"A Maine Summer Day" 5x7 Oil on Copper panel.  SOLD to a nice lady who loves this view!

     Yesterday I went painting with The Art Mentor and another of his painter friends.  They were painting this birch tree scene.  My painting failed miserably.  I did the "Wipe Off!"  Then I went home to paint an egg painting that looks disturbing.  Too disturbing to show!  How about that!  I was tired.  But I did get out there and paint! 

     The painters were very entertaining as usual.  They told me a funny story about painting in the Thuya gardens.  Apparently this was when they were younger.  Paintings were selling like mad.  They were working on very large canvases for days at Thuya.  One of them even put in a check for 100$ as he was appreciative of the painting sales made from Thuya.  One of them spilled turpentine which killed a grassy area in their beautiful manicured gardens creating an eye sore!  They were not really asked to leave, but someone asked when they would be finishing! 

  Here I am at Four Point State Park painting birch trees!  You might see the baby jogger next to me which carries my equipment safely and effortlessly!  This jogger has been the best equipment I have purchased lately! 

     Today I went to paint with The Art Mentor.  I brought him two tastey sandwiches he really seemed to enjoy!  We were painting these birch trees by the sea again today.  He was working on a new smaller canvas.  He used a technique he showed me with his palette knife to keep the birch tree areas clean of paint.  He scraped really hard with the palette knife.  So hard I wondered if the knife was going to go through the canvas!  He painted the trees the very last.  Today he showed me how he kept the sky, island, water in the distance much darker in value so his beautiful white birch trees would sing!  What a great idea!  He has shown me this trick before at Seal Harbor.  There he kept his sky, island, and water much darker so his white boats would really gleem!  Many old master painters used this technique.  The Art Mentor knows all about their techniques. 

     Today I decided not to use any more Diox purple.  I decided not to use dark brown as a very darkest dark any more.  The darkest dark is going to be a cool dark and probably not a warm brown.  I experimented with Cobalt Violet in the shadow tree leaves on the left.  Cobalt Violet is a warmer cool purple lighter in value than the Diox Purple.  It gives a more restful and beautiful look in the trees vegetation in shadow.  The Art Mentor just doesn't like Diox Purple.  I think he has good reasons to not like it!  

     Here are some good tips concerning painting birch trees I learned today.  There are no browns in a birch tree.   There are more purples in the shadows.   There are many types of greens in the birch tree reflected from the grass and leaves surrounding the birch.  Birch trees look best not straight.  They can bend and twist up to the sky. They look best painted not all growing in the same line.  Stagger the birch trees.  Make the birch trees different thicknesses.  Variety of shapes make a painting much more pleasing.  The lightest highlight on the Birch is not all the way up the tree on one side where the sun is hitting it.  Birch trees have highlight areas periodically up the tree.  This highlight is probably not straight Titanium white but Titanium white with a tiny touch of a yellow.   The shadow of the bark of the tree starts right after the highlight and can be more purple like.  There is a reflective light on the opposite side of the highlighted area but subtle.  All brush strokes should be horizontal and curved with the direction of the tree.  Most people paint trees with vertical brush strokes and this is a mistake.  If a tree is to look like a trunk, there must be horizontal brush strokes.  If it is a really thin tree then use a really small brush and do just a few horizontal strokes to make it look curved.  Flat brushes make great birch trees!  

     Use counter change in your design for birch trees.  Counter change:  The tops of your birch tree trunks are light against the dark foliage of the background.  But the lowest trunk of your birch trees are dark against the lighter highlighted grass area.  Tricky to understand at first.  Knowledgeable painters know this technique and use this.  A great painting wasn't created by accident but by a knowledgeable painter! 

     A few days ago I was leaving Four Point State park after finishing the bell tower.  I had my wet painting luckily in the guerrilla painter wet box.  I had all of my heavy painting equipment in my Scwinn Baby Jogger.  I was quickly bustling by with my equipment very proud of myself I might add.  I went over a larger bump.  My equipment went air borne!  I actually saw my bag, wet box, and umbrella jettison out of the jogger like a rocket!  Crash!  I checked the wet painting inside of the wet carrier and it was still in perfect condition!  I was so pleased.  This has been the only accident yet.  I guess I could bungee the bag inside of the jogger.  Still it has been working great! 

     Feeling bored?  Get some art supplies at Michael craft store or online at ASWexpress.com.  Then you know what to do!  Get out and paint!