Scotch

Laphroaig and Glass

10"x8" oil on canvas panel

What to paint in winter? Thinking about Valentine's Day coming up I got out a bottle of brandy and a couple of glasses. Hopefully you'll see that painting in a few days. I thought I should practice first and so grabbed a bottle of my favorite scotch, Laphroaig, and a single glass.

I set up the still life next to a window, with a black backdrop and a white linen napkin as the base. and took a few photos since the light was changing fast. Here are a few process shots.

Value under painting in yellow ochre and ultramarine blue

 Putting in the darks

First pass of color (note the change to a purple background)

Painting the background a different color than what I could see was of course not such a great idea. I  immediately knew that the bottom of the glass was now too dark. So the next morning I went to JoAnne Fabrics and bought a piece of purple fabric to replace the black.

Notice also that the bottle leans a little in the process photos and the ellipse at the top of the glass is crooked and bigger on the bottom then the top. So I had to fix all that. For a discussion of how to get the ellipse correct in this kind of painting, see this great post by my buddy Carol L. Douglas.

Beaver Brook Winter

Beaver Brook Winter

8"x10" oil on canvas panel

We had our first snow of the season today. And to prepare for it, I painted this a couple of weeks ago in my class with Robert Abele. A bunch of us were trying out a limited palette of yellow ochre, cadmium red, black, and white. The gray mixtures turn almost blue with this approach. Perhaps this year I'll be able to paint in the snow at Beaver Brook. Looking forward to that, maybe there will even be a little blue sky.

Buoy #8

Buoy #8 White and Green

6"x6"oil on Raymar panel

This is the last buoy, at least for a while. I particularly like how the water looks like puddles, which happens when it's relatively calm.

The eight buoys will be part of the holiday show at Yarmouth Frame and Gallery this year. The opening is on Saturday, November 26th from 4-7PM. I'm very pleased that one of the buoys was chosen for the advertisement! Check it out below with the others.

Buoy #4

Buoy #1

Buoy #2

 

Buoy #3

Buoy #5

Buoy #6

Buoy #7

Buoy #7

Buoy #7 Pink ad Yellow Flag

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Here's another buoy with a flag, pink is apparently a popular color for buoy flags. Sometimes I change the color of the buoys (always risky, because it's easy to miss how the water impacts the various reflections), but this time I loved all the colors the lobsterman choose, and have tried to show you his palette.

Cove Road Mud

Cove Road Mud

5"x7" oil on linen panel

I was back at Cove Road in South Freeport last month, grappling with the mud at low tide. And I had plenty of company, with the clammers out in force. I think what they were doing was harder than what I was doing.

 A clammer, it's hard work! And a long slog back to the grass.

Lobster Buoy 6

 Lobster Buoy 6 Pink and Green

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

This summer we saw several lobster buoys with a flags on their sticks, which certainly makes them easier to see. I particularly liked this one because of the colors.

"Jedi"

Jedi I

8"x8" oil on Raymar panel

Jedi II

8"x8" oil on Raymar panel 

Above are two versions of a painting I've done as a gift for some friends. The first one is the value under painting with lots of burnt sienna (transparent) and white canvas. In the second version, opaque paint has been used over all. I'd love your opinion on the two, email or comment please! (And try to ignore the higher quality photograph on the first one.)

I'm even further behind on posting, so you'll see a few more over the next week.

Pumpkin and Friends

Pumpkin and Friends

5"x7" oil on linen panel

I'm getting behind on posting, due to forgetting to photograph the paintings. This one is from last Thursday and introduces my new favorite apple, the Autumn Gala. I hope they still have some when I get to the farm stand tomorrow, because I've eaten all of mine!

If anyone has any tips for photographing paintings with very dark backgrounds, I'd love to hear them. I'll try retaking the photo once the painting is dry.

Cloud Study I

 Cloud Study Final

8"x10" oil on canvas panel

A teacher once said to me, a sky without clouds is a missed opportunity. They can be a great device for composition, and are beautiful in themselves. Here's a sky study done from a photo (through a spray spattered windshield on a windy day).

The process I used is recommended by my teacher Rob Abele. Tone the canvas, do a quick sketch, and then do a first pass in thin paint as fast as you can. Lightly scrape that, to remove any high points (which contain solvent). Repaint, paying attention to your reference. This is where I have a tendency to fall down, and just fill in the ghost. I get a much better result if I go back to the reference. Finally, in this case, I used my finger to blend the transitions between the different colors and values (top image).

