Here are some recent plein air paintings
















































Steve Kleier / Artist

Timberline Lodge paint out

Timberline Lodge is such an amazing and singular place and I have spent so many wonderful days there and on Mt Hood that I have often thought about doing a workshop there. I am putting it out there for this October. I don’t need any firm commitments right now but it would be great if you would let me know if you like the idea. steve@stevekleier.com.

Thursday and Friday October 9-10
Timberline Lodge Paint out with Steve Kleier
Timberline lodge is located 60 miles east of Portland on the south side of MT Hood at
about 6000 feet. It is a fine example of alpine lodge architecture with big timbers and
huge stone fireplace. From there are unobstructed views of MT Hood as well as short
walks to alpine meadows. I have painted there many times and now I would like to share
it with you so I have planned an overnight paint out to this special place.The interior of
the lodge is a fantastic space with tall ceilings, handcrafted stone and wood as well as
paintings and crafts. Outdoors the crater and snowfields of MT Hood dominates the
view. These will be our subjects. $190 includes overnight double occupancy at the
lodge, 2 demonstrations and individual instruction. For more information contact me at
steve@stevekleier.com

This race scene required quite a bit of interpretation to show the excitement of it. Especially in the horses leg area.




The vista house on crown point is a Portland icon. I laid down a colorful wash and then rendered the shadow shapes in a dark neutral.




In order to capture something of this friends personality I had to draw particularly accurately.


Steve Kleier / Artist

Here is a still life with rocks and a few pieces of wood.


Steve Kleier / Artist

Today's challenge was painting this silver service. Lots of drawing and reflective surfaces gave us a lot to work from.

Monday morning flowers. A very straightforward subject and composition. Just flowers in a vase. Tried to keep it true to what I saw, and still add a life of its own to the painting.


Steve Kleier / Artist

This demonstration uses color to capture the effect of light raking across this old townhouse



These next three photos show a lesson on using a pallet knife to scrape rock shapes into watercolor. The key here is timing, if you scrape to soon the paint runs back and you get a darker area, which is fine if that is what you want. Of you wait to long the paint is already dry and there is virtually no effect.








Steve Kleier / Artist

I left out a lot of objects to make the composition more manageable and simplified the color to focus the mood.15x22 watercolor.


This lonely truck didn't have a lot of interest beyond the over all shape and, there was no background to speak of so I used an abstract color wash in the beginning to add some excitement.


There is not much drawing here so the focus of this painting is the color harmony.


I set up this scene with plaster pots and artificial flowers to have an informal and "past it's prime" vibe. OSA Monday morning class.

This is one of my favorite local hikes so I have been here many times.
It is always a challenge for me to capture something of the grandeur of it.
15 x22 watercolor.



Steve Kleier / Artist

Mid March 2014

Here is charcoal drawing. The challenge here is the outline shapes of the dogs. Once that is established, the details are easy!
Steve Kleier / Artist





Here is plein air piece I did today. It is was after coffee this morning on upper Hawthorne St. I posted the 1st state on Facebook, but worked on it a little more this evening.

February 2014

This one was done from a photo of an old derelict house. I changed the perspective to help the composition and added the figures for a human element.



The photo reference for this one showed the farm house centered in the frame. I moved it over and added some trees for interest. We spent some time discussing two point perspective.

Steve Kleier / Artist

February 2014

This is a copy of a Ferdinand Petrie painting done as a demonstration from his "how to book" written by Wendon Blake. The lesson was on painting with a tonal pallet. That is, just two colors, a warm and a cool. Be creative and try different combinations.




This one was made from a photo I took at Tulum, Mexico. I thoroughly enjoy touring ruins and so painting them requires a certain detachment. Really not much depth in this one. The castle stands out against a blue sky and all our attention is focused on that.




Steve Kleier / Artist

The reflective surface of the silver set was the motive for this one. I used some white gouche, too.





This is a copy of a David
Taylor painting from his how to book.





This is a value and edge study for a landscape.

This Parisian bridge was painted with orange, green and purple.



In this still life I try to see color.


This was painted from life under a single light.


I did this on the moraine near Cloud Cap on Mt Hoods northeast side.


These old trucks were painted with a secondary triad.



Steve Kleier / Artist

Steve Kleier / Artist




This simple still life is painted with a triad of primary colors.




Here I used a triad or earthy color that creates a mellow mood.

Steve Kleier / Artist

This is done with a two color tonal palette. Just a little extra red and a few darks for the lowlights.

Steve Kleier / Artist

I don't get a chance to paint this kind of subject from life very often. So this was fun.

These were painted with colors that show warm light.



This was a challenge to draw because of the foreshortened boat. The colors are contrast of warm and cool.




This time I concentrate on value. There is really no color statement.



Steve Kleier / Artist

Steve Kleier / Artist





This scene has very flat light. Typical of an overcast day.



This simple still life is an exercise in edge control.

Steve Kleier / Artist


The photo reference showed this as an overcast afternoon but as I painted it turned into a rainy evening.



The photo reference for this one was in black and white, so I had to create a cool color scheme.