A Well Traveled Path

"A Well Traveled Path" 11x14 oil on panel

     I guess you can tell by now that I don't seem to tire of painting this beautiful property.  I love the barn, I love the farmhouse and I really love the view high over the Potomac.  Another plus is that painting here lets me maximize the time spent enjoying this very pleasant weather.  I can ride my mare Gypsy and then head off to the spot of my choice and paint.  This is the third barn painting I have uploaded here in recent weeks.  I don't know how many times I have ridden that path home to the barn in the last 30 plus years.  I enjoy painting what I know and what I love. 
      When you see the image of the painting on the easel in the photo below you will realize that I have curved the path that in reality is straight.  I painted it straight but when I got home I felt that a curve would be much more fitting in the painting.  The only other adjustment I would like to make is a refinement of the foreground shadow.  It is okay as it crosses the path but it is too heavy as it crosses the lawn.  I think the shadow to the right of the tree is much more successful.  Then all I have to do is sign and frame.

     Riders were coming and going and it might have been good to include one of them but I waited too long. I find if I put figures in at the end they looked tacked on.  This is about where I stopped and then worked on the path at home as well as a little detail on the horse van and the fences.  I have also recently updated my website if you care to visit....www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com

South Capitol Street

                                                   "South Capitol Street", 9x12 oil on panel

         Today I completed this small painting that I had started earlier this week.  It is on of my "from the road" paintings which is what I call those paintings that are inspired by what I see while being a passenger in the car.  I took a quick photo with my i phone and did a rapid fire scribble in my 4x6 sketchbook before the light turned red.  I find it is great fun.  There is no other way I could create this image.  The sky was so wonderful that late afternoon and I loved the fact that the Capitol building was not center stage but rather part of the backdrop.  Road work was being done on the crosstreet and I was tempted to do this in a wider format to include some of that on the right.  Instead I opted to just include one of the workers in his safety vest.  I think his job was to make sure drivers took care when making a right turn.  The red on the commercial building was another asset helping to make this a colorful scene. 

        Here is my quick sketch.  You can see from my notes that I had planned on doing this as a 16x20 but with the upcoming small works shows in mind I decided on 9x12 instead.  This one will be heading to American Painting Gallery on MacArthur Boulevard in November.
        I know there are typos here but I continue to be unable to backtrack and make corrections so you will have to read this in the raw:)  I have found a way to work around the problems with the site so I can continue posting but it is not the way I would like it to be!