Using Sketches as the Basis of Your Oil Paintings - CT River Paintings

"Hey, but you're an oil painter; what are you doing spending so much time making watercolor sketches"? 

 Lately, I'm really enjoying my sketchbooks in a much more meaningful way.  I had kept several sketchbooks going at a time over the last many years. One was for the garden only, going season to season. A different one was for travel and some miscellaneous things, as well as stuffing travels bits & bobs in there (tickets, ephemera, etc). Yet another was to work up larger oil paintings, though only in pencil or marker.  Last of all, I had started a nature journal of sorts...though on larger, nicer paper....and something "clicked".  

It began last autumn as the weather got colder and winter winds kicked in.  We had a relatively "mild winter" last year in CT, meaning - we still had cold spells, but not much snow fall.  So rather than hauling out all my oil painting gear and dealing with cold hands and wind, I found it easier to bring along my sketchbook and small watercolor kit to record these places (as I'm working on a show of CT River paintings).  Set up time and painting time was quicker - after all - it was like I was out there gathering visual notes for a studio painting rather than completing a finished painting in the raw New England winter air. And when it was truly nor'easter type winds, I'd paint in my car. Working in a watercolor sketchbook in my car was so much simpler than the winter I tried oil painting in the front seat of my mini-Cooper! (never again!!). 

So, now you've got a good idea of what I've been up to lately! And you're getting a small preview of my upcoming show at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library in July!

Commençant à la Pluie - Day 2 of 30in30!-SOLD!

6"x6" oil on archival panel

Click here to bid or to purchase!

The fun thing about this "30 in 30 challenge" is that it's like R & D for artists. My aim is to take the time to do the things that I don't normally take/get the time to do...experiment, and try a LOT of new things...or things that I'm not usually known for. 

 From my travels to France this past October, we got caught in a bit of a rain shower, but the place is still beautiful! After all, it is France! My intent was to keep the figures simple silhouettes against the background shops and scenery, with the light from the florist shop bright and glowing. 

Remains of the Day - 2015

It's here and just in time!! Those of you who have ordered my "Remains of the Day" calendar before know that it has my personal favorites (and hopefully yours, too)!

Click here to place your order (and to find out more about these)!

Here's the rest of the months:
(and for the life of me...I can't figure out why I'm not able to format these images today....blogger is defying my patience!) but here they are! And YES!, in the actual calendar, they are in correct sequence! 

 

The Remains of the Day 2014 Annual Calendar - SOLD OUT!!!

Favorite florals and vistas from this past year! Here's what's inside:

  

OpSail2012CT

 "Red Right Returning" 15"x30" oil on stretched linen

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the writing of "The Star Spangled Banner", OpSail2012CT brings 22 vessels into New London Harbor, and the city adds some local flavor with Sailfest and its fireworks over the Thames River.

Boats will begin assembling at 3pm Friday in Niantic Bay, where East Lyme officials have scheduled a street festival in downtown Niantic and a dinner at McCook Point Park for the crews.  

I'm happy to be included in the fun - I've been invited to be one of the featured Plein air artists along Main Street in Niantic this Friday afternoon, July 6th!  Come by and see me, I'll be painting at Cafe Sol on Main St.

Check out http://www.opsail2012ct.org/ for more info!

You may want to be at McCooks Beach on Friday afternoon to see the USS Carter Hall, a 610 ft. Navy dock ship (visualize landing hundreds of Marines via hovercraft) deliver it's captain on the beach in a big Hummer! The ships will be in Niantic Bay Friday evening until Saturday morning when they head over to New London for the Parade of Ships!

Island View

10"x10"x1" deep,  oil on gessoed, cradled birch panel

For more information about this painting, or to purchase, please follow this link

or contact me here.

Sometimes inspiration comes from unlikely places.

Sometimes it's rather obvious;  seaside cottages, 

wild roses billowing over a bank on a bright summer day, 

a soft breeze, fragrance of ocean and roses, 

who could resist? 

My recent day trip over to Block Island was a bucket full of memories! 

and yes, I'm looking forward to my next trip back!

Peonies And Pears

30"x36" oil on stretched canvas

I'll be re-photographing this one under better light tomorrow, or as soon as the rain stops! The color isn't quite true on this shot.  For more information about this painting, visit this link or- contact me here.

It's been interesting watching things in my garden this year. First every thing is about two weeks early, that's okay by me. I anxiously await these white peonies each year as they have the most wonderful fragrance! If I could bottle it, I would bathe in it!

