Musing on my emotional response to the landscape

Reykjavik, Iceland

I've spent hundreds of hours painting the landscape on location.  Early on it was a pursuit to make my painting look like the subject.  There was so much to take in and all the while the light, tones and colors were changing; so many details I had to get down to copy the scene.  Although stressful, it forced me to respond intuitively.  Over the years, this intuition has become the stronger force in my work pulling me to capture the feeling of the scene rather than simply its likeness.  Now I ponder the success of my painting by the connection I had with the scene and how I communicated my emotional response to it rather than my ability to match the scene color for color, tone for tone.  These are the paintings that take me back to that place where I can hear the birds chattering at one another and the squirrel barking an alert of the fox slinking through the tall grasses.  I can once again feel the heat of the radiating sun drawing beads of sweat from my skin and then suddenly the respite of cool shade courtesy of the sole cloud passing in front of it.

Scott Ruthven

Painting Reykjavik Harbor - Scott Ruthven

New Ultimate Plein Air Gear Video

My students always tell me how much they love the part of my workshops when I go through my plein air gear.  With so many gear options to choose from, it can be daunting to take the leap and try plein air painting.

So, after months of filming and editing, I have released a full-featured, 38 minute long video where I show you everything I take in my pack to paint on location in oils.

Now everyone has access to this part of my workshops without the cost of actually attending a workshop.  And...I'm making the video very inexpensive so anyone can afford it!  After all, my goal is to create more joy in our world by creating beautiful art and teaching others how to do the same.  With the information in this video, you'll have the courage and confidence to experience the joy of plein air painting.

"From backpacks to brushes, paints to pochade boxes, and everything in between!"

Click the link below to learn all about the video and to purchase it if you so choose.

Click here for more info --->  Scott's Ultimate Plein Air Gear Video

My Unbelievable Night!

As I get ready to submit my paintings for the 2014 Colorado Plein Air Arts Fest, hosted by the Golden Triangle Museum District in downtown Denver, I realized I never wrote a post about the FANTASTIC night I had last December at the 2013 show.

Scott Ruthven -  2013 Colorado Plein Air Arts Fest Awards

I entered three paintings and all three won awards!!!  Wow, was I shocked when I walked in and saw the award medallions.

• The painting on the left, "San Pellegrinos & Lime" won 2nd place in the professional artist category
• The middle painting "East on 16th From the D&F Tower" won the "Prudent Man Award of Excellence.
• And the painting on the right, "Aligned and Sublime" won an honorable mention.

54 professional artists had work juried into this show, which makes winning these awards even more special to me.

You can see all the work and full list of award winners here.

Cheers,
Scott

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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Vibrating colors and juicy brushstrokes

The clear light in Colorado on a blue sky day produces exquisite colors in the fresh snow.  The violets and blues vibrate alongside the warm golden tones.  This piece looks great in a black frame.

"Winter Silhouette"  |  9"x12"  |  Oil on linen mounted to board

Painted on location February 2013

Blowing Snow - Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain from Sprague Lake

Here is my effort from Saturday.  I drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park specifically to paint at Sprague Lake.  Up at Sprague, which is probably about 10,000 ft elevation, the temp was in the 20's and the wind blew at a steady 20-30MPH.  It's often windy in RMNP in the winter so no problem and as for the cold, once I begin to paint I become so engrossed in capturing my subject that I don't notice it.  To combat the wind I sat on a log so I could keep my tripod low to the ground (I usually stand while painting).  I also hung my weighted backpack from the tripod.  That still wasn't enough so I did the entire painting while holding my tripod down with my left hand.  The wind gusts were so forceful that I had to keep the lid on my mineral spirits can to ensure it didn't spill if the wind took it.

Painting in these tough conditions challenges me to see just what I can do.  The reward is potentially twofold: 1. I just might convey some of the feeling and imagery from the amazing show nature is putting on, and 2. I become more conditioned to focus on the key stuff and eliminate the unnecessary...both in my painting of the concept and subject matter and in the materials I bring and use.  If the painting is a disaster, I note what I learned so I can apply it next time and I take a deep breath and acknowledge the blessing of spending a few hours truly immersed in nature, seeing and experiencing what many never do.

