Sunflowers

I painted this for the Wetcanvas November Challenge.  Barely got in  under the wire, I guess.

Königin-der-Nacht

Königin-der-Nacht
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

For the Anniversary Challenge  (http://www.flickr.com/groups/watercolouristpwl/discuss/72157622620314544/). This was taken from a photo for the Watercolor challenge..  it is  a Queen of the Night  which only blooms once a year and at night.  Reportedly it is very fragrant.  The background was 4 washes of indigo

Cock of the walk

Cock of the walk
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

Evening-at-Belfrey

Evening-at-Belfrey
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

I finally finished this for the Painting with Light challenge http://www.flickr.com/groups/watercolouristpwl/discuss/72157622424064849/ , I tried to emphasize the glowing light of the setting sun and its reflection. I am not very happy with the clouds, i used resist first on the areas of the clouds to preserve the white while i used multiple glazes on the sky. I think it gave the too hard an edge
I may try more cloud paintings using other methods.

Rob's vineyard report

Rob’s Vineyard ReportOctober 13th, 2009

While the harvest all around Oregon is winding down, the grapes on our estate vineyard continue to develop. Located in the cooler climate of the Van Duzer corridor, our grapes are ripening more slowly than others and the cool nights and warm afternoons have meant that a natural, bright acidity is maintained while the complex flavors of Pinot Noir slowly develop. I’ve spent a lot of time during the last few months visiting vineyards with Joe, and I’m pretty sure our grapes are going to be some of the tastiest in Oregon.
One of the things that Joe has noticed is that the grapes in our vineyard seem to have the thickest skins of any other vineyard we’ve visited this year. This is a good thing, not just because you can make fun of them and they won’t mind, but also because by the time this update has been published, the rain will have begun to fall. Were our grapes not in as good of condition, much of which is attributable to the thicker skins, we’d have been forced to pick earlier than we’d have liked, worried that the rain might bring Botrytis, a fungal disease of the vine associated with wet weather.
If you could have woken up before dawn to meet me in the vineyard for the sunrise this past week, you’d have been cold but you would have seen from atop the hill that thick fog covered everything until the sun rose. As the fog flowed down the valley and away, the bright sun of cloudless days lit up rainbows in the fog. With the sun, the rainbows, and the grapes becoming more delicious by the minute, now is a good time to be a vineyard guy.
But it’s been a lot of long days without rest to get to this point. The bird pressure is increasing, and the struggle against the flocks of starlings has begun in earnest. Until the grapes are harvested, they are our foes and as I tear after them on the ATV, I sometimes wonder if they are laughing at me as they lift into the sky and fly away.
Although we haven’t yet harvested our bumper crop, we’re already planning our strategies for future vintages. We prepared the soil for seeding our winter’s cover crop, and have engineered a special blend of grasses, grains and legumes for biomass, nutrients and plant diversity. I’ll mow and disk these crops into the soil, where they’ll compost into richer soil.
I’ve been demarcating the soils that are thinner or have higher clay content by taking advantage of the more pronounced fall colors in the canopies of stressed vines. We’ll prune the vines in those areas back a bit more this winter, and in the spring I’ll cultivate the soil. In a year, I’ll seed those areas with a cover crop, and over a course of years, the vineyard will gracefully balance itself, providing more consistent ripening.
Pinot Noir is the most genetically complex of all grapevines, and the one most likely to mutate into new forms of grape. Pinot Gris is a lighter-colored variety, and Pinot Blanc its mutant. We have a few vines of Pinot Gris that spontaneously mutated into a new form of white grape. So far, I’ve found three vines in our 200 acres. I flagged and marked them so that when they’re pruned, I’ll make sure to save their cuttings, which I’ll preserve and propagate them in the spring. Smaller in size than and differing in taste from the Pinot Blanc we have planted, it’s going to be a very interesting thing to see over the next few years how these grow and what sort of wine results. My guess is that because the change occurred in our own vineyard, it will be a vine that’s suited to the terroir of our site and perhaps bet expresses its unique nature.
That’s all for now. I’ve got starlings to go beat up. Wish me luck.
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Challenge by Ciuccio

Challenge by Ciuccio
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

I painted this for the
watercolor challenge. See refer photo

challenge by Ciuccio

challenge by Ciuccio
Originally uploaded by ciuccio51

Reference photo

Gold-Hill-

Gold-Hill-
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

I painted this for the wetcanvas watercolor challenge for October. The reference photo is from Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, England "http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=586110"

I Think I needed to use a larger paper size. Difficult perspective when the vanishing point is a foot off the page .

Heisler-Park-Laguna-Beach

Heisler-Park-Laguna-Beach
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

I just finished this watercolor today. It is from a photo I took a couple of years ago while visiting in Laguna Beach. I always make sure that I spend time in Heisler Park on the bluff over the beach and the art Galleries. I was trying to capture the light coming in in the late afternoon.

Dover-Street-Baltimore, MD

Dover-Street-Baltimore, MD
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

Last year my daughter lived on this street, Dover Street in Baltimore. I finally got around to painting this yesterday since it was raining and I had to play inside. For you baseball fans This is about 1/2 block from Babe Ruth's birth place and a short walk to Camden Yards.

Bigfork,Montana

Bigfork,Montana
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

I spent several hours on a wonderful October day in Big Fork. There was a terrific watercolor exhibit at the city gallery with paintings so terrific I went home and threw rocks at mine. Great apple orchards on the road to town. Bigfork is on Flathead Lake on the way to Glacier Park. I would love to live in Bigfork someday. I decided to take Bigfork back to the days before autos and I remember the golden, warm light of that day.

red-Admiral

red-Admiral
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

Red Admiral butterfly
watercolor 5x7 arches

Dane2

Dane2
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

A Reduex of previous painting. I greyed down uniform. Reworked the eyes-more direct gaze, greyed the whites. I added texture and toned down the uniform. I losts the edges on the ear.

danish-man

danish-man
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

This was drawn from a photo from the Library of Congress site. There were several portraits of new immigrants coming through Ellis Island in 1909. I was struck by this man from Denmark.
there a certain sadness in drawing a person long gone. I plan to next try to paint a watercolor of this

Pie-Town-Homesteader

Pie-Town-Homesteader
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

This from a photo I posted previousl in February of Les Thomas, homesteader, Pie Town, New Mexico .
Watercolor on YUPO paper 8x10 in. I was trying to go for texture and color. Working on YUPO is really kind of fun I let the paint mix on the paper and used some splatter and lifting. Not a medium if you want precise lines
This was take from a photo in the Library of Congress archives and is a photo by Russel Lee, a photographer working on a project for the New Deal in the town of Pie, New Mexico in 1940. It is Les Thomas a homesteader in the area. the original is of course much better than my rendition. Check out his photos on the Flickr site

Save as Draft

"Hay,Fred, Why the long face?"

"Hay,Fred, Why the long face?"
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

Be still my bleeding heart

Be still my bleeding heart
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

Painted for the wetcanvas challenge. Watercolor 11x14 in July 2009. The background is Alizerin and Phalo green mixed on the paper

outside the cottage-challenge

outside the cottage-challenge
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

watercolor on Arches 11x14

Crathes Castle, Scotland

Crathes Castle, Scotland
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

painted on 9x12 HP Fabriano. For Wetcanvas watercolor challenge. August 09,2009