Winter Walk

Though I've been working on this painting for the past week, today seemed a good day to post about it. Outside it is a cold, slushy mess here in Ashland VA. It's a good day to sit by the fire sipping tea and reading art books--unless, of course,  you happen to live with a five year old. Then it's all snow angels, snow men, and snowball fights, until finally thawing out with hot cocoa. But there is something pretty magical about seeing the snowfall through the eyes of a child, and even a mere dusting must be thoroughly explored and exploited.

This painting was inspired by our very first snowfall in Ashland. My niece happened to be here visiting and she and my little daughter created some nice interest for the wintry setting I'm featuring here, which is located in the park that sits just behind our house.

The start..

Using very broad shapes, I loosely lay in my design using general notes of color and values.

I wanted to keep this piece soft and impressionistic, so I'm experimenting with scraping and applying with a palette knife in addition to my more usual brushwork.

A detail

Here's an up-close view of the little figures (my niece and daughter) who add a little life to this peaceful scene.

I had a beast of a time photographing this painting for accurate color, and I didn't bother to do any color correction on the sequence of progress shots above. The colors are pretty accurate in the final shot of the painting below, however. It was a really fun and different painting for me, and I enjoyed all of the soft edges and the subtle color palette employed to create the mood.

"Winter Walk", Oil on linen, 20x24",  ©Jennifer E Young

Watching the Waves

Here is the last plein air painting I did at the beach last week. It was a quickie, started around 4:30 or so and wrapping up around 6PM. Watching the waves is one of my favorite things to do when I'm at the beach.

"Watching the Waves" Water miscible oils on linen, 8x8" ©Jennifer E Young

What is it about the ocean that calls us so? I guess it is the mystery of it. Or maybe it's the rhythm of the tides? Or maybe it's just that it is the place where we all originated, and it's depths are still unknown. My daughter once asked me, "When does the ocean stop waving?" Exactly! It never does, though it never ceases in changing either.

Incidentally, as I was painting this little vignette of our neighbor with her blue striped umbrella, I was photographed by Hidden Outer Banks!

Plein air painting at Nags Head. Image credit Hidden Outer Banks

Check them out. It was perhaps the one time when I actually didn't mind having a picture taken in my bathing suit. ;-)

Sand Play

If you live in Richmond. Virginia and heard someone crying out in agonizing frustration this afternoon, it may have been me trying to bring this painting to a satisfactory conclusion.

"Sand Play" (NFS) Oil on Canvas, 12x12"© Jennifer E Young

This was actually an experiment, and one of those "what would happen if..." paintings that I probably would have put unfinished in the "circular file". But my four year old daughter (who is the subject of this piece) saw it in progress.

"When I grow up to be a beautiful woman," she said, "I will give this painting to my little girl". (How cute is that?) Of course, after that, I had to finish it. I may add a little touch or two, but it is more or less done. When my daughter saw the final, she squealed with delight and said, "Thank you Mommy!" That made it all totally worth it! (And now the neighborhood can enjoy their Labor Day weekend in peace.)