Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sky study (oil)


A little 4" x 6", oil on linen panel.

God help me, am I lurching my way towards plein-air painting? Landscape? Moi, with my bug phobias, irritation at too much wind, too much humidity, or too much heat, and inability to withstand cold for any decent interval? No...I think not. For now at least, my clouds will still come from my head and form only inside my studio.







The Husband's photo (I didn't go) from a couple of years ago: Mojito refuses to enter the tent because the wind (see? wind...plein air painting = bad) was whipping the nylon and creating loud flapping sounds. (One of Mojito's major dislikes.) Classic skeptical Mojito look here.



More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

wonderful to see your clouds in oil. delightful brushwork Jala.

Unknown said...

Oh Jala! I have been away from your blog for too long! Your skies/cloud studies are beautiful! Isn't it wonderful how the landscape of sky and cloud is neverending? And your photos of your creatures - well, what can I say except that they make me smile, laugh out loud, and generally feel uplifted... thank you for sharing them with me. :-)

Anonymous said...

There is nothing inside your head that is " plein ".
This oil is as beautiful as your pastels and it's nice to see you go for the brushes that need cleaning.
Those dogs and cats make me laugh in recognition of the familiar phobias that are based in ?.
I have a few here too.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing inside your head that is " plein ".
This oil is as beautiful as your pastels and it's nice to see you go for the brushes that need cleaning.
Those dogs and cats make me laugh in recognition of the familiar phobias that are based in ?.
I have a few here too.

Jala Pfaff said...

Hi Rahina, thanks! If it looks like it was dashed off quickly, then I've met that goal (it wasn't).

Hi Joanne - Thank you! I do so love the fact that the potential skyscapes for painting are limitless. I could do a sky a day for the rest of my life and not touch upon the many varieties. Glad you like the pet photos too. How I love these guys!

Hi Bonnie - Awww. You're too sweet. What are some of your guys' phobias?

Karen said...

I don't know.....clouds like this could just draw you out there....in spite of it all!!

Ann Reyes said...

Jala, your oil is as beautiful as your pastels! And, I can't believe it came only from your head. You must have painted en pleine fenetre.

And, I always love your kitty pictures.

Caroline Simmill said...

Yes, I think this works very nicely in spite of the tiny size of canvas!It shows that you have been absorbing a great deal of information during the recent time of painting clouds in pastel. To draw this much information from your imagination is very good and it would be interesting to see what you could achieve if you were to paint a cloud painting in oils in a good size from everything that you have learnt through observation during your cloud study time. I think you will be amazed at how well you would do as by your small study shown here today there is a great deal of information and excellent perspective.

r garriott said...

Your sky paintings are very cool, and the amount of variety in shapes, colored reflections, shows that you really do study them carefully.

I'm with you on the vagaries of weather, especially wind... add to that, the passerby, the inevitable questions if one 'pleins' it... ('what are doing?'... one artist tells me she replies, "I'm baking a cake, what does it look like?")

Besides, isn't that why we invented windows, and cameras? So we could stay inside and paint the outdoors in comfort? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Gwen Bell said...

Jala, you've been painting some really beautiful skies and this one is outstanding!

Poor Mojito...you can see the hesitation on his face. What a great shot!

Ann Gorbett said...

What a wonderful combination-art and animals. Your art is inspirational and the photos of your animals make me LOL. The funniest cat sleeping poses I've seen. What a crazy crew you have.

Anonymous said...

I'm really enjoying all your sky studies.

While Mojito didn't want to go into the tent, I would have never left it. Actually, I would have never gone on this trip. As Bonnie says: Owtside begins with OW. That's my motto and I'm sticking to it.

Barbara Muir said...

Love the cloud paintings and completely get the plein air thing. The last time I painted plein air I froze to death and got actual hunks of gravel in my acrylic paint. Far from fun and the results were mediocre. I also agree with the dog. My dog is the same and puts on the same expression.

Take care,

Barbara

loriann signori said...

leaning towards plein air...wow what next?
with stuff like this and the other skyscapes in your head..why move?