Mid Coast Maine Marsh

This painting was started and completed in one session in my studio.  So it took me 51 years and two and half hours to paint!

The inspiration for this painting (Acrylic 12" x 16" on canvas board ) came from trips along the mid coast and an acutal location in Brunswick Maine.

While I often paint on locations that I've never been to before, when I do studio work I try to link it to actual on location sketches.  In this case I'd done an on location pencil sketch and some larger charcoal drawings where I attempted a number of different compositions which both simplified some elements of the landscape and elaborated on other elements of the scene as it existed.

We just returned from a vacation to Pennsylvania where I completed a few quick sketches and attempted one painting on location but, to be frank, the Pennsylvania landscape and conditions kicked my a$%.  More on that for another post.

What I did do differently in this painting was that I painted over the Pennsylvania sketch with burnt sienna which gave me a more fully prepped and smoother surface to work on.  I also liked how that base helped warm the painting up more than simply using a white canvas.  Have seen a number of artists do this, but I'd never tried it before.  Something I definitely will continue to experiment with.

If you've never tried painting outdoors - I encourage you to do so.  Check out John Stobart's  "The Pleasures of Painting Outdoors" and "Worldscape" series one and two.  I had the pleasure of meeting John a number of times and he is such an inspiration to so many!

Bath New Hampshire

                                     

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.

                                   

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.

I've added the beginning stages of apple orchards in the left mid ground as well as farm field in the far distance.  I still have come detail work on the bride and values clarification on the rock wall on the far bank.  I've intentially left out the waterfall in the foreground as it competed with the center of interest.  Plenty of subjects to do from this area.

Seasonal views of this would also prove to be interesting - Spring, Fall, and Winter I think.

Marsh, Brunswick ME

I love marshes.  So full of life and color - year round.

This sketch is based on an on location sketch, but it is as much from memory and imagination as it is from life.  Like most scenes from nature, I needed to simplify the composition quite a bit.  There is so much beauty just a few yards off the road, but most people rarely seem to notice.  On this day, there were no birds to be seen, but I almost always seem to see Herons, Cranes, or other birds looking for lunch or for nesting material so I added the birds in to add a point of interest and action to this landscape.

This will serve as a study for an oil painting.  Have no idea why certain subjects appear to me as being best captured in watercolor, charcoal, oil, acrylic, or gouache but subjects just seem to lend themselves better to different media.

One other idea I have for experimentation came to me while I was looking through some older drawings as I was packing them away -.  I will go over older drawings (not completed on location) that won't serve as study's for finished paintings with Watercolor or gouche - not to colorize them, but to work on improving the compositions.  

Wilson's Mills

Wilsons Mills ME. Sun and storm From an on location study. The mountains and mountain valleys particularly interest me due to their sudden changes in weather and light. I remember quite vividly being very warm painting the on location study despite setting up in the tall grass in the shade of an old Spruce. By the time I hiked back to the campsite it was raining and quite cool.

Wilsons Mills

Golden fields, slow moving water with violet deep swirls, virtually no sound 

to the rivers ebb and flow

set up camp in the river basin

so still, the abrupt loud whoosh of crow's wings

snaps my head 'round - with no wild animal to be found (this time)

till I look up and slowly realize what I'm hearing

slowly, for it takes time to leave civilization behind

While painting, observing nature

nature was observing me

moose and deer 10 yards behind

moving through the tall grass and the fallen, gnarled brittle branches

with a grace and quietness not to be believed 

had I not been there

The sound of wind through the tall grass, pine, and spruce

Soothing - reminds me of carefree days exploring the woods close to home

later, the windblown birch branches are a metronome

slow and steady 

a soothing tempo

The fall chill - briefly held at bay,

so hot 

layers pealed, the shade of an old spruce to work  

but a storm was coming

tumbling leaves, thickening clouds, and the rush of cool air announces the coming rain

The wind whispers urgently while tugging at my sleeve

time to go