Here is an example of the same scene painted two different ways: landscape and portrait. I painted the scene on the top first. (pastel, sold) I decided to crop the scene and enlarge it to create, "Gold Rush" a 30" x 15" pastel that won jurors choice in a Loveland, Colorado show. 
Here is another example of "progressive painting." The painting on the left is a 10" x 10" plein air oil painting of Aspen Lake in northern New Mexico. (currently for sale at Mt. Living Studio, Manitou Springs, CO) I used the reference photo from the plein air combined with a photo of some Adirondack chairs to paint "Aspen Lake" in pastel (right). The last painting in this mini series is "My Space", a 24" x 18" oil. I saturated the colors more and added a couple of bottles of Grolsch beer to make the scene even more inviting. "My Space" is currently for sale through Centennial Galleries. (Ft. Collins, CO) 
As part of a large commission I had last year, one of my paintings was to be of the Stove Prairie School (Colorado) when it was first built in 1896. I didn't have a reference but scoured libraries, the internet, archives and listened to the locals' stories. I found the photo from1896(top), paid for a copy and signed a release for it's use. I also took numerous photos of where the school still stands today. (with several additions) I put these references together and painted a smaller oil version (center) before I started the final oil version(bottom) on birchwood for my client.
Plein air painting starts with inspiration. I drove a few miles up the Big Thompson Canyon to a park on the Big Thompson River (Colorado).
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