While driving to a wedding in Vermont, Julie and I happened upon a village that looked as it must have looked 250 years ago. Farmland filled with corn right up to the river's edge. Beautifully maintained farm houses and barns. And in the town center, a church, a huge covered bridge, and a general store that claims to be the oldest continuously operated general store in the United States.
We had no time to really stop and explore Bath NH on that first trip, but the town has never left my mind. Many years later, we went back to Bath and I hiked across the covered bridge, up the hill on the other side and did a very quick pencil sketch, from which this charcoal drawing is taken.
For years I was content to simply leap in, draw or paint without really considering the composition or other elements of the scene in front of me. From time to time I still do that, but over time - through talking to others, reading, and experimenting on my own I've begun a more systematic approach to painting and drawing. I want to maximize the time I have to draw and paint.
As many of my paintings as possible are started (and completed if possible) on location. Even a five minute sketch helps to recall the mood and details of a place even nearly 20 years later.
The next step is to examine the on location study in more detail. Are there different compositional arrangements that will make for a stronger painting. These are for the most part, very loose line drawings until I've settled on a composition... This is a very quick and fun process that I'm able to do almost anywhere at any time.
The next step has become a finished charcoal drawing (usually 11" by 17"). This step is to more fully establish both the values and the composition of the finished painting. Although I haven't yet made drawing surfaces exactly the same size (or half or a quarter the size) of the finished painting... I'll probably start marking out those areas to make the transition to larger paintings more seamless.
I don't know if any of you would find these methods or ones like them to be helpful in your journey - I just wanted to share what I've learned through trial and error over the last twenty years. Although I find being more methodical , as described above, has helped me to produce stronger paintings - I find that nothing matches the thrill of starting and completing a painting on location.
If you've developed other methods that have helped in your journey, please share them.
This first attempt was based on a quick on location sketch. It never quite worked for me. The quick on location sketch came out pretty well, but didn't work in a larger format.
This first attempt was based on a quick on location sketch. It never quite worked for me. The quick on location sketch came out pretty well, but didn't work in a larger format.
Below is another version of the sketch that I began working on yesterday. I've altered the perspective and the angle of the bridge - not quite as it was, but pictorally in the first sketch, the bridge stopped the eye from going into the picture. Although the empty left midground did provide balance for the composition, I found it to be too plain.
Seasonal views of this would also prove to be interesting - Spring, Fall, and Winter I think.