Apologies for the different colors. Each pass was photographed with a different light source, and I couldn't bring them all to the same place in Photoshop. The top image was taken outside and so is probably the best.

First pass

After scraping the first pass, and painting over it, except blue sky is still at the scraped stage

 Reference Photo

Buoy #5

Buoy #5, Purple and Yellow

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

I decided to go with a complementary color scheme for this buoy. It has a wonderful reflection in the photo, which I couldn't resist. I've still got a few more of these to finish, and I'll intersperse them with other subjects and whatever plein air painting the weather permits.

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!

Lobster Buoy 4

Lobster Buoy 4 - Holiday

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

I was asked to make one of the buoys with a holiday theme, so it could be used for marketing holiday events. When the water is reflecting the trees and it's a bit overcast, you get water that looks like this. With a red and white buoy, it's kind of festive, don't you think?

Sandy Point Beach

"Sandy Point Beach"

5"x7" oil on linen panel

This afternoon it was windy, so I painted from the shelter of the path down to Sandy Point Beach on Cousin's Island. I was tempted to put in a few people, but none stayed long enough. A couple of young women headed out to one of the islands in kayaks for a last overnight before it gets too cold. Good for them!

Low Tide at Cove Road

 

Low Tide at Cove Road

5"x7" oil on linen panel

Note: the mud is pinker than I've managed to capture with this photo!

Working on the first version of this painting on Monday afternoon, I was up against a stiff breeze, and wedged myself against the easel to keep things from blowing away. Low back pain followed the next day, so I've been stretching and taking it easy for a bit.

Sadly, I don't a photo of the first pass before I scraped it. But here's the scraped results, which I liked a lot better than the cool mud in the first pass.

Rocks at Cove Road

"Rocks at Cove Road"

5"x7" oil on linen panel

It was so beautiful outside, and nice and cool this morning, so off I went with my plein air gear. My first stop was South Freeport Harbor, where I spent a couple of hours making a mess (which I wiped off). I was painting on a pier, and the best I can say is that I didn't drop anything in. Next, off to Cove Road, where I was attracted to the rocks that make up the rip rap keeping this little peninsula from being eroded into the Harraseeket River. And of course the view beyond them is nothing to sneeze at!

Harbor Master

Harbor Master

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel
 SOLD

I painted this one on the Freeport town dock, under the harbor master's office, which is up a flight of stairs. His boat was tied to the dock, but I could still see the bright light hitting the left side. Simplifying the engine was fun.

Passage to Seal Bay

"Passage to Seal Bay"

8"x10"

oil on canvas panel

Seal Bay is a beautiful unspoiled part of Vinalhaven Island in Penobscot Bay. It's a must stop for us on our annual boat trip to the area. At high tide, a small boat can make it through this passage into Vinal Cove, and near the end of the cove there is a reversing tidal falls, which everyone loves to go up and down in their dinghies. This year the tide was a bit high when we went through, so there was no falls action. This painting was done from a photo taken as we headed back through the passage to Seal Bay where our boat was anchored.

Lobster Buoy 3

Buoy 3 Red and Green

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

This is an unusual buoy, because it doesn't have a stick, but I couldn't resist the colors. The lobsterman will grab the line tied to the small end of the buoy using a gaff. I'm thinking of getting one of those for our boat, because we often pick up mooring lines that are hard to grab with a standard boat hook.

Royal River Bandwagon Collaborative Portrait

My painting of section bwe4 of the Royal River Bandwagon Collaborative Portrait

8"x8" oil on panel

As many of you know, I do a lot of teaching at Artascope in Yarmouth, which is part of the Bickford Education Center (BEC). As part of an upcoming fundraiser, we are making a collaborative portrait of the Royal River Bandwagon. I've seen a couple of Susan Bickford's earlier collaborative portrait projects and was excited to participate in this one. She blows up a photograph, then cuts it into a grid of pieces. Participants take one piece each, and reproduce it using their chosen medium. The resulting pieces are put into a frame with metal backing with small magnets. The result is very very cool. Check out Susan's collaborative portrait website and this article about one of her projects. Many of them have been portraits of people, rendered in black and white. This one is the portrait of a vehicle, and we are going for color.  Hopefully I'll be able to show the whole thing in an upcoming post.

Lobster Buoy 2

Orange White and Green Buoy

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel

Today I did the value under paintings for three more buoy paintings. This is one of my favorites, I love the tricolored stick. I may replace the photo if I can get one with a better color reproduction of the water.

Here's the under painting. I wiped off more of the dark before painting over it, to minimize mixing with the upper paint layer.