Portrait and Plein Air Studies

Chicago winters tend to be quite gray so the few days I've ventured outside to paint the landscapes have been sunny days. I am really struggling with understanding edges. These are 14"x11" plein air oil studies.
I am still enjoying escaping the cold for the Palette and Chisel where there is always a model to paint. I'm showing two 20"x16" which are more successful than others.

Spring Mist

Misty foggy mornings continue to fascinate me. I'm after capturing just the right value to express that unique quality of air.

(6"x8" oil, $175.)

Painting Fall

The change of seasons makes it doubly fun to return to my favorite paint spots. All of a sudden it is something completely new to paint. These three pieces were painted one chilly morning last week. It was so cold I had to pull on my winter paint coat and gloves. The added challenge of this morning was that the sun tried to come out but mostly stayed darkly overcast.
Initially I thought I would do a value study using only Ultramarine Blue and Oxide Red but towards the end of each study and added Yellow Ochre Pale. And instead of using my favored palette knife I used a brush. I toned my canvas on location so that I could pull out my lights without adding white to my palette.
(6"x8" oil $99. each)

"Forgotten Homestead" 40"x30" oil

"Forgotten Homestead" is a painting about a place that could probably tell a thousand stories if only it could speak. Hopefully my painting is strong enough to fill in some of the gaps. This old farm looked so beautiful half buried in the prairie grass and wild flowers.
Painted with my favorite tools, a palette knife and a #20 round.

For those of you who made the Marion Street Gallery opening, Thank You!!! so much for braving the horrid weather. I hope you enjoyed the live music and variety of art as much as I did. And if you didn't get to the gallery yet, please stop by soon. I will be hanging new paintings to replace the gaps from the opening week sales!

etc. again

So I'm really enjoying my little pochade box. Besides being so handy that it can easily fit into any small bag/purse since it's only 5"x7", it gets me out of the studio faster and allows me to paint more inconspicuously while jotting quick color and value notes in oil. The second photo shows the pochade strapped to my leg instead of hand-held. I came home from work and saw the beautiful shadow crossing my neighbors side door and had to try to catch it.

I'm still obsessed with poppies and thought I'd post a few more of my efforts. The close-up is 8"x8." The last painting, but not the last in my poppy series, is my attempt at inventing a flowing and slightly rolling meadow punctuated with mostly poppies. It's 24"x24," love that square format. If you go to my Etsy site you'll see a few more example of my poppy paintings that I favor. (http://www.susanhongsammons.etsy.com/)

Pochade Box

This week it's finally been warm enough that while plein air painting I have not had to wear long johns, feet and hand warms, wool sweaters, and several other layers but, I still need gloves and a heavy coat. Still with the sun shining sometimes, I was motivated to bring out my little poached box made by fellow plein air painter and part-time carpenter, Denny. This sweet little paint box has a strap on the bottom where I can slip my palm into or, if sitting, strap around my leg. So I tried to escape and do quick little 5"x7" studies and try to catch the spring landscape. Here is a sample of a few I did. Karen and I noticed that even on a sunny day the sky is hazy, not bright blue like we had in Arizona. Is that because in Arizona we were painting in high altitudes??? (Denny also makes wet panel carriers. This one is for my 5x7 panels)

"Red & Green"

Does it take anyone else almost forever to set up a still life? So how many ways can one rearrange radishes? This little arrangement took me most of a morning to create and then I had to run out and buy more radishes because the leaves wilted. As you can see I'm having fun playing around with what is a different aesthetics for me; using a lot of white clothes and cropping.

This 8"x8" was painted in oils with a palette knife. $149.

8"x8" "Sweet Bite" sold on www.susanhongsammons.etsy.com

I've been away from my home, my family (including 5 pets), the cold, and my computer because the opportunity to paint in Sedona came my way thanks to Karen. And thanks to painting year around in Chicago, we had the gear necessary to paint in Sedona winter. Each morning we woke to a snow storm which turned to a rain storm which turn to hail. Fortunately the temperatures were mild to us. I think we both derived an off-beat satisfaction of being able to paint in their crazy weather. At one point so much hail and sleet was coming down that they closed the roads but we still manage to paint. Once I figure out how to down-load my pictures from my new camera I'll show some of my plein air paintings of the red rocks as well as several of Karen painting in the storms. I think it was everything a plein air adventure should be.

