Fisk, 30 x 40, oil on linen

This one was a struggle to enlarge from a 9x12. I wanted to get the feeling of warm light at the last moments of the day. This location is just around the corner from my studio. The building that is barely visible at the back is the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Lawrenceville branch. It was one of his 2,811 free libraries, built in 1898.

Lights On, 8 x 10, oil on panel

On a walk the other night I noticed this scene, which is a little different for me. One of my favorite times of the day is when the sun goes down and there is still enough ambient light to see. It about this time some interior lights come on, giving spots of warmth to the overall darkened cool landscape. I painted it from a very grainy iphone pic and memory when I returned to my studio.

Behind Art's Tavern, 16 x 20, oil on canvas

I did this from a photo taken at a stop sign in the strip district. It was one of those things you see and say, wow look at the sunlight on that painted building. This is an example where the light would be changing so rapidly that working from a photo makes sense. The telephone poles echo the vertical panels of the fence and reinforce the geometric shapes. Yes that is a dumpster in the lower right. I almost edited it out but liked how it anchored the painting and created another overlapping shape.

Magnet Machine, 16 x 20, oil on canvas

This is the second of the scrap yard series. This baby picks up anything, as long as it is made of steel.  It's technical name is Link Belt 5800, but I nicknamed it the Magnet Machine. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to move huge pieces of metal around with this? Probably a boy thing. I painted it from the front so the extreme foreshortening would add drama and depth to the painting. Next subject, the CAR CRUSHER!

Backyards, oil on linen, 24 x 36

I just moved to a new place that has some interesting views of the city. The distant downtown buildings are framed by the various backyards textures. It is a classic view and visually describes why this is such an interesting place to live and paint.

Industrial Orange, Johnstown, 9 x 12, oil on panel

Next April I'm having an exhibition in Johnstown, PA. I'm going to call it Portrait of Johnstown because of the 12 months I'll have spent looking at the flood-famous town. The 60 paintings will NOT be postcard images. Johnstown isn't pretty, but it is interesting with one helluva lot of character. I get to know a place by walking the streets, eating at a local diner, listening to the people and then setting up my easel.

Also, a friend/collector just posted a Wikipedia entry for me. This was such a nice thing for her to do. Thank you Catherine!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Donoughe

River Kiss, 20x24, Ron Donoughe

Earlier this week I spent some time painting the Muskingham River in Ohio. It was interesting because an artist friend has a cottage that is right on the river's edge. That allowed for constant observation of how the sky changes affect the river color. This painting was about how the last golden rays kissed the water goodnight.

Blue Morning, 30 x 40, oil on linen

Sometimes one painting leads to another. This is what happened with the most recent painting, Last Light. After I did it, the idea of deeply shadowed alleyways prompted me to look at photos I took last winter. This new one depicts early morning light on Polish Hill. The tricky aspect of this painting was to keep the hillside in the distance, even though it is warm. Conversely, the foreground is in deep, bluish shadow and normally these cool colors tend to recede. I think of these scenes as urban canyons where light darts through openings, creating tension because of the imposing masses.

Last Light, 30 x 40, oil on linen

Painting the area close to my studio has become much more important to me over the last few years. I especially like the narrow alley ways. They allow me to describe how colors change over distance while also showing a sense of place. In this painting the late day light is just touching some row houses before they drop into shadow.

Flooded Trunks, 9 x 12, oil on panel

Rain, rain go away. The excess water in the rivers has caused a lot of this, flooded trunks. These reflections appeared to move with the viewer. Very strange. The same phenomenon seems to happen with eyes on some museum portraits. The general rule with reflection is that dark values reflect lighter, lights reflect darker and middle tones reflect about the same.

This is one of the 60 newly posted paintings on my web site.

Fences, 9 x 12, oil on panel

I've been using the idea of missing houses in recent work. The spaces remind me of a smile without a tooth. Most of the urban landscape work has been done within a few blocks of my studio. It just doesn't seem necessary to travel to "find" a good painting location when so many interesting options exist nearby.

Last Snow, 16 x 20, oil on linen

I should have titled this Last Snow, Hopefully. It seems everyone is sick of winter. That is apparent when visitors to my studio say, nice painting, but...  I usually know what is coming next. Winter paintings can actually make people feel cold, which hasn't stopped me from doing them. This isolated group of houses on Polish Hill really caught my eye a few weeks ago. I liked the austere loneliness of the scene even though they appear to be glued together. The shadows were a nice way to lead the viewer up the hill. I'm almost finished with a large 36 x 50 canvas of this one. It will be posted next.

Patch of Path, 9 x 12, oil on panel

This was painted on one of those dark, damp days that you wanted to stay in bed. Fortunately the sun peeked out enough for me to do this sketch. It is a simple statement about how light and shadow fall on snow.

First Blog from Ron Donoughe

I'm a regional painter based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but I also live and paint in the Cambria County area between Altoona and Johnstown. Recently I just completed a large series of plein air paintings done in Indiana County for an upcoming exhibition. This show will be held in March at the Indiana University of PA (IUP) Museum in conjunction with my twin brother Don.

This show will contain over 80 small landscape paintings done in and around Indiana County. Here are a few examples of this work.