Winter Silhouette

Winter Silhouette
9"x12" Oil on linen panel  

  This painting is all about the flowing lines of the tree and it's shadow along with the contrast of warm and cool colors.

Thanks for looking.

Cactus

Cactus by Scott Ruthven
11"x14" Oil on Canvas Board

What a fun painting this was to paint!  The shadows intermingle with the form to create an interesting composition.  Varied edges and color temp changes lead the eye, create depth and define the center of interest.  The ground is full of texture created with palette knife and dry-brush techniques.  Touches of pure color on some of the spines and edges help create the sense of light.  I hope you like it!

Poudre River Plein Air Sketch

Poudre River Plein Air Sketch by Scott Ruthven 5"x7" Oil on canvas board

Hi everyone!  Here is a study I painted on site last weekend on the Poudre River in the Colorado Rockies.    The river is 90% frozen over but there are areas such as this where the cold, dark water breaks through.  The air temp was only 18 degrees F and the sky was grey overcast.  I set my easel up on the ice at the center of the river.  After two hours, I was a little cold but a couple sips of Scottish antifreeze warmed me back up ;p

Long, Cold Day

"Long, Cold Day" by Scott Ruthven 8"x8" Oil on canvas

These little birds were doing their best to stay warm on a frosty day.  I used just three colors for this painting: Titanium White, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue.

Mt. Meeker en Plein Air

Mt. Meeker by Scott Ruthven - 8x10" Plein Air Oil

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Over the Christmas holiday I headed up to the Colorado mountains for some painting!  Mt. Meeker is located between Estes Park and Allen's Park along Hwy 7.  I drove into the back country until the climb and snow were too much for my car then hiked another mile to get this view. 

Plein Air Fly Fishing

My trunk says a lot about what I love to do.  On any given day I load it up with everything I need to get out of doors.  There is so much to do here in Colorado and I love being out in the sunshine hiking, fishing and painting.  I usually head out with the intent to either paint or fly fish but I've been known to change my mind so I usually take along both my fly rod and pochade box.

• For plein air oil painting I have my pochade box (between the tool box and the poles) and my backpack in which I carry my tripod, paper towels, snacks and gloves.

• For fly fishing I have the fly rods of course and my waders (in the upper left corner).

On this particular day my sons Jake and Nick fished and I painted.  We hiked a half mile down to this nice spot on the river and I decided I wanted to try and capture this nice rock and it's reflection while the boys targeted some rainbow trout upstream.  Their day fishing was more successful than my painting I'm sorry to say.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  Chalk this one up as field practice.

Trout hunters Nick and Jake

Winter's Warmth - Framed and Ready To Ship.

Winter's Warmth 5x7" Oil on canvas board - Scott Ruthven

Well, it's Sunday and I didn't paint at all yesterday so I better get on it!  However, I did get this piece framed and thought I would show you the final product.  Since the painting is only 5x7" I decided to float it in a 6x8" frame.  This simply means that I mounted it first to a 6x8" panel painted black and then placed that into the frame.  The black panel provides a nice border between the painting and the frame and none of the painting is hidden behind the frame edges.

This ships to a collector in Oregon Monday but I hung it in my dining room for the weekend to enjoy!

Frozen Brushstrokes

"Winter's Warmth" by Scott Ruthven 5"x7" Oil on Linen Panel - Painted En Plein Air

As we approach Thanksgiving here in the USA I'm thinking about all the gifts in my life.  One thing I'm so thankful for is the time I get to spend outdoors painting.  This barn really called out to me.  The air was crisp and cold but the sun made the red barn and the golden willow tree just radiate.

Photo by Scott Ruthven

This barn is set back quite a distance from the road.  With the snow coming up over my boots, I was sure happy I didn't forget anything back at the car.

Even though the temperature was quite cold, I never even thought about it while I was painting.  Painting is a wonderful meditation.

p.s.  When painting on site you can see into and paint the shadows in a scene like this.  A camera simply can't accurately portray both the bright lights from the snow and the delicate colors in the shadows when the contrast is so great.

Scott