So why am I showing this painting of a pepper. I'm showing it because I'm attempting to clean up my life style and eat in a healthy manner. Sedona host several excellent raw/vegan groceries and cafes. I use to tease that I was a morning vegan because by the end of the day I'd fall into bad habits, chips, licorice, etc. But now I've discovered green smoothies (which are really yummy and have taken my craving away for the crappy food groups) and juicing. So after shopping for produce I can't help but paint them. Their colors and textures are so inspiring. And after I've painted it,... I can eat it!!!!! (p.s did you know watercress is 84% protein)

"Brave Heart" 40"x30" oil

My daughter's passion is her love of horses and writing (visit her blog, www.aspiredauthor.blogspot.com). So this painting is for her. She loves this horse called Brave Heart. I think he's quite awful as he has thrown her quite fiercely a few time, once destroying her helmet. But she loves him so what's a mother to do, ...besides move her to a different riding school which yes, I confess I did.

"Pond Gazing" (Caldwell Lily Pond, Chicago)

Caldwell Lily Pond is another favorite retreats of mine, not just for painting but for day dreaming too. The textures in this smaller city lily garden always change and the sounds of the city itself is greatly muffled by the thick grasses, shrubs and trees. So this morning I headed here to paint and also, to embarrass myself. I'd been painting about an hour totally focused on my work and enjoying the secluded little nuck I had planted my easel when I heard a group of people approaching, loudly. It was so out of place because people always are so quiet when wandering through these paths. Of course they parked themselves as close to me as possible all the while talking excitedly. Before I knew or even thought about it I "shhhhed" them all in this awful snake-like sound. I was immediately ashamed and apologetic but one can't take back a shhhh. It's just out there. Fortunately after a quiet moment they started to laugh and apologise back and so, all ended well. But I'm still really embarrassed that I did that. They were just so happy and excited to be there together in this beautiful place.

As for the painting, the lily pads are almost all gone. Some remain in almost a skeleton form floating on the surface. But I felt the colors were more varied than in the summer when the lily pads are dark greens and cover the water almost totally. This one is larger, 8"x10." Also painted on oil primed linen mounted on board and created with a palette knife.

Anyone else willing to share an embarrassing plein air moment???

"Along the River's Edge" (sold)

After a couple of days of hard rain I was surprised to find trees with spring blooms. I wish I could do them justice. The spring colors and textures are a fun challenge.

Private Interior

I've been making a lot of horrid messes this past week both in my studio and outside with my plein air efforts. These are the only two pieces I feel are "blog-worthy." But I'm not going to stress about it and after I finish my mega mug of java I'm hitting the streets to try try again.

Here's my/Churchill quote of the day, "out of extreme complexity emerges extreme simpicity."

One of my former roomates use to wisely say, "keep it simple stupid." The stupid part may sound harsh but she directed at herself. But with my many different subject matters; still life, plein air, figures, portraits, I do think it's important to simplify the shapes.

"Winter Brilliance"

Just left of yesterdays painting is a river and little waterfall. The waterfall was what I really wanted to paint with part rushing water and part frozen water. But I started too late in the morning and the bright sun washed out the scene so I used the dam as an abstracted element to hopefully keep your eye from falling out of the painting and lead you into the cool shadows cast by the trees on the far bank.

10"x8" Oil ($190.)

landscape study (sold)

I'm fortunate to be able to step out my door and see several beautiful things to paint. As the fall colors fade, I am enjoying trying to pull out the subtle color notes.

10"x8"

Oil on Linen

"Fall Chill"

I think I'm getting too old to be painting in cool weather and winter is just around the corner. But I love fall colors and once again was painting along the river edge.

10"x8"

Oil On Linen

($165.)

"Cold Day" (sold)

It was freezing painting along the river today. This painting is more a reflection of my reaction to the day than what I was looking at. See Karen Phipps' blog for her interpretation on this same scene.

9"x12" Oil

"Autumn Haze"

Today I painted under gray skies which seemed to compress the value range, eliminated dramatic highlights but, created mysterious shadows.

9"x12"

Oil on Linen

($200.)

"Yellow Doorway"

I thought this side-entrance was very inviting. I had to try to capture its appeal.

14"x11"

Oil on Linen

"Autumn Bursts"

The falls colors are so pretty along the river. It's hard to decide which to focus on, the colorful trees themselves or their reflections. This is a palette knife painting.
10"x8"
Oil on Linen
www.hong-sammons.com

"Moonless" (POEfest Exhibition)

The Plein Air Painters of Chicago were asked to exhibit paintings for the October POEfest. The theme is anything that gets your skin crawling. We gathered last night and painted after the sunset. It was really fun. I stood under a gas lite street light so I wasn't painting totally in the dark but some were painting in near darkness. I thought all the pieces were successfully creepy.

8"x6"

Oil

($99.)