Redwoods in the Sun, Thick Bark

I made this little painting during the first weekend of Portland Open Studios:

It’s a very similar composition to my earlier painting, “Redwoods in the Sun,” but the earlier painting has a more pastel color palette and a flatter texture. In this painting, I painted the tree trunks with cold wax medium and a palette knife, so the bark of the trees is reminiscent of the rough surface of real redwood bark.

I made a quick time lapse video of the painting process, condensing about 4 hours of painting into 2 minutes. As you can see, I painted the sky and background foliage first using oil medium and a brush, then switched to cold wax medium and a knife for the thick tree trunks in the foreground before switching back to a brush to add in small branches and details like highlights and shadows.

The painting wraps around the deep edges of the wood panel, an effect I always love, but it looks especially cool in this case because of the the thick texture of the paint.

I’ve sold four painting in the past week, and I’ve been enjoying sharing my work and process with the steady stream of art lovers who’ve come through.

Local folks: Portland Open Studios wraps up this weekend. I’ll be accepting visitors at my studio in SE Portland Saturday and Sunday, 10-5. The weather report is calling for heavy rain all weekend. I hope this won’t stop some more visitors from making the trek over. My studio is warm and cozy in this wet weather!

Email me for the address and more info. For access to the whole tour of 106 art studios around the city, pick up the tour guide or mobile app.