Well, just last Wednessday, they were all open and standing up straight and tall as I painted this scene on a gray cloudy day:

yep, that's them to the left of the bench, right where you can sit and bask in the fragrance!  The very next day, they were plopped over on the ground, their heads so heavy, they just couldn't hold them up any longer!

So....I cut them while they still looked good and fresh, and put them in large jugs and vases! Initially they were holding up really well, but I couldn't start this painting until Saturday evening.  Continued it on Sunday, and finally finished this afternoon, just in the nick of time!  The blossoms are dropping their petals, in big plops of petals whole blossoms at a time! It's hard to believe they go by in such a short time.

Roses Before The Rain

12"x16" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

"There  will be a rain dance Friday night, weather permitting."  -George Carlin

For more information about this painting, please click here.

This little 'courtyard' area is like an inviting little room beside by front door.  It's such a wonderful piece of paradise to sit there, any time of day. 

Yesterday (Wednesday)  I painted outside in my garden hoping to finish before the sky opened up in the rain that was predicted.  Well, no rain ever came, just gray skies, a bit of a mist at one point, but no rain.  The skies may seem subdued on a gray day, but colors of your flowers and shrubs seem a bit richer as the sun isn't "washing them out".  The roses climbing up the porch post have outdone themselves this year. Standing there painting was incredible-  as their fragrance surrounded me!

 Today (Thursday), the sun was out brilliantly- and all those huge white peony blossoms to the left of the bench have plopped over in the heat! The blooms still look fresh, they're just too heavy to hold their heads up!

Hmm, I think tomorrow I'll be painting some cut blossoms in a huge vase!!

Garden With An Ocean Breeze

9"x12" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, click here.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.  ~John Muir

It is such a wonderful thing to have state parks, national parks, city and town parks where we can renew ourselves.

John Muir certainly knew it "way back when", and I think it's truer than ever these days. This particular garden has one walled in area, that breaks into open spaces that over look the sea.  

Ocean breezes make the tall, red montbresia blossoms bounce in the wind  - and how DO those little hummingbirds have such good aim as to drink from their blossoms?

Ashlawn Farm, Rain On The Goat Shed

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, visit this link.

Goats may look pretty silly, but they must be "smarter than they look"!  When I set up to paint the red barn and out-building (aka goat shed), they were all inside their little hut. One brave soul was peeking out.  It was very overcast and they were calling for some strong showers that day.  The rain held off for a good bit of the morning, and the little goats came out into their long pen. Hmm, I liked that composition better- deciding to wipe out some space to include these short-legged tank-like eating machines.  Then it started raining! All the little goats ran back inside - not wanting to get their little "goat-coats" wet! Who would've guessed- they're secretly neat-niks!   And it wasn't evening raining hard- just barely a sprinkle! I wasn't going to pack up until I had those goats placed in the painting - no matter how briefly I had to do it!  So I worked back into other areas of the painting, the sprinkles stopped momentarily, and I quickly wiped off field greens and painted those goats in there quickly. They weren't going to stand around for long!

Opening Day (Angelique Tulips) and the importance of reliable, comfortable gear, and LAND SNORKELING

8"x6" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, or to purchase, click here.

Named in honor of my daughter Heather's favorite sport, these  tulips are at their peak bloom in my front garden. I'm hoping they'll last a bit longer.  They are one of those plantings that turned out better than I thought they would! I've been messing about with brush AND palette knife lately, and with the small pochade box I was working with, this little painting just didn't lend itself to knife work. Like playing scales for musicians, though, every painting adds to the 'cumulative learning' that goes on to build the next painting.

Usually I stand up to paint. Especially outdoors, where I want to have the mobility to get back from my easel and have a distant look at what I'm attempting to put on canvas.  But there are times when I want to sit, perhaps, as in this case, to have a lower vantage point that's also a bit closer to my subject.

One piece of my normal gear was a small 3-legged folding camp stool. It's light weight, easy to carry along with my back pack, if I need it when I'm painting outdoors. Well....I'm sad to say, after sitting on this thing for 12 years or so (I'm thinking it might even be older than that), the nylon seat finally gave way where the fabric fits over the legs, and voila, it no longer had a seat! I hated to throw it away, but it was beyond repair.

