Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel (Study)
11"X14" Oil on Linen Panel

The Stanley Hotel is in Estes Park, Colorado.  Built by F.O. Stanley (of Stanley Steamer fame) in 1909 to be one of the grandest hotels in the world.  It was originally painted yellow but I personally love the sharp, clean white and red combination.  Some of you may also know it was the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining" and parts of "Dumb and Dumber" were also filmed there.

I started this painting on location so as to really capture the early morning light.  I finished up the indication of windows and other details back in my studio.  I would like to make a much larger studio painting from this piece.

Click here to see it on my website.

Sunshine At Rainbow Lakes

"Sunshine at Rainbow Lakes"
6"x10" Oil on Linen mounted to Gatorboard

I painted this on location in the Colorado Rockies, Northwest from Boulder, Colorado.  It is oil paint on linen which is mounted to archival gator board.  All materials are of the highest quality and it has a protective varnish applied.  I have signed the front and back.  The painting measures 6"x10" and is mounted to a 10.5"x14.5" piece of black Gatorboard.  You can frame it or display it as is.

$99 Ebay Auction:
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Ahhh, Springtime!!

Finally, Spring has come to Colorado.  I love painting winter scenes, but it sure is nice to mix up some greens and dollop on some pure cadmiums!

Here are two recent paintings.

Springtime In Boulder, Colorado
10"x8" | Oil on linen panel

Painting this scene of the foothills and snowcapped peaks from Boulder Colorado was a real treat.  In this one scene you experience the cold, snowcapped mountains, the foothills, which have just a bit of now on them and the fields bursting with golds and greens of Spring.

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A Spot For Tea
10"x8" | Oil on linen panel

This was a quaint garden at an early 20th century home in Eaton, Colorado.  The Forsythia is in full bloom and the larger trees on the property create that wonderful dappled light on the lawn.  What a lovely spot to sit with a cup of tea and listen to the birds.

Foothills West of Longmont

I painted this scene on site a couple of weekends ago.  These are the foothills of the Rocky Mountains looking West from Longmont Colorado.

Foothills West of Longmont
9"x12" | Oil on linen mounted to board

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Last Light

Last Light by Scott Ruthven
24"x18" Oil on canvas

I painted this in the studio from an 12"x9" painting I did on site while hiking and camping in the Rainbow Lakes area West of Boulder Colorado.  While painting the plein air study, the setting sun was baking my face which was fine until it hit an angle that also reflected off of the lake.  At that point I couldn't see anything so I stopped painting and enjoyed the setting sun.

This painting is about the lifecycle of nature...acknowledging the strength and vibrancy of one living tree and the weathered remnant of another.  I've also painted in a cutthroat trout...can you find it?

Here is a picture of my son with one of these trout.  He fly fished while I painted.  Jake (my son) is purely a catch and release guy.  So fun to watch these trout come up from the depths to take a dry fly.

If you like fly fishing, check out Jake's blog at: http://finsonthefly.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your comments and "likes"

Colorado State Capitol

Gold Is In Your Future by Scott Ruthven
7"x5" Oil on panel

I painted this on location during the 2012 Denver Plein Air Arts festival.  The painting is 7"x5" and is mounted to a 8"x6" black panel so it "floats" in this 8"x6" elegant gold leaf frame.

Click here to see some in-process photos I took while painting this.
http://scottruthven.blogspot.com/2012/09/colorado-state-capitol-plein-air.html

Autumn Harvest Plein Air Sketch

Autumn Harvest by Scott Ruthven
4"x5" Oil on hardboard

Fall is a beautiful time of year in Colorado when the sky is clear, the trees change colors and farmers harvest their crops.  This small study of Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak that I painted en plein air yesterday captures it all.  Artist Worthington Whittredge (of Hudson River School fame) painted some scenes close to this location in the late 1800's.

Afternoon In The Garden

Afternoon In The Garden by Scott Ruthven
10"x8" Oil on canvas panel

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This is another piece I painted at the Grant Humphreys mansion during the Denver Plein Air Arts Festival in 2012.

The Three Kings

The Three Kings of Grant Humphreys By Scott Ruthven
10"x20" Oil on canvas panel

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There is a famous mansion in Denver built in 1902 for James Grant, who had been the third Governor of Colorado.  Grant died in 1911 and his widow sold the neoclassical mansion to an oil baron, Albert Humphreys, in 1917.  The mansion now belongs to the Colorado Historic Society and it is also on the National Register of Historic Places.  Here's a link to the Wikipedia article.

The 2012 Denver Plein Air Festival held a paint-out at the mansion which I attended and painted another piece (I'll post about it another time).  On my way back to my truck I happened to turn and look up to the second story finding these three identical windows with their majestic lions.  I knew I had to paint them.  So, with the sun almost gone I started sketching one of the windows to get a feel for the complex ornamentation.  Needless to say, I had to make two more trips to the mansion to complete the painting.

 And, adding some water stains on the wall:

Denver Plein Air Arts Fest

I've been painting in the 2012 Denver Plein Air Arts Fest over the past couple of weeks.  This is my first year and it has been pretty fun.  Artists are allowed to paint at select locations between August 10th and September 16th.   Works that are juried in to the show in November will be eligible for awards and will hang in the Vida Ellison Gallery at the Denver Central Library.  Here are a few pics from the various sites.

One paint-out was held at the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison Colorado.  I've been there at night for concerts but watching the sunrise over Denver is a spiritual experience.

Red Rocks Amphitheater at dawn

Ready to paint the sunrise at Red Rocks

One of my paintings of Red Rocks

I also decided to paint the State Capitol.  It wasn't my first choice since it is an obvious choice but I found a unique vantage point and captured the sunset glistening off the gold-covered dome.  I ended up painting by the lights from the Voorhies Memorial for an hour + after the sun set.  As it got dark, more and more homeless people started showing up.   One of them, named Bryon, said he loved my painting and though it looked photo-realistic.  Later, when discussing something else, he told me he had vision problems and could only see fuzzy shapes ;-)  That was a let down.  When I asked him if I should be worried about some of the troublesome looking folks starting to congregate he said not to worry as long as he was around he would protect me.  It was a nice gesture but he clearly didn't take into account I was armed with multiple paint brushes and cadmium pigments.

Painting the Denver State Capitol

Bryon - a friendly homeless guy who I chatted
with as I painted past dark. 

On another day we painted at the Grant-Humphreys mansion.  It's a beautiful old home and we had free reign of the grounds.  

I used the sight-size method for my drawing of the planter below.  The afternoon sun made the railings and planter glow against the dark foliage in the background.

Sight-sizing initial drawing / values
Grant-Humphreys Mansion

Planter at Grant-Humphreys Mansion

Painting at Grant-Humphreys Mansion in Denver

The mansion also has wonderful architectural details which I decided to paint a few days later.  The piece I'm working on below required some detailed drawing.  I need to go down one more time to finish the painting.  So far it looks good; I'll post pics of it later.

Drawing architectural details at Grant-Humphreys Mansion in Denver

The Bee Keeper

The Bee Keeper by Scott Ruthven
5"x7" Oil on Canvas Panel
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Here's another piece in my small, plein air barns series.  The setting sun moved quickly tonight but I was able to mass in the darks and place a few warm lights in quickly so as to capture the effect.