landscape

“Fishing the Tellico” is the first watercolor painting I’ve completed in months, having spent my “art” time creating scratchboard art, painting a few pet portraits in acrylics, participating in some Zoom art sessions, and creating this new website. Switching media keeps things interesting, but it always takes me a bit of time to readjust. I put together a palette of many transparent colors for this painting and arranged them like a rainbow. To help me see the colors better I … Read More

I love the creative opportunities I have when designing and painting a landscape. If I’m not depicting a “landmark,” as I described in my August post, then I have the freedom to invent my own scene. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I keep a big reference file of my own digital photos, from which I have fun borrowing and combining elements when painting a landscape. I often create landscapes with one main focal point, like a building or an … Read More

“Let It Snow” © Judy Lavoie “December Snow” © Judy Lavoie Based on the popularity of my new 2017 Calendar (still a few available @ $15), I am beginning a monthly Artwork Feature. The calendar features one of my paintings for each month, and, similarly, my blog posts will focus on one of my painting themes each month. This month it’s “snow!” Paintings of snowy landscapes are one of my favorite subjects. We don’t get a lot of snow where … Read More

Yesterday, the last day of November, was sunny and warm here, but many days this past month have been dreary, misty and grey, like my newest painting “November.” Even on such moody days, the tall dried grasses in the pastures and meadows here in Tennessee are striking tones of gold and rust, with undertones of green from the low fresh growth. The scent of the air says “autumn” in the country, perhaps from the damp leaves on the ground. My … Read More

“Sleeping Ginger,” painted in black ink on scratchboard The point of view you choose for a painting can make a big difference. For example, I always try to depict portraits of dogs with my eye level pretty much at the dog’s eye level. “Sleeping Ginger” really illustrates this – if I was standing above Ginger, looking down at her on the floor, the intimacy would have been lost. In painting an outdoor scene, the point of view is critical, certainly … Read More

Now that Jim has received the surprise painting from his wife Pam, I can share my latest artwork. This house portrait was a fun commission, since I’ve visited there many times, and the home symbolizes the warmth and kindness of my good friends. I photographed the work in progress, to share my basic steps in painting a landscape on canvas. See if you can determine how Step 6 differs from the finished painting, shown above (I reveal the answer at … Read More

The monochrome tones of this painting are quite a departure from my usual use of color, bright lighting and shadows. I wanted to do something different from the snowy barn in sunshine that I most recently completed. And I admit being influenced to try a primarily gray painting after seeing the oil paintings of an artist I met on Christmas Eve, Phillip Anthony, who does exquisite landscapes entirely in black, white and grays. Still inspired by our recent snows, I’ve … Read More

My newest painting is a result of our Christmas Day snowstorm, which left 6+ inches of fluffy snow. Freezing temps kept it on the ground, and, when the sun came out two days later, everything twinkled like a fantasy-land! The roads were a mess, so I donned my hiking boots and grabbed my camera and set out to capture the beauty… and ended up with oodles of inspiration. There are working farms with aging buildings all around this area, and … Read More