Last Snow, Forest Park, St. Louis MO

Forest Park St, Louis, MO. Early March, 2013.  The last snow of the season. This painting is 9x12", oil painting on linen panel.

On a July morning, my sister and I set out. She, to fish, I, to paint. Here is the painting from that outing. The colors have a feeling of the Hudson River school. I wasn't that pleased with the painting at the time as I kept looking at the landscape and wanted to add this and that. But I've been so surprised that several visitors to my studio have picked this one out as one of the best Indian Creek paintings.

These are small 6x8 thumb box paintings I did the other day. The weather has been lovely. I painted in Forest Park. These two paintings are sketches for a larger work.
I used Holbein Cobalt Violet Light Hue instead of my customary violet and was quite pleased with the result. The color has a warmth that many violets don't have.

Indian Creek Morning. There is something about the last day. I get up early and rush out to painting. Invariably, I do something I like. Here is an early morning painting from the last trip.

Last week I painted at Indian Creek. I'm using Holbein paints in the 20 ml tubes this summer. I bought them for the small size. I thought they would be handy in the pochade box for travelling. The small size is wonderful. The paint has a silky quality and the colors are quite nice. However, I find the cerrulean blue somewhat grey and dull. I prefer a cerulean blue with more zip. In fact I think Schevenings Blauw ( Old Holland) works best in creating a sky. My dark is Rembrant greenish umber and is very close to the Winsor Newton green shade umber. The yellow here is Da Vinci Hansa yellow light. The palette was Joe McGurl's suggestions and reflects the gray gnarled wood coloration of Cape Cod. I think the Hansa yellow is too green for Missouri at this time of the year. I think this would be more useful for nocturnes and early spring.