Spring

"Spring"
Oil on linen canvas, 2011



I was painting with Mauri yesterday and it was a nice and warm weather.
Unfortunately sun did not shine, but I hope that we have better luck tomorrow.
Snow is melting super rapidly here in Finland and we have to try to paint as much as possible before its all gone.
To check out Mauri´s pastel click here.

Plein air fun

"Abandoned houses"
2011

We had super fun painting at this nearby location with my friends.
There was plenty of abandoned houses in this old factory area.
Day was cold and windy, but definately worth the visit.


In the beginning stage..


My painting companions, Mauri and Arto.
Please check out the final vesion of Artos painting on his blog :)
Arto´s blog

Dried river

"Dried River"
2010

I painted this a while ago. Then it was really dry and still quite warm.
Now the temperatures are starting to drop and we are rapidly heading into the "real" winter kind of weather. I am looking foward to see some snow covered landscapes soon.
Its always a super fun challenge to do the seasons very first snow painting.

Resting trees

New and old plein airs

Spring is coming

"Spring is coming II"
Oil on linen canvas, 2010

I took a day off from work yesterday and we went to this beautiful location nearby.
We were of course doing plein air painting with my friend, Mauri.
We really enjoyed the great weather and the nature. Snow is melting rapidly and one could really feel that the summer is near.

Heavy wind

"Heavy wind"
2009

It was a nice and windy day today. Good day to put the new easel into windtest.
We were painting on the shores of Helsinki.

"Nocturne Trees"
2009

I almost forgot to post this painting that i painted a few nights ago.
Its funny what kind of color harmonies can occure when you are only using a led based headlamp in the middle of the night.
Its fun and spooky, of course. :D

NEW EASEL!! EASyL Versa by Artwork Essentials

What an happy day!
I just got this new plein air easel. I could not be more happier about it!
Its sturdy and very solid in design. In this case it was a huge benefit that it is really fast to assemble.
I added a piece of glass and the grey paper on the bottom of it to have this glass pallette that i have been wanting to have for a while.
I only had like 30 minutes on the spot before the darkness fell, thats why the painting looks so sketchy. I had super fun!

I am also glad that they do ship these easels internationally. Find out more from
http://www.artworkessentials.com/

Stream

"Stream"
Oil on linen canvas, 20 x 35 cm
2009

Mauri and me on the location.
Mauri was doing some close up drawings of the nearby plants and trees.
Thanks to Ysi for providing this picture.

Clouds

"God Lives There"

Oil on linen canvas, 40x55 cm

I tough to train my ability to see sensitive color changes.
Painting clouds and snow is really good way to see more color.
Mixing all those colors for the clouds was fun!

Two plein air paintings from today

"Stones"

"Resting tree"

Its been an another great painting day. These two were painted in the afternoon in Sipoo.
Its a natural reserve area. Really beautiful place in every way.

Values,values and once more values

Some of you guys have asked me about values and their part in the painting
I think the values are THE MOST important part of any painting. Then comes the drawing(includes edges) and then the color.
I made this sketch today and tried to incorporate only 3 values in this one to have more kick into this painting.



"Rocks"

Black and white version

Posterized 3 shade black and white

Tugboat

"Protector"


What an beautifull day it was today. We were in Helsinki to paint some tugboats.
Super cool!

A lot of stuff

"Daydream"

"Book of colors"


"Drifting log"


I have been painting like crazy again.

I finished the first one today. It took basically 3 nights to paint. its made from reference photo i took back at the summer cabin.

Second one is just a quick 2 hour sketch, I was facinated by all that blueness in the kids room the other day and i took a reference photo. When i took it i had to memorize few of the important colors (mostly those greens in the shadows),which were super necessary so i could get this going on a right direction.

Third one is painted yesterday, it was really a great weather. Sadly the sun effect turned out to be a bit mellow in this one. Other than that it was great to be there.

We have also been painting with the kids. Here is few pictures from that.
Its amazing to watch kids to paint. Definately a learning experience and super fun, and messy of course. :)

New paintings

"Tipsu"
Oil on linen canvas, 2009




"Daisies"
Oil on linen canvas, 2009



Mauri and Arto painting.


I am back from my summer vacation and its good to be home :)
I just finished the first one.. Second one is painted yesterday.
We had a painting trip with my buddies Mauri and Arto. In this shot you can see how we are hiding from the rain under the bridge.

Flowers

I am on my summer holiday and i have been mostly just goofing off with the kids.
Here is one small flower painting from life. It is painted very early in the morning.
I woke up like 5 am to do this.

Lets see if can manage to upload this with my mobile phone..

Two new plein air´s

Two new plein air sketches from nearby forest. :D

Nocturne: First Snow

Every plein air painter seems to be doing nocturnes, so I tought whatta hey, lets give it a shot.
This is painted in a total darkness only in the light of the headlamp. It was a very nice experience and luckily it rained some snow today and it enhanced the overall brilliance of the scenery.