Studio/Plein Air

I know—no such thing but both of these painting have had some studio retouch work after Plein Air starts, I've been reading too much Stapleton Kerns. It comes from just missing that certain thing that makes them into art. Most of the times it's focus but sometimes it's result of the paint getting to thick and the fact that you can't do much with it till it dries. The top painting is called Nouveau Woods because of the Art Nouveau like vines hanging from the trees. It takes a lot of simplification when your painting in the woods—you can't possibly paint every tree and fallen leaf. In the end this one works, with the deep shadow breaking out to the sun lit poplars and the orange reflection in the stream.
The bottom painting was from about a month ago at Mountain Park and has a lot going on for a small painting. The light and color is a bit stronger than most of the work I do. I had to repaint that tree several times and in the end I think this painting is about the tree—I was trying to get the couple on the bench to be primary focus but the far left placement worked against the whole painting and in the end they lost out.