Picnic Drawings

We traditionally have a meeting before we eat our lobsters at the neighborhood picnic I mentioned in the previous post. I find it a great opportunity to draw people, as they sit intent on the discussion. Do any of you who know the crowd recognize anyone?

"Din-nah"

"Din-nah"
8"x8" oil on canvas panel

Today was our annual neighborhood lobster bake. I decided to have a hot dog and take mine home to paint. (And afterwards we made lobster scampi.) Isn't summer wonderful?

This painting will be available framed from the Yarmouth Frameshop and Gallery in September for $275. Please contact them if you are interested in purchasing it.

"Peony Garden"

"Peony Garden"
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Each year I enjoy the peony garden at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, but I haven't able to paint there while the flowers were blooming until this year. I was attracted not only by the flowers, but by the neat rows and the perspective as they recede into the distance. Suzanne showed me the way with this composition, and on the second day I got it.

This is my 201st post! I want to thank everyone who has subscribed, commented, or followed, for the first 200. I hope you'll hang in there with me for the next 200.

Colin gives me a Big Brush

Boats (painted clockwise from top left)
10"x10" oil on canvas

One final post on the Colon Page class: the second day we painted boats at Round Pond. This was the focus of the class for me, the reason I signed up for a third time. Colin is just superb at painting boats, even on a murky day like the one we had. Once again we divided our canvas in four and set off. I found using a divided canvas really fee-ing, no chance of a keeper in the sense of a finished painting, so it is easier to let go. After some corrections on boat shape in my first one, Colin looked at my brushes and handed me a much bigger one, basically the width of the transom, and said "use this". And so for the last three I used the big one. It really did help to just put in the basic shapes, and the texture of the single larger brush stroke is more interesting. I feel like I learned a lot. Previous boat paintings I have shown here were carefully drawn on a gridded canvas from a photo. I think now I can do a reasonable job on site, free-hand, and loosing the detailed drawing is probably a good idea. I'll show my first try solo, which I did yesterday, in a later post.

Colin Page Class Day 1 - "Salt Bay Field"

"Salt Bay Field"
6"x8" oil on canvas panel

In the afternoon of day 1 of Colin's class we moved outside, though it was pretty gray. Colin is a plein air painter, and for many of us this was a big draw for the class, so we were happy despite the lack of sunshine. Again the exercise was to paint 30 minute sketches, but now in color. This is one I did of the same scene that Colin demo'ed. Other favorites were some of the green and red farm machinery that was parked nearby and the barn across the way that we painted last year.

Colin Page Class Day 1 - "Scissors"

"Scissors"
10"x10" oil on canvas panel

This weekend I took a wonderful 2 day plein air class with Colin Page. Some of you will remember that I took it in May and also in August last year as well. There is still much to learn from Colin. In the first morning's exercise we were inside due to weather and did black and white still life studies. I chose a pair of scissors. In square 1, we started with a midtone made of wiped off black, and then added and subtracted with more paint, or wiping off with Gamsol. In square 2, the wipe off was replaced with white paint. The wiping off is my comfort zone, so we were getting into something I really need to learn. Square 3 was supposed to be thicker paint and lost and found edges. I'm felt like I didn't totally get there, so I tried that again for square 4. We had 30 minutes to do each square. I loved this exercise, and I'm going to frame my piece, I think it's cool. Click on the image to get a closer view. Which square do you like best?

"Clouds Over Cove Road"

"Clouds Over Cove Road"
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Back again at Cove Road in South Freeport last Sunday we were treated to a show of clouds. This was not my first attempt that day, but after staring at beautiful clouds painted by Liz Wiltzen in her "100 Plein Air Paintings in 100 Days" project, this is what I came up with. What do you think?

And please visit Liz's blog. I am working on a 3 day daily landscape painting workshop that Liz will teach in Maine next summer. If you are interested, let me know.

10 Plein Air Paintings of Great Brook Farm #2

"Farm Pond Pines Reflection"
6"x6" oil on canvas panel

Here's my second in the Great Brook Farm series of 10. Yes, these are the same trees, also at dusk. I'm standing about a quarter of the way around the pond to the west from the previous vantage point. I just can't resist these trees!

"Bend in the River"

"Bend in the River"

6"X6" oil on canvas panel

The Concord River has a dam at the Faulkner Mill in Billerica, MA, and the resulting lake makes this bend in the river. I stood in the park at the dam, listening to the spillway falls as I painted this last week. What a beautiful spot, and what fun to paint outside in the early morning.

"Farm Pond Pines" #1 of 10 at Great Brook Farm

"Farm Pond Pines"

6"x6" oil on canvas panel

I've been scouting out places near me to paint on the way to and from work. Great Brook Farm State Park in Carlisle, MA is very appealing. Remember the geese from last week? They were only a few feet from me as I painted this yesterday evening. The sun was setting and gave some great shadows before going behind the trees and leaving me to complete the painting from memory.

I like Great Brook Farm so much that I think I will do a series here. No promises as to how long it will take, to post every day, or to only paint here until it's done, but I will tentatively call this #1 of 10. Can I really think of 10 different scenes? I'm not sure, but inspired by Liz Wiltzen and others who set a series task for the themselves, I'm going for it. If I am as happy with all of them as I am with this one, it will be really fun, and I know I'll learn a lot.