Still Main Subject is Unfocused

Still working on both the woodpecker and the tree bark surrounding it back and forth. And the bird is still obscured.
Probably it wouldn't show what the final looks like until I fill most of barks around color&value-wise.

New Palette Stand

Yesterday I bought a projector stand with casters at Daniel Smith and created a base of palette with 2x4 lumber pieces and a particle board. Then I cut the top part of my current palette off and glued it on top of the particle boad. I'm just waiting for the glue to dry up.
With this stand, the palette or even the stand itself can easily rotate 360 degrees.

Ajusting values on left trees and background

I spent a little more than a couple of hours to adjust values of trees on the left and its background forest. Highlighted part of trees is almost final.
Next, I need to adjust colors of left mountains with proper highlight and contrast. The shadow part has many shapes and color variations in it.

Started making front trees

Before determining the final colors of mountains behind, I wanted to define the shapes of trees in the foreground. Because I know it have to curb the shapes of tree branches with the colors of mountains and water.
Front this stage, I don't need thin coat of paint but thicker layer with precise colors I want to leave with the final outcome.

Filling more shapes

Filling more larger shapes while adjusting the main bird shape to be accurate. A question is how I can differentiate the grey feather colors from the treer bark colors.

Brightest Light is in

I was not planning to put the warm light at the top of a distinctive shaped cloud at this stage. But I just wanted to hide the orange under paint around the cloud since it's annoying me not to be able to define the colors of mountains underneath.
No other part is brighter than this part.

New Bird Painting from Glacier NP

I started another painting from Glacier NP. This time it's a woodpecker that I took some pictures there. Again, birds are difficult to paint based on my a few attempts in the past. First, I want to get the shape perfectly right. So unusually started digging in to the main shape at the beginning. I'll worry about the colors later.

mid-value everywhere

Since I haven't put any darkest dark yet, which is unusual, everything so far are mid-range. It's ok at this stage when I'm trying to figure out the shapes, but maybe about the time I should concern with the values.
I'll put the front trees in next on the left bottom corner. Then consider value range, front to mid, mid to back, back to sky&clouds.

Curving into Mountains

Adjusting outlines of mountains by curving in. It's getting in shape in that part. Now I want to devine&adjust shapes inside of the mountains.The skirts of mountains are a little lower than they should be. At the same time I'll try adjusting values of those shapes.
At this moment I'm completely ignoring the trees in the foreground. Once I correctly defined those bigger mountain shapes, I'll put something(s) in foreground before getting into the details of the mountains and clouds.

Come back to St. Mary Lake

Didn't touch this for more than 4 months but finally have come back to this. Still adjusting the bigger mountain shapes to be in proper proportion. Then gradually putting colors in correct values.
Again contrast between lit area and cloud shadowed area is the key of this painting.

Last update of Rush Hour

I realized the top-right goat head shapes was not right at this stage and put the last minute fix on it. Then adjusted the value on the goat fur behind it.
The rest is the background goats at the top, which are not so important and I could finish without worrying about the details.
Then I would go back to the main subjects and will adjust temperatures in high-lighted areas, and I'm done with this piece. Finally.

Bottom half is about to be done

Coming up from the bottom part I'm about to be done with the bottom half, including three goat heads. I left the upper half more unfinished so it would take more time to go all the way to the top and finish this painting.

Port Townsend Visit

I stayed in Bremerton last night and drove up to Port Townsend to deliver my show piece to Northwind Art Center. But before going there I stopped at Fort Worden and walked down to North Beach then spent about two hours to paint. I started values on the bluff too light. So at the end, I had to push it further but it was too late because sun was too high at that time and values and colors shifted and counldn't get the original context.
I might try this in large scale later but need to remember what failed.

Finally, satisfied with the bigger shapes

Finally stopped adjusting the shapes of 5 goats and finalizing colors of each one from the bottom one up. Not much to explain at this stage but just following my feelings of right or wrong.

A Shape Keeps Annoying Me

One of goat heads in the middle keeps annoying me. So still adjusting the head shape again and again.
Meanwhile I started making values on the highlighted part lighter and closer to the final values, which made this painting more attractive and interesting. After all it was in the morning the sun was lower. I want to paint delicate color&value contrast under mild morning sun light.

