A happy birthday to French Symbolist painter Odilon Redon, born this day in 1840.

Not sure how this will look (tweaked via Lightroom on the Chromebook), but here's a gouache sketch of the Rio Grande from yesterday, 5x16.

Off to Dixon, NM, and beyond today for a few days of hiking and sketching. Here's a 9x12 pastel sketch I made a few years ago along the Rio Grande near there. "Along the River."

Hazy day, no real sun. The landscape becomes...difficult. Find a good rock to paint. 5x8 oil pastel + ink.

Here's a video of four Disney artists (1950s) heading out to paint a tree! mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/four-disne...

A happy birthday to Edward Arthur Walton, a Scottish painter of landscapes and portraits, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting, botn this day in 1860. (Self-portrait below.)

Now that the rain has cleared, an outing. 5x16 gouache. Also left and right panels.

High desert textures and colors

I've posted new discount codes for my Plein Air Essentials courses! www.mchesleyjohnson.com/essentials

Happy birthday to Francis Caddell RSA, a Scottish Colourist painter renowned for his depictions of the elegant New Town interiors of his native Edinburgh, and for his work on Iona. Born this day in 1883.

Learning to think like a painter - mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/the-harder...

Happy birthday to Scottish painter Arthur Melville, born this day in 1855.

Canyon wall abstraction 5x8 oil pastel. Yesterday's outing.

I led a plein air painting outing for Plein Air Painters of New Mexico this past weekend. Here's another of my efforts, Spring Greens 8x10 oil. www.mchesleyjohnson.com/product/spri...

I attended an online lecture at the National Gallery of Scotland today on artist Joan Eardley. If you don't know her fascinating work, I recommend watching the video replay: www.youtube.com/live/TYni6U4...

I led a plein air painting outing for Plein Air Painters of New Mexico this past weekend. Here's one of my two efforts, Church Rock, 8x10 oil. www.mchesleyjohnson.com/product/chur...

I promised a sketch from Sedona. Here's "Pioneer Woman" 5x8 oil pastel.

Which will it be? Art as your day job--or as your passion? mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/art-as-liv...

Sometimes this happens when I don't see a tree or a rock I want to paint. 5x8 oil pastel.

Can't get enough of these rocks. Here's another 5x8 plein air oil pastel sketch. Although I need to use my little wooden tool to burnish the shadows a bit (removing some of the white specks), I like the roughness of the paper for the sunlit areas.

A very happy birthday to everyone's favorite painter, Vincent van Gogh, born this day in 1853. (Portrait of Van Gogh by Paul Gauguin, Arles, 1888, oil on canvas, 73 cm x 91 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam [Vincent van Gogh Foundation])

I answer a question from a reader. mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/embrace-th...

Here's a rock in a wash. A big rock. A VW Beetle-sized rock. 5x8 oil pastel. BTW, I'll be heading to Sedona AZ for a few days, so stay tuned for RED ROCKS.

#highdeserttexture

When in doubt, sketch. 5x16 gouache. Yggdrasil or the Axle Tree.

And a happy birthday to American Impressionist Frank W. Benson, born this day in 1862. (Self-portrait by Benson.)

Back into the canyon today! 6x8 gouache. I can't get enough of these cliffs.

Here’s the left panel of the 5×16 gouache I did yesterday. It’s hard to see what’s going on in the combined 5×16 piece.

Mind the Gap, 5x16 gouache. Return to my favorite hiking medium. This was a half-hour hike up a steep cliff...

A happy birthday to Hudson River School artist John Frederick Kensett, born this day in 1816.