An Earth-like World...

Another of my space art creations, here we approach an Earth-like world, though with one interesting distinction from our own planet - most of this planet's land is fused together in a large super continent that dominates part of the southern hemisphere. Verdant temperate and tropical zones exist along the edges of this realm, though the interior is a scorching desert. Vast storms rage across the planet's single, huge ocean, causing havoc if they do make landfall.

Digital Painting in Photoshop Elements 10

Another Storm Rolls By...

As summer heat spreads, thunderstorms go with it, rolling through the lands and bringing gusty winds and welcome rain. This is nothing new on this old country road, and the gnarled old sycamores catch a bit of afternoon sun before the next storm passes through.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Approaching a Swampy World

Just to change things up a bit, here's one of my more recent science-fiction space paintings.

View on approach to a warm, soggy world covered with shallow oceans and vast tidal estuaries. The world has little geological activity, and slow erosion has reduced the planet's land masses to swamps and low-lying hills. Vegetation covers the landscape beneath the perpetual fog banks and slow rolling, drizzly cloud formations. While rather hot and soggy, this planet is full of life and worthy of exploration.

Created in Photoshop Elements 10:

Mist and Storms in the Mountains

As summer approaches, thunderstorms roll through the mountains of Appalachia and drive a thick mist into the valleys before them. The warm sun illuminates the clouds as the cool winds pick up and the first drops of rain begin to fall.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

April Showers and Flowers

Spring is here, and with the change in weather comes the first thunderstorms of the season. Last Friday's rain-soaked evening inspired me to paint this scene, where a flowering crabapple tree stands against the windy evening rains. I don't typically paint rainy scenes or ones with streetlights, so this landscape was an interesting challenge - the illuminated rain drops near the lights combine with the rain streaks and splatters on the road to give the illusion of falling rain.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

Jefferson Memorial Cherry Blossoms

This was a bold painting for me, as I don't normally paint buildings or national monuments such as the Jefferson Memorial. Early every spring, the cherry trees around the Memorial and all through DC are covered in pink and white blossoms. It has been a cold start to spring, with snowfall in late March, so the cherry blossoms have been delayed - for now, enjoy an ideal view of them on a sunny day with the crowds nowhere to be seen.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"

March Snow in the Woods

It has been a reasonably cold winter this year with a large number of small storms passing through the region, though most of them produced nothing but flurries or chilly drizzle. The exception came in late February and early March, when a modest snowfall coated much of the area as a surprise reminder that winter was not yet finished. The day after the snow is depicted in this painting - already, the sun is glowing through the trees and melting the snow away.

Acrylic painting: 14" x 17"