I felt the shape of the goat in the middle isn't right, so started changing the shape. The head should be a little wider. Also putting more light into the lighter colors of boat bodies.

A little more coverage

Still trying to cover more area at this moment and not worrying much about the colors but just to make values about right. I'll push more tomorrow.

"Staining" stage for the Glacier painting

Jim Lamb once told to students at a workshop to use more paint, or enough paint pigments, to cover the canvas otherwise you would be just "staining" it. But that's exactly what I'm doing now.
I just want to get some sense of color coordination at this early stage instead of committing to each color I put as the bottom layer. When I decided on this composition, I felt this would be more about the clouds than either mountains or the lake.

2nd Plein Air in 2017

I actually painted in Olympia last weekend, which was the first of the year. Today I rode to Fall City and got to the point along SR-203 I took some photos several years ago. This time I wanted to paint. The water body is an oxbow lake created by Snoqualmie River. It's a good marsh where I saw a hawk-like bird and a blue heron gliding in the sky looking for fish, or small animals.
The part of water was covered by lotus, which made a little difficult to paint. But I felt I'm getting better. 

New Glacier NP Painting

After came back from Japan, I started drawing this. It's about the slow movement of clouds. So drew solid cloud shapes in detail. Mountains are about contrast of lighted area and cast shadow area by the clouds. There are trees in the foreground but I'll try not to get too much attention to them.

Michael Story Workshop - outcome

This is the outcome of Day2. Out of this image you can't see much of the initial process showing through because I covered most of the part completely. Sky and clouds are the same with what I would do to my regular paintings. I never used outside of three primaries, alizarin, ultra-marine, and cad-yellow, which is not usual yellow though, and titanium white. As many other instructors Michael didn't comment on muck of my processes, which I took as my basics are ok.
But more imprtantly, HIS process of painting sky and clouds are just matching the color mixes with the reference and dubbing a brush to apply the color to each part. As any professional painters, he has his own way of skills and confidence mixing colors, which I need to learn more. 

Michael Story Workshop - Day 1

Yesterday I took a day off at work and attended to Day 1 of Michael Story's workshop at Winslow Art Center on Bainbridge Island.
His painting process starts with charcoal drowing on the painting surface. Then use fixative to fix charcoal on to the surface and cover it with Cad red light acrylic before start painting over.
To me it's similar to old Dutch masters' underpainting technique. Only difference is charcoal and fixative part. Above photo is my result of the first day, which I finished today.

Inconsisitency in value shifts

I spent some time last night to refine the shapes on the pyramid mountain. Now most of shapes are in place. However, I can clearly see inconsistency in value shifts from foreground toward background.
I really need to make the biggest shadow area of the front mountain darker, then front ground trees much more darker.

Adjusted Sky Colors

I'll probably come back to the clouds to have more 3 dimensional feeling, which currently flat. Partly because all of them are too light. Anyway I probably won't have to touch the sky any more. I hope not. Otherwise I have to paint over all sky area again.
I have to go back to the focal point, the pyramid mountain and the rock colors.

Still in initial numbering game

Still filling each block with colors with roughly similar values. Now those focal points - heads of goats - are clearer than before. I want to cover most of canvas before getting into the details.

Can't decide the color of the back mountains

I can't get the colors of the back mountains as I want, or I don't know what I want.  That's why I can't put any colors because everytime I put something I immediately regret I put that on. It isn't so easy.
I guess I can work on the clouds first.

Refining front forests

Instead of going back into the shadow area, I worked on refining the foreground (or midground) forest. I touched the yellow green slope in the center as well, but didn't quite get the colors I wanted. I have to come back later.
Now I have to go to the pyramid shape mountain again. The ugly colors are now standing up.

Adjusting the major figures

Came back to this piece and adjusted the major figure shapes and painted over the old drawing lines so that I can see if new drawing is ok.
Those five heads of goats would define this painting.

Pulling the shadown part back...

The first update of the new year. I was trying to pull the shadow part back but I guess I did too much. I have to push them again tomorrow.
This year, I want to spend more time for painting than last year. That's my new year resolution.