Day 119

Green Dump Truck, 5 x 7 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy

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I spent the weekend at a plein air festival in Malvern, Iowa. The weather was gorgeous, the scenery was beautiful, and I got to spend time with good friends. What more can you ask for? I did this little painting the last day - I was driving around and screeched to a halt when I saw this green truck in a quarry. 

Day 93

International Harvester Pickup

6 x 6 inch, oil on panel. © 2012 Kathleen Coy

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This fantastic old truck was parked in a barn where my plein air group met to paint this week. I felt a little like I was on the show American Pickers when I saw some of the cool stuff tucked away in that barn. There's something about being inside of an old barn like this that I just love to experience - the interior is mostly dark, with beams of light coming from gaps in the walls and ceiling. Quiet. Dusty. Broken here and there, but still holding steady after 100 years. You wish the walls could tell stories about everything they'd seen and heard through the generations. My friend Michael Wilson talks about the barn as a chapel, and I understand.

There wasn't any dramatic light on this truck, but I feel like the little bits of blue paint make up for it.  Speaking of drama, I started this painting on location, just long enough to get the drawing and colors right, then finished it in my nice air-conditioned studio. It was so hot that day, I thought I might burst into flames. (Plein air diva, remember?) ;-)

Day 13

Standing By, 7 x 5 inch oil on panel

© 2012 Kathleen Coy
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During the warmer months, I paint on location with a local plein air group several times a month. Painting en plein air means painting "in the open air," and all the cool kids are doing it these days.

I was really drawn to this old truck that was at our afternoon location, and decided it would make a good daily painting.

This study took about an hour and a half. I could have fiddled around with it for another hour or two, but I had the gist of it, and besides, it was hot and the back of my neck was getting sunburned. (I can be a total plein air Diva sometimes. Oh, the drama!)

This is only the second time I've put a vehicle in a painting, but they are fun. The license plate is my favorite part.