L'Esprit

 L'Esprit

8"x6" oil on Raymar panel

I had a blast today at Great Bay Boatyard painting this little gem. I love red boats, and when you add some flags, which started fluttering just when I got that stage of the painting, it was irresistible!

Owls Head Harbor

 

Owls Head Harbor 

6"x8" oil on canvas panel

My last painting from the Anne Blair Brown class was painted at Owls Head Harbor. Through the class I came to rely more and more on my Notan thumbnails (see below). That was particularly important here, because the boats swung around while I was squeezing out my paint. So I used the Notan for the composition and glances at each boat to grab their dark light patterns as they swung. Then, when I got home, I broke my rule number 1 of plein air painting "Don't muck with it when you get home".  I simplified a few things, and sadly I don't have a picture of the original. Lesson leaned!

The Notan I used for the above painting.

Other Notans of this scene, where I didn't think the composition was as strong.

Islands Again

Islands II

6"x8" acrylic on paper

$50, click here to purchase

After painting the Islands in pastel, I wanted to try it in acrylic, to see of I could get the same effect using a palette knife. What do you think? I'm thinking it might be kind of nice on a great big canvas...

Marsh at Tidewater Farm

Marsh at Tidewater Farm

6"x9" oil on treated paper
$50
click here to purchase

This is a demo I did for my plein air class at Tidewater Farm earlier this month. Underneath is a value painting in burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and white acrylic. The color layer on top is oil paint. Just a quick thing, but so fun to do! We all agreed we could do a lot of paintings of this view, standing under the shady white pine tree.

Boothbay Harborfest and OPA Paint Out

Sentinels

6"x8" oil on canvas on board

Today was the annual Oil Painters of America Paint Out for the Plein Air Painters of Maine group. Added to that, the Boothbay Harborfest Stroke of Art is on, so we had a big group painting together at Grimes Cove. It's was lots of fun. I started this painting in the fog, and was happy to see it go away early enough that I could paint the sunshine version.

Blue Boat Study

Blue Boat Study

6"x8" oil on Raymar panel

You know how much I love this blue lobster boat. It's not in the water yet, so I pulled out a study I started some time ago, and just added the reflection of the cabin and fixed up the mooring ball. I decided to leave the background as it was. It is, after all, a study.

I'm taking this painting and four others to Yarmouth Frame and Gallery tomorrow, for their next show, "Winter Cowers as Spring Empowers". The opening reception will be from 4-7PM on Saturday, May 9th. I'd love to see you there!

"Honey Crisp"

"Honey Crisp"

6"x8" oil on linen panel

$150

This is my final painting for Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. I've painted 30 and shown you 28 of them (2 failed quality assurance!). I want to thank you all for your patience and perseverance, and for all the wonderful comments. I do have a question, for a potential next time. Were there too many posts? Would fewer posts per week with more than one painting in each make for better viewing? Thanks so much for your help.

The 6"x6" and 5"x7" paintings done in September will be priced at $100 through October 1st, and on the 2nd, will go up to the normal $150 price.

"Fall is in the Air"

 "Fall is in the Air"

6"x8" oil on linen panel
SOLD

Today I painted with the Plein Air Painters of Maine on the grounds of Hamilton House in South Berwick, ME. As the afternoon worse on it got colder and more overcast, but we could still see the rich fall colors.

"Cloudy Day at Ocean Point"

"Cloudy Day at Ocean Point"

6"x8" oil on Canvas Panel
$150

Today the Plein Air Painters of Maine had our OPA Paint Out at Ocean Park in East Boothbay. It was fun even though the overcast morning sky gave way to fog in the afternoon.

Setting Sun

Setting Sun

6"x8"

oil on Raymar panel

The painting above won 3rd prize at the Ocean Park Plein Air Festival. I'm thrilled!
And below is a piece I was asked to paint, which turned out to be a fun exercise in painting white. That reminded me of fellow painter Mary Sheehan Winn, who is a master white painter. It's a challenge, but I was very pleased with the effort.

31 Crosby Ave

8"x10" oil on linen panel

SOLD

Scott Christensen Workshop

"Plantation Drive"

6"x8" oil on Canson oil paper

NFS

 "Plantation Road" phase 1

A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop taught by Scott Christensen, held at a wonderful spot on the Cooper river, near Charleston SC. Despite a lot of rain, it was an incredible experience. The focus was on making quality paintings, and the things one needs to do to make that happen. And how those things involve your brain more often than your paintbrush. I don't have a lot I want to show, but this one I was particularly pleased with, and I think it illustrates some of what we learned.

The phase 1 photo shows my initial stab at the painting. With Scott's help, it became the version at the top. Though the orientation and even value of the road was in reality more like the phase 1 image, I think the foreground of the finished painting is much more effective and gives a better flavor of the place. What do you think?

