Another Figure Study

Figure Study

Occasionally I draw the figure, usually with a group but sometimes I`ll hire a model. This is a matter of high anxiety. The posing time is limited, the model will be comfortable just so long. The room is always too hot and it`s inescapable whether you get it right or not. There`s the model, there`s the drawing. I inevitably feel that I failed, I won`t even glance at them again for days. Then I get curious and look. Sometimes I`m surprised.

Coast Range Farm

my beautiful brother has died

Gary Tipton, July 24, 1947-September 22, 2008, my very own Theo.

Columbia Slough Dusk

Another small landscape. These pieces on the Japanese plastic paper called Yupo involve watercolor, acrylic, crayon, gels and varnishes. It`s plastic, nothing is absorbed, so it requires a different approach, new techniques to get the paint to stick. I`ll have several of these at the first Portland Art Open this weekend.

Rain at the Edge of the Stream

Painted from memory of a walk along the Clackamas River.

Heat Rises in the Garden

From 1997.

Plein Air Watercolor - Across the Field

Plein Air Watercolor

Almost ten years ago, I sat on the wall of Mt. Angel Abbey and painted this. It was a chilly February day, I was on the mend from back surgery and I was with my old pal Lake who was also painting. A good time.

Coastal Pasture

Columbia River Slough

We`re off to the coast, Cape Meares, beautiful beyond belief!

Island Farm

Marine Air

Another view of Sauvie Island. Although it`s 8o miles from the ocean, it feels much closer. The light, salt air and sense of space seem so coastal.

Landscape with Red

Along the Dike

Northwest of Portland, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, is Sauvie Island. Half is protected wildlife preserve, the other for farming. Such a fun place to paint! Even though it`s popular for it`s beaches it has an uncrowded timeless feel to it. Being a freshwater island, it used to flood regularly, now dikes hold back the rivers. The views across this fertile landscape are vast and peaceful.