Winding down the Plein Air Season

Crossing Sellwood, 8x10" Oil

The weather cooperated for a wonderful Fall outing of plein air painting these past few days here in Portland so I took the opportunity to work my magic out on the streets of Old Sellwood's antique district to finish up this one painting that I started last year.  As you can see the viewpoint could be a bit distracting to the traffic, but it made for a unique viewpoint.  There are so many street scenes I'd like to paint but I'd probably be killed in the process. Here on SE 13th Street in Old Sellwood offers a small island with a crosswalk for pedestrians to stop and take a peek at what's on the easel.

The only drawback to this location is that the island didn't offer much

room to step back to view the work in progress.

Then on Saturday, I drove out to Oregon City to participate in the Willamette Falls Festival plein air portion of the festival. There were a handful of artists out working the incredible views of the city and falls. I was stationed on Main Street at the very end of the bridge with a viewpoint of the ever-so-stiff icon of the city, the Elevator that has a viewing platform on top of the cliffside.

Main Street Elevator, 10x8" Oil

I used a panel that had been "prepped" with a reddish underpainting. I used a dry brush effect on most of the piece, allowing the underpainting to come through, much like how I work with my pastel work. After I completed the artwork, I ventured up onto the bridge to see what the view was like downstream. Below is my quick study of the Willamette Falls. I was told that the falls have the second most volume of water next to Niagra Falls.  The cliffs on the right support an old turn of the century Zellerbach paper mill that once was a major cause of pollution in the Willamette River. It no longer is in operation because it could not be retrofitted to new safety standards. Imagine all the logs coming into the mill by way of the river to be processed into paper. I asked the organizers of the Willamette Falls Festival event if they ever offer a tour of the 100 year old building that I would love to tour it and perhaps document it's history in paint.

 "Oregon City Crossing" 8x10" Oil

So I'm hoping for more good Fall weather to bring out the paints again to document the turn of seasons, but already the weather man has dashed my days away with rain. Oh, so Oregon!