Lisa McShane Art

Cherry Point, Christmas Day 2. Oil on Canvas. 20" x 16". What can I say about this painting? I love it. It's been through several iterations, and I'll post an earlier version below so you can see the changes. I started it shortly after Christmas along with Cherry Point, Christmas Day 1 (love that too!) and Alder Grove, Cherry Point . The one above was challenging at first. I showed it to Ruthie V and she noticed that I'd placed a band along the back, to convey the top of the trees. Great catch, so I brought the sky down over that visual barrier and softened the trees in the background. I painted the sky again and repainted the trees over the sky, softening all the edges (that's the stage it was at below.) Then Deborah Paris in our Luminous Landscape class suggested I darken the path substantially and I did. That made all the deep shadows lay down and pop. This painting is more saturated in deep color than a jpeg can convey. So saturated that I've been l...

Cherry Point, Alder Grove. Oil on Canvas. 11" x 14". This is the third painting of Cherry Point this month. I do love the long shadows of the winter sun. When summer comes, that's one thing I'll miss.

Alders, Cherry Point: sketches, underpainting and first layers On Christmas Day my family took a hike to Cherry Point, along the coast in Whatcom County. Cherry Point is a beautiful area just north of the refineries. There are still herring beds, purple starfish on the beach and heron and eagles roost in the trees on the bluff. Several years ago the local land trust asked for my help in approaching the landowner to allow it to be purchased for a park. I did, the landowner was kind enough to agree and the area is now a small county park that provides access to the shoreline. It was sunny on Christmas and the winter shadows were just right. This is the start of a painting based on that day. You can see the sketch of this and several other paintings. Then the underpainting, and now the start of the layers. The sky may be too dark and I'll go back over that a couple of times to lighten it. I have several other works in progress from Christmas Day. It was a beautiful hike.