Feature in Plein Air Magazine

 My series of Flower Fields paintings is featured in the September Issue of Plein Air Magazine! Thank you to Kelly Kane and Carmen Herrera.

Nice mention in Plein Air Magazine July 2017 Barns Portfolio

Plein Air Magazine recently featured a portfolio of barn paintings and included my painting "Sunny Day Petaluma", one of only a handful of barn paintings I have painted. In this one the adorable tractor caught my eye.

Here is a larger photo so you can see it.

"Curve of the Earth " Honorable Mention Prize in 2nd Annual Plein Air Salon

I just found out "Curve of the Earth" won a $500 honorable mention in the 2nd Annual Plein Air Salon Competition.
Thrilled especially when I look at the other paintings and painters in the contest.
 Thank you to the editors of Plein Air Magazine and Michael Zakian.

 
The Grand Prize winner: "Alterations," by Shelby Keefe, 2012, oil, 20 x 16 in. Private collection


2nd Place winner: "Big Sur," by Jesse Powell, oil, 16 x 24 in.
Second place in the 2nd Annual PleinAir Salon Competition and a check for $3,000 went to California artist Jesse Powell for "Big Sur."
 
3rd Place winner: "Sunflowers and Gladiolus," by Jim McVicker, oil, 36 x 30 in.
Third place and a check for $1,500 went to Californian Jim McVicker for "Sunflowers and Gladiolus."
 
Honorable Mention: "Chasing Light," by Kim Casebeer, oil, 36 x 36 in.

Honorable Mention: "Hills Above Nicasio, by Davis Perkins, oil, 30 x 30 in.

Honorable Mention: "Curve of the Earth," by Robin Purcell, watercolor, 21 x 16 in.
Honorable Mention awards worth $500 were presented to Kim Casebeer, Davis Perkins, and Robin Purcell.
You can read more  about the contest here:
 http://www.outdoorpainter.com/awards/winner-of-2nd-annual-pleinair-salon-competition-receives-$15000.html

Curve of the Earth Selected as a semifinalist in the Second Annual Plein Air Salon Contest.

Juror's Comments

Robin Purcell
HONORABLE MENTION
21 x 16, Watercolor, "Curve of the Earth"

"The imaginative use of a pattern of colors to render forms within the landscape is stimulating and boldly creative."
- Michael Zakian

Needless to say,THRILLED.
The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Peppperdine  University in Malibu is one of my favorite Museums .

Here's the link to all the winners from September/October  http://pleinairsalon.com/RecentAwards.aspx

Across the Valley ,more accurate colors

 Across the Valley 22 x 22

The electirc colors of the one on bottom were bothering me as I compared my image with the one in Plein Air magazine. The upper image is closer to the painting in color temperature and saturation.

"Across the Valley", Mount Diablo Plein Air Watercolor

Across the Valley 22 x 22

This was started last fall and finished after a long winter of work this spring.
It has been very difficult to get a good image because of the value shifts in transparent and opaque passages of color. The blue green in the top part and blue violets in the lower section are transparent and the deep crimsons and burnt oranges are relatively opaque. In person, this painting looks great ,but every time I take a photo the light bounces back through the paper and shifts  the value on the transparent passages. This was printed in Plein Air magazine and it is much truer to the painting in the magazine than it is here. I don't want  to change the painting for the sake of a photo. The cool and warm balance here works very well for me and it's always fun taking a red and green scene and making it not look like a Christmas Tree.

Plein Air Magazine thumbnail

June/July Plein Air Magazine Article: Use Inside Arrow for Preview

 I am thrilled with the article by
Steve Doherty. It's nice when the writer is a painter
 and can help you put your thoughts into  an organized
article. Here are thumbnail previews of the five pages: