he majority of my landscapes begin as plein air sketches created on location, out in the open air. You can see some of these sketches on my Plein Air webpage. Many love the loose energy of these sketches, so I offer them for sale, alongside my more time consuming studio paintings.
 
In addition to trips I make by myself, once every month I venture out with the Yosemite Western Artists for a plein air group session. Before I return home from any of these trips, I make sure I have plenty of photos, as well as my color sketches.
 
With my reference materials in hand, I'm ready to tackle a studio painting. Because photos have a limited dynamic range of values, from light to dark, they lie a bit. So, I rely heavily on my plein air color sketch to determine the true color and value of what I saw on location. The photos provide any detail lacking in my quickly done sketches.