Last of Summer – Day 15-16 – Strada Easel Challenge

Yay!  We have passed the half-way point of the Strada Easel Challenge to paint from life every day for 30 days.

After a trip up to Wyoming to paint at Vedauwoo and the Snowy Range, I am back home and back in the studio.  So, you may have already seen these on Facebook or Instagram, but here’s a quick look at the past two days.

Day 15 – Half-way – Yay!

They day was too beautiful to be indoors. So, I setup on the back deck to paint an ever faithful model.  This aspen tree has been shaped to grow away from the deck, which exposes the slender trunk and all the color and shadow.

"Aspen Study #?", 7x5, oil on board, © Nelia Harper
“Aspen Study #?”, 7×5, oil on board, © Nelia Harper

I used a different surface today, partly to use existing materials and partly out of curiosity. It’s an old  Pastelbord by Ampersand that’s supposed to be ok for oil. It’s highly absorbent and felt sticky. Great for knife work, not so great for rubbing back. Maybe with enough gamsol?

The oil soaks right in. Kinda interesting. I have a few more boards around, so I’ll give it another go.

Day 16

For the first time in weeks (months?) we woke to a rainy day. The high today was 67. Although we will still have gorgeous fall days ahead, a drop in temperature generally means the end of summer flowers. I snipped a couple for today’s painting.

"Last of the Summer Flowers", 8x6, Oil on Canvas panel, © Nelia Harper
“Last of the Summer Flowers”, 8×6, Oil on Canvas panel, © Nelia Harper

One of my goals this summer was to paint a bouquet of dahlias. Unfortunately, the timing never worked. We had too many scorching hot days for the flowers to bloom happily. The buds would wither if it was too hot.  Or, I would finally get some blooms, and the timing was off for me.

Hopefully next summer I will have enough blooms for an indoor bouquet.   Better yet, great weather to paint outside.

On a side note…
A few weeks ago, I bought a new phone (my previous phone died). Supposedly the camera was improved. However, I’m finding that it wants to ‘blow out’ the lights/whites. If I adjust in photoshop, the image gets too dark…Hopefully I’ll figure out a solution.

To see all of the paintings for the #stradaeasel challenge, head on over to Instagram or Facebook to see all of my posts together.  And, use the hashtag #stradaeasel to see what others are up to in the Strada Easel Challenge.  You can also click “previous post” to see the earlier paintings from last week.

Have a great weekend!

 

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