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"

Brrrr

A little 5"x7" painted along side my car as the sun went down on a freezing cold day.

Riverside Sketch

Yesterday while the kids and I were walking the dog I found this view along the river.  The grasses behind the tree were warm and bright; glowing against the cool violet grays framing them.  So, I went back today after work and painted this study to capture the colors and some compositional details which I can us for a larger painting.

Arapaho Bend

This is really a study of color and light.  I like the higher contrast in this one.  Painted on site.
6"x8" Oil on canvas mounted to panel

Moonrise

Moonrise by Scott Ruthven
8"x10" Oil on canvas board

Here's a plein air painting I did in the last 30 minutes of daylight.  It was only 9 degrees F but the light was so subtle and beautiful that I had to capture it.  The paint was so stiff I literally had to plow my size 10 flat in to paint and plaster it on.  This view is looking across a frozen lake at the moonrise.  Of course the photo wasn't able to depict the subtle color shifts.

Thanks for looking!

A Great Opening Night!

My painting "The Three Kings of Grant Humphreys" won 2nd place and the People's Choice awards in the emerging artists category at the 2012 Denver Plein Air Arts Fest competition.

The show can be seen through December 31st at the Vida Ellison Gallery on the 7th floor of the Denver Central Public Library (next door to the Denver Art Museum).

Scott Ruthven

Happy Halloween

Avery's Pumpkins by Scott Ruthven
24"x12" Oil on Canvas
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In this piece, I wanted to capture the vibrant colors and well defined shadows created by the intense late afternoon sun.  I like how the cast shadows made another set of pumpkin shapes too and there are some lovely reflected lights.  The corn and the ground plane were painted using layers of warm and cool transparent washes.

I'm working on a video to show the progression of this work.

Have a fun and safe halloween!

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.

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.

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!

Mini Backpacking Pochade Kit

Well summer is in full swing and it is beautiful hiking weather in Colorado.  My two sons and I have been on several hiking and backpacking trips into Rocky Mountain National Park this year already.  We combine our love of fly fishing, camping and of course painting!

Last weekend we hiked in 7 miles to camp at Thunder Lake.  This area of RMNP is very picturesque and our hike took us from dense forest to windswept tundra with rivers, streams, and lakes along the way.

With packs already full of gear, food and water, I had to scale down my painting kit.  So, I left my tripod, pochade box and panel support behind and assembled this mini kit from stuff I had laying around.

For the box, I used an inexpensive plastic bin with clasp locks for the lid.  It is just large enough to fit the four 37ml tubes of paint, a small cup for OMS, a pair of gloves, two small spring clips, plastic bag for hauling out trash, a couple of 5"x7" panels, a pencil, and small Moleskine pad for sketching.  I packed my brushes and paper towels separately.

As for paints, I limited my palette to Quick Dry White, Cad Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, Hansa Yellow Medium...all from Gamblin.  I also incorporated Gamblin's Galkyd medium to speed drying.

Once I found a spot to paint I simply removed the contents from the box, secured the panel to the box with the spring clips and squirted out some paint.  The clips worked surprisingly well to hold the panel and mixing the paint in the bottom of the box kept everything tidy.  When I was done, I simply wiped box clean with paper towels and put all the supplies back in.

As a side note, I sprung for the "Mighty Mite Jr. Brush Washer" small turps jar made by Guerrilla Painter.  It's a 1.25" high, plastic wide mouth jar with a welded metal insert for brush cleaning.  It doesn't look like much for 15 bucks but it was exactly what I needed for my mini kit and it worked great with no leaks...even at 11,000 feet above sea level.

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Here's the link to the video showing my original Pochade box: http://scottruthven.blogspot.com/2011/11/painting-en-plein-air-forces-quick.html

Here's the link to another post on building your own Pochade box: http://scottruthven.blogspot.com/2011/11/pochade-box-envy.html

Hope you are having a great summer!

Road To Bobcat Ridge

Road To Bobcat Ridge by Scott Ruthven
5"x7" Oil on panel

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I was painting this about five miles South of the large High Park Wildfire currently burning here in Northern Colorado.  The area was later evacuated but has been untouched by the flames so far.  The smokey haze made for a unique atmosphere.