Bob Palmerton 

At a Landscape in Pastel class I taught at the Michigan Art Center, we spent some time reviewing the variety of tree trunk textures and how best to convey their sometimes complicated patterns of knots, crevices and bald spots. Below is a simple, quickly-done pastel painting of a tree branch (the reference photo is below). Along the Huron River at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor, MI., you can often find old twisted trees climbing up from the river bank and hanging over the water (suc

Two upcoming venues will exhibit work of local artists including a selection of my landscape pastel paintings. The Clinton Arts Center is hosting "Local Inspiration, A Salon Style Exhibit," starting October 12 and running through December 28, with a reception scheduled for October 28th. The Clinton Art Center is located at 115 West Michigan Avenue, Clinton, MI. The art center is situated in a renovated historic building that features a restaurant and bar, classroom facilitie

Continuing with my Gallup Park series, below is a view of the Huron River at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor, MI. The reference photo was taken in 2016 when autumn had progressed long enough to bring forth those reds, yellow and orange hues. Huron River at Gallup Park, 16x20, was created in soft pastel on Uart sanded paper. #GallupPark #HuronRiver #AnnArbor #waterlilies #autumn

Another pastel painting in my Gallup Park series. These two canoeists were heading back to the canoe livery on a balmy September afternoon. For purchase information and my blog viewer's discount (good through September), visit my ETSY shop. #GallupPark #boat #AnnArbor

Continuing with my Gallup Park series, here is a view of the Huron River neat the public boat launch area. There's a rather tricky feature of waterscapes like this. Note the very dark blue/blackish areas. That is where the reflections of shaded foliage turn the water into a dark mass, as contrasted with areas that reflect only the sky (the light blue with pinkish clouds). The bridge subject of "Huron Serenity" would be to the left of the distant bridge in this view, as Gall

Part of my new Gallup Park Series of pastels, this painting shows the abundance of water lilies on this stretch of the Huron River. The view is east of the canoe livery, looking out toward one of the several bridges that cross the river in this Ann Arbor park. The 130-mile long Huron River snakes its way through Ann Arbor and empties into Lake Erie in Southeast Michigan near the Ohio border. This pastel painting is 12x18 done on beige-toned Wallis Sanded Paper. For purchase

Gallup Park, on the north side of Ann Arbor along the Huron River, presents a wealth of painting opportunities! This scene is off the main parking lot with a view of the west end of the canoe livery. More Gallup Park paintings on the way! Click here for purchase information. I am offering a coupon for my Blog readers! Click here and visit my Etsy shop and the 20% off coupon will be applied at checkout. #HuronRiver #Michigan #AnnArbor #GallupPark

Pastel painting done in a plein air event at Bandemere Park in Ann Arbor, along the Huron River. The shimmer from the early-morning sun on the river and the water lilies caught my attention as I hiked along a wooded trail at the park. This pastel painting is 9x12 and done on Uart sanded paper. For purchase information, click here. #HuronRiver #BandemerePark #AnnArbor #waterlilies

Day 2 of the "Common Ground" plein air event in Ann Arbor, hosted by Nora Venturelli and Jill Wagner. Today we spent our 90 degree temperature day at Bandemere Park along the Huron River near downtown Ann Arbor. I packed up my gear and traveled along the paved path to find this hidden gem of a site along the river at mid-morning: Many of the oil and pastel artists were developing their river (and bridge) scenes at the boat launch area of the park. Here is Jill Wagner working

When I am not outdoors in one of my plein air painting excursions, I often take advantage of digital photography to enhance and complete a pastel painting. Here is the reference photo for the pastel painting currently in progress. It was a lovely early summer morning in the nature preserves outside Ann Arbor, MI. While my focus for the painting will be the wildflowers in the field, you will note that there is a lot of dull brownish-mauve grassy clutter that might make such a

I've been busy lately adding oil painting to my painting activities and have not gotten around to blog much. So I searched for past blogs and found this one on building texture (in pastels). So if you find yourself out in the woods trying to capture the essence of a tree's varied branches, here's a quick lesson. ________________________________________________________________________________________ At a recent Landscape in Pastel class at the Michigan Art Center, we spent

I thought I would spice up my underpainting techniques to do paint this landscape of a field at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor. As there is an orange glow to the field, I chose to do an orange acrylic underpainting. Once complete, I blocked in the darkest values. Jill Wagner, a most accomplished award-winning artist from Saline, Michigan, recently posted a pastel lesson on Uart with an orange acrylic underpainting (inspiring my approach). See Jill's tip here. My ne