Spring at Nichols Ranch and Orchards

Spring at Nichols Ranch and Orchards

6x6in  oil on canvas panel  85.

Almost too pretty and lush to believe, here in the drought stricken,
southern part of New Mexico.
The ranch is nestled in a hilly area located up about 6,000 ft, so cooler weather
prevails in the scorching heat of summer. The ranch also has its own water to
irrigate with - a huge advantage,

Shown is part of the huge lilac bush I posted yesterday. The cherry tree
on the left is one that my friend grafted and planted when he was 7 years old
...many moons ago! Beautiful views are everywhere you turn so we all felt
blessed to have been invited to paint here.

Artist Note.

As I said yesterday, when painting on location it is hard for me to decide
what I am going to paint so I look for light /dark pattern flow... a linkage of light or dark areas.
Here the light areas ( building, cherry blossoms, trees in sun and path)
link by eye flow leaving the dark areas to hold some stability.

Sun and Shadows

Sun and Shadows

6x8in oil on canvas board $100.

This morning I joined the Las Cruces Plein Air Painters at a beautiful location called Dripping Springs. I decided to try the Daily Painters Rectangle Challenge. The goal is to use a rectangle stroke ONLY - any direction - and to change the color or value with EVERY stroke. Great fun and more difficult than it sounds. The result is a painting which does not look like one of my landscapes but you can tell there is a bush, a mountain, reflections, stones, ground, sun and shadows.

Go to Daily Paintworks and check out all the entries the Challenge. There are some really neat ones.