Fun with Pastels

 Dry pastel on black sanded paper
6"x8"

 Pastel over watercolor

6"x8"

 Watercolor underpainting on Belgian Mist Wallis paper

Pastel over alcohol/pastel 

6"x8"

 Pastel underpainting with alcohol wash 

Pastel underpainting before alcohol wash on Belgian Mist Wallis paper

Yesterday I attended a pastel workshop taught by Joelle Feldman. We all had so much fun! I'd never really tried pastel before, but someone had given me a wonderful box of Schmincke pastels and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a workshop with Joelle. She's a marvelous teacher, everyone in the class left with beautiful paintings and a smile on their face. We each did our painting three times; first on black sanded paper, which I wasn't too enthused about at first, but I very much like the result. We prepared two underpaintings, one with watercolor and one with a light pastel block in, washed over with alcohol. After those dried we worked with our pastels on top of them. Value was key, and it took a while for me to realize that I could go kind of crazy with the color as long as the values were good. A good exercise and lots of fun.

Happy Holidays!

"Strawberry Banke"

6"x8" oil on Canson paper
SOLD

Happy Holidays to you all, and a safe and prosperous New Year!

Last week on Wednesday, I painted with the Plein Air Painters of Maine in Portsmouth, at the Strawberry Banke Museum parking lot. We'd had a lot of snow, but the sun was shining and it was a great time. Here's to more of that next year!

Monhegan Black Head Plein Air

Monhegan Black Head - Plein Air Study

8"x6" oil on Raymar Panel

$100 - email me for a PayPal invoice if you are interested

Here I am enjoying the plein air experience, and who wouldn't in this gorgeous spot!

The finished painting, with the cliff behind, and a birder enjoying the season.

I've had a wonderful week of painting, and no time to post! On Tuesday, I painted with Mary Byrom at Hamilton House in South Berwick, ME. What a totally gorgeous spot. Unfortunately, my painting wasn't gorgeous, and is no more. But things got MUCH better later in the week, and Mary and I had a great time talking art. On Wednesday, the Plein Air Painters of Maine went to Fisherman's Island, off Boothbay Harbor, as guests of the owners. I'll save the two paintings I did there for another post.

On Thursday and Friday, I was on Monhegan Island, and what a treat it was. Above is my second painting from Thursday. I'm posting it first, because I painted it in response to last week's challenge on the dailypaintworks.com site, from my friend Bruce McMillan. Take a look here to see all the paintings done from Bruce's photograph. I was fortunate to be able to paint looking at the real thing. And while doing so, a Minke whale serenaded me, birders came by and I heard them name the birds as the flew by, it was a dream come true. The sun came out just often enough for me to be able to paint a sunny view, but not enough to get a good photo with it shining.

"Provencal Irises"

"Provencal Irises"

6"x8" oil on board

This is another painting from the Julian Merrow-Smith workshop. Julian worked with several of us; doing a short demo, explaining the process, and giving advice. For some photos of us at work, take a look here (Julian is in the orange fleece); and for our paintings, look here (scroll down to irises).

"Peppers"

"Peppers"

6"x8" oil on canvas on card

Another painting for the show that opens on June 1 at Yarmouth Frame and Gallery.

Forge Pond - Again

"Forge Pond" after some changes to the composition

6"x8" oil on linen panel

"Forge Pond" at the end of the plein air session

I wasn't satisfied with the plein air painting of Forge Pond that I did after our big snow storm, so I got some advice and changed two things about the composition. While I like the composition of the later painting (the one on top) better, there is something fresh about the plein air study that I wish I could have kept. Which painting do you like better?

Forge Pond

A bit that I like.

 The scene is behind the easel to the right.

We've had a blizzard here in New England. Travel was banned on Friday afternoon and Saturday while it snowed a couple of feet, and even this morning there was snow still blocking streets in Boston and Cambridge, and it's been pouring with rain! Yesterday was beautiful though, in the high thirties, and I was able to do a quick plein air sketch by the pond near our house. I'm not sure about the overall painting, but I do like the bit shown at the top. What do you think?

Mandarin with Ragged Leaf

Mandarin with Ragged Leaf

6"x8" oil on canvas panel

set up (with room light on and lamps off)

This time of year, the beautiful mandarin oranges arrive complete with leaves. I couldn't resist this guy with his bedraggled leaf. The painting was done on a panel Suzanne deLesseps had made up one year to use on a trip to France, it's very thin and weighs almost nothing. I set up the still life in a closet, backed by black fabric, with an octopus light shining one bulb across the front of the set up, another pointed at the painting surface, and a third at the palette (sitting where the red box is in the photo). The photo shows the setup with the room light on, but it was off, and it was dark outside, when I painted this. The black-ish background came from mixing alizarin crimson and viridian.

Does anyone know why the mandarins are available with leaves in the US, and other citrus fruits are not?

And, I did have trouble photographing this, it has been very dark and dreary here. When I have some more light, I'll try again.

"From Douarnenez Harbor"

"From Douarnenez Harbor"

6"x8" oil on Raymar panel
SOLD

I was putting together some paintings today to take to Yarmouth Frame and Gallery, and found one that I hadn't posted from my trip to Brittany this summer with the Wapping Group, one of the highlights of my painting year. This was painted from the coastal village of Douarnenez in one of the rare moments of sunshine we had on that trip. And now for sale at the gallery. It was such a fun trip and I met some wonderful UK painters. What a nice thought on which to end the year.