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PLEIN AIR PAINTING TECHNIQUES

I designed this series of posters for a Plein Air Art Festival hosted by the Highland Center of Natural History, the City of Prescott, the U.S. Forest Service, and my studio, Visualizing Science. I feature paintings provided by local plein air artists as well as my own work. Using examples sketched on-location at Washington’s Gold Creek Pond, I break the sketching process down into three key steps. Next, I guide participants through the basics of color mixing and three steps for layering color in an an opaque medium like acrylics or oils, using an example painting of Watson Lake in Arizona. Finally, I add some helpful tips about lighting and its interactions with color, atmospheric perspective, and our perception of three-dimensional forms.

Gallery Image
Gallery Image
Gallery Image
Gallery Image

All art is copyrighted by individual artists and shared with permission.

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HOW FORESTS CAPTURE CARBON
Illustration: Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into sugars, using the food to grow. This process, called photosynthesis, allows plants to make their own food, storing the carbon in their tissues as they grow roots, branches and leaves. In this way, forests help fight climate change by absorbing and storing carbon pollution that is heating the planet. Big trees store the most carbon because of their mass, and long-lived species such as Douglas fir and red cedar can lock carbon away for centuries. Trees absorb carbon dioxide gas through openings in leaves or needles called stomata. Chloroplasts within leaves and needles use the energy of the sun to split water molecules drawn up through tree roots into hydrogen and oxygen, released through their stomata. Trees and other green plants create the air we breathe, and shelter and nourish life as we know it.
HOW FORESTS CAPTURE CARBON
PINK SALMON BOOM
PINK SALMON BOOM
ICE ARRESTS
Map of ICE arrests during Trump's second term. Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term through Oct. 15, 2025, ICE agents made a total of 220,929 arrests, the vast majority of which were in Texas, Florida and California. 34% of arrests involved people with no criminal convictions or pending charges. Washington saw nearly 2,000 arrests, 47% which involved people with no criminal convictions or pending charges.
ICE ARRESTS
ICE ARRESTS BY SEATTLE FIELD OFFICE
Multi-chart graphic showing that several northwest counties and municipalities saw a sharp increase in ICE arrests following the start of President Trump's second term, including King, Clark, Whatcom, and Yakima Counties in Washington; Multnomah, Marion, and Washington Counties in Oregon, and Anchorage municipality.
ICE ARRESTS BY SEATTLE FIELD OFFICE