trip

On Monday Feb 20, 2012 I packed up and headed for Charleston, SC for a multi-painting trip.

Monday was a blustery chilly day.  First stop was Shem Creek to paint some shrimp boats

As you can see by this photo, even if the boats don't move they will still rise and fall with the tide. There is quite a change in just 3 hours.  So the moral of the story is don't correct your boat drawing once you have started, just as you normally wouldn't chase the light.

His and Hers, the name of this boat.  12 x 16 oil on gesso masonite panel, I titled it "His and Hers Vacation" since it is the off season and would think she is enjoying herself! 

"Last Light on Shem Creek" 8 x 10 oil on linen wood panel.  20 minute of working time on this one and finished in the studio. Enjoyed a beautiful sunset but was too tired to paint it since I had gotten up a 3am and was starved!

Day 2

I made a trip to Folly Beach to paint a sunrise but slept to late and by the time I got there the light was all washed out and everything looked so brown.  My wife always complains when I bring home "brown" paintings.  I tell her I painted what I saw!  O well I have stacks of them at home.  They don't sell to well.

So I kept driving and driving and ended up Sullivan's Island and Ft. Moutrie.

 "Path to Beach" 12 x 16 oil on gesso panel, Sullivan's Island 2pm.  Met a nice couple next door and their friend from Cape Cod  who was an art teacher.  He told me of a wonderful old fish house on the water near 18 1/2 station st.

By the time I got over there to set up and paint the light was waning and It was a bit dreary though for about 20 minutes there appeared this very subtle moody light right before sunset.  This was a quickie about 45 min max and then finished in the studio.  I added some foreground weeds and rocks though it is really about the beautiful reflections in the water and the fleeting evening light.  12 x 16 oil on gesso panel titled "The Ole Fish House"

Day 3

Each Day was warmer and more pleasant, around 70 this day.  On the porch of the ship wreck restrurant and painted with a local painter from Mt. Pleasant.  Her name was Elizabeth.  This is a 12 x 16 oil, again at high tide the fall of the boat was dramatic.  These boats were almost sitting in the mud when it bottomed out.  The ship is the Megan Elaine from the back side. 

After lunch and driving around a while I ended up back at the shrimp dock on Shem creek about 2:30pm.  This is Capt. Tang which has very pale blue trim, not the color I would have picked but had it had an interesting look in back light.  This was my favorite painting of the trip as I was able to overcome many challenges  keeping all the shadows light and keeping the sky and background darker.  I felt I was able to capture the dramatic light with a fairly narrow value scheme.  The whole thing was kind of a seat of the pants-er-alla prima.  It was done on a 14 x 12 gesso panel.

If you were working only from a photo.... this is what you get!

I stayed at the James Island County Park across the river from Charleston.  I had it pretty good as a tent camper with electricity and water at the site, not to mention hot showers at the bath house.  I had lightning fast wifi for the ipad, a lamp, and electric coffee grinder for my home roast!  And No Rain or mosquitoes! 

Day 4 

"67 Meeting Street" 14 x 12 oil, or I think that was the address of this place.  Charleston is so beautiful and historic.  I talked to the owner for a while.  She said it was built in 1740 something and had 4 floors until a canon ball demolished the 4th level during the civil war.  I stopped here because the way the morning light was illuminating the flowers and plants.  It was quite enjoyable to paint this scene and talk with many people on the street.

36 Meeting St, is the white house with the flag.  I painted here during the afternoon after visiting with Dee Beard Dean at her beautiful new Gallery at 29 Broad St.  I also had a wonderful discussion with a couple who was staying at the 36 Meeting St. house which is now a bed and breakfast.  The lady told me she rented an apartment there 50 years ago.  I asked her how things were different back then.  She said it was nice then too though there are not as many cockroaches today!

I had planned to spend another night and paint Friday but was a bit homesick for the family so I headed back on Thursday night.

June 1, 2012 opens an exhibit of the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast www.pap-se.com which will exhibit 50 some works at 4 galleries in Charleston.  I will be included in this group show.  Many of us from the group will be painting in the Charleston area the week of Memorial day prior to the opening.