Oil-from-life challenge, April 2018: optional plein air theme

[Grotius]

T1, so glad you stopped by, and I'm really digging your self-portrait. You really are making great strides as an artist. I love all those soft edges and confident brushstrokes! It's fun to see your style developing in such interesting ways.

Also, thanks for the info on mediums. A few days ago I tried the "fluid" version of Gamblin's nontoxic gel medium, and I really liked it! The gel doesn't improve workability much, but the fluid most certainly does. I can't wait to try it again -- perhaps as soon as tomorrow. If I continue to like it, I may have found my thing. I've also been happy doing an initial 20-minute under-sketch with water-thinner water-miscible oils. I may finally be settling on a consistent process: sketch with a WMO, then paint alla prima with a few drops of the nonsolvent fluid added to paint-puddles as needed.

Anyway, please keep posting your work here! And yeah, the weather's been kinda crappy here too. I'm going out tomorrow regardless!

[Docpro]

I'm blown away at how lovely all these paintings are!

The juxtaposed pinks, especially melt my soul!

Utmost blessings!

[Grotius]

It was cold, windy, and blustery here today. So of course I went out to paint! I staked out this bridge by the Potomac River & the C&O Canal and did my best with it. I solved the cold-hands problem: hand-warmers! They worked great, except that occasionally they fell out of my painting gloves.

But the wind kept getting stronger, threatening to blow my easel over, and making it hard to concentrate. And while my hands were warm, I should've packed a warmer hat! So I declared victory before this thing was really done. It's still interesting, and I had fun with it. "A blustery day by the river," oil on canvas panel, 11" x 14."