A couple of months ago I came across the Atlanta painters meet-up, a group of artists that gets together to paint in plein-air. Plein air is French for "in the open air" and generally describes the act of painting out doors.

Since discovering the meet-up group, I've met with them a couple of times and it's been great. An artist's life in the studio can be lonely, so this is a great opportunity to hang out and enjoy the outdoors with a bunch of people who also love to paint.

This painting is from my last meeting with them at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Jelly Beans is currently being auctioned on ebay: www.tinycc.melvintoledoebay

There are different ways to start an oil painting and they all affect the look of the finished piece. 
In the first painting (The blue brush) I started with an thin wash of burnt sienna, a dark translucent orange, that gave the finished painting an overall warm look. In the second painting, after adding a few more elements to the composition the same process was followed, with this painting, however, I started with a light blue mixture that resulted in a painting with a cooler feel.
I wish I had taken a few pictures of the process to post here, maybe I'll do it next time.