Some New Work from Out n About

"El Campo - Octubre" 9x12in. oil on panel
We did a lot of plein air work last week out in the campo. This was the last one just outside of town near San Miguel Viejo. I used to like using 'dry brush' technique a lot when I was a kid but I largely drifted away from it as I got older. Well, about 2 weeks ago I decided to revisit it and all last week I was leaning on it more and more. I like the look of it ( a bit like pastel ) and it was really fun, even on location - once I got used to it again. I can't wait to get back out again but at the moment we're about to be hit by hurricane 'Jova'! We won't see the high winds - the mountains tear them up before they get this far inland - but we'll probably get a deluge of rain. It's looking pretty dark and grim at the moment.

'La Cupula Media Naranja' - Neutla
8x10in. oil on panel
........ this one from the little village of Neutla, about 45 minutes from San Miguel. They don't even have a single restaurant in town. It was very, very quiet in Neutla and the people were very, very friendly. They acted at first like we were from Mars but we ended up getting invited for dinner - great little place - we'll be going back for more!

'La Puente - Neutla' 9x12in. oil on panel
Another from the same place - this one actually done in the morning before our move to the central jardin, where I tackled the 'Cupula Naranja'. We had half the village walk by us over the bridge - all wide eyed at their first site of Donna and I with our easels set up. It's hard to believe they're not used to painters by the score setting up here. We didn't see another gringo all day and didn't miss 'em either.

'Desde Arriba' 8x10in. oil on panel
This one was a little closer to home and the first one done on our new 8x10in. plein air kits. The kits were fine but I'm so used to working on 9x12 and up, it's going to take a little getting used to. I designed the smaller ones to fit in the box on the back of the motorcycle so we could carry more panels of that size. But I like to do some detail before I consider a picture complete and I'm finding there seems to be a sort of critical limit to how small you can go and not have 'hand shake' become a significant factor. The new boxes are lighter than ever though and are going to be a great asset when size and weight are a big consideration.