Buon Giorno

Buon Giorno, 12 x 9

Well, we are back from our latest sojourn to Alaska to see the kids -- what a great time we had, despite the gloom, clouds and rain that settled over Sitka for 6 of the 7 days we were there.  We were missing the Tuscan sun, for sure, and are glad to be back for some good old Georgia sun at home.  

The painting above and the other studies from the Italy trip were done with Golden Open Acrylics.  The painting group and I decided to use these for travel, to avoid the solvent search and to speed drying time.  For the most part, we liked them.  The paints stayed workable enough for a 2-hour session, although they were a bit runny out of the tube.  I will probably use them next year for the painting trip to Provence  (for details on the great itinerary, check out www.huffharrington.com), since I like the advantages in the field.  Also, I used just my basic four colors --  in the Goldens, they were Ultramarine Blue, Cad Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow Primrose, and Titanium White.  I picked up a convenience color that we all enjoyed -- light ultramarine blue, which was a periwinkle-ish hue, and made a great violet purple.

Below is a harbor shot, so typical of Sitka... I took lots of photos of this type when we had any light at all, so I could interpret in paint some of the grey skies and wonderful reflections.  Inspiring me are the subtle, amazing Richard Schmid paintings of southeast Alaska in his book, "Alla Prima."