So yesterday, when I wanted to sit at a low point to see these tulips, I went through the garage trying to find something to "make-do" until I replace that little camp-stool.  At first I tried a big plastic flower pot (one that a tree came in). Surely it would hold me. But no, as soon as I sat on it, it began to collapse.  That wouldn't last long, so next, I tried a bucket. It held for a while as I got into my painting.  I was 3/4 of the way to what I thought might be completion, when I realized, this bucket was slowly collapsing too! Ugh. And it is difficult to paint when you are NOT thinking about the painting, but whether you will be sitting on the ground in a heap within a few moments.  Now, I've trolling through Amazon.com and now remember the one I had actually has 4 legs and looks like this.

  I think I might need to ask for one for Mother's Day!

***LAND SNORKELING! or what I learned from Clyde Aspevig at the First Annual Plein Air Convention.   Renowned painter Clyde Aspevig was a presenter at Plein Air Convention last month. But rather than giving a demo, he gave us a very interesting, insightful slide show and presentation.  He and his wife (and fellow painter) Carole Guzman Aspevig are dedicated to environmental causes, and she had come up with the term, "land snorkeling" many years ago.  It is pretty much this- taking the time to savor the aspects of nature that we don't ordinarily see or pay attention to.  I invite you to visit their website on this topic- and join in the discussion of your findings if you you are so interested.

Some other thoughts and discussions for artists that he shared were:
- "What makes you want to paint in the first place?"

- "All those bad paintings are part of that process we must all go through."

-"Why do we want to paint like someone else?- (We have our own voice to find)".

-"Pay attention to the WHOLE, don't get caught up in details."

-"The human brain loves status quo, but also surprises."

I could go on & on...but you get the idea. The discussion was great food for thought, and insightful for everyone there, no matter what level of painter. Amazing thing was, there were a few painters attending  the convention who had never painted 'plein air' before! Good for them for having the courage to go "total immersion"! I hope they have found a world of new possibilities opened to them.

Creekside Color, Gray Day, (Clucas Field, Lyme, CT)

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

For more information about this painting, visit this link.

"The subject doesn't matter. One instant, one aspect of nature is all that is needed...Nature is a most discerning guide, if one submits oneself completely to it." -Claude Monet

Saturday morning rose misty and gray.  I was out in Lyme, at Clucas Field painting with others from Lyme Art Association for an upcoming exhibit in conjunction with the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. 

One of the things I love about gray days, is that the light is fairly steady. The values are mostly fairly close in range, but there can be some rich color in the shadows.  I took an interesting photo of my work against the woods, sort of blends in! 

At the edge of the field, a creek ran down one side.  The notch of a fallen tree rested on another tree, still barely supported by its stump. A large hole in the base of that tree reminded me of the 'troll holes' we used to look for when my daughters where much younger. I felt like I was "living dangerously" trying to avoid the poison ivy and ticks.  Ugh- I had left my 'wellies' in the garage at home! I had intended to bring them knowing full well that I'd be out tromping through a field, and they would keep wet grass, and biting bugs off of me maybe up to my knees.  All in all, I came home with no itchies, no bug bites, and fairly pleased with this little painting (and reminded of just one more thing I love about Spring, yes- even on gray days- the color is subtle, but lovely)!

Dusk On The Eastern Shore, Virginia

Available for purchase from my website. 

 8"x10" oil on canvas mounted on archival panel 

Can you be in love with a place?? I drove down from Connecticut to Virginia on Monday to visit with my painter friend Norma Wilson. When I finally reach the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the sun is a bit lower in the sky, and the farm fields are rich in shadow. The cool blue tones reflect off the tin roofed barns & silos. The storm clouds from Sunday were still lingering, as the sun tried burning through the remains. The last bit of daylight glancing across these acres of flat coastal farm land is full of color. As I reach Cape Charles, just on the north side of the Chesapeake Bay, I look forward to that first glimpse of water! Heading up on the first huge bridge span past Fisherman's Island I look left to count the huge container ships in outer part of the bay. There were eight out there yesterday. Am I a bit nervous about passing a semi head on in the tunnel? Well, yes... but as I leave the second tunnel, I'm closer to my destination, the place I enjoyed living for so many years.

Reconnecting with your artist friends is such a treat. I've had a wonderful day today getting together with my old painting buddies Norma, Barbara Mastaglio & Scott London.

 Now, I've been back from convention for a week, and still no posts? Yes, I've been unpacking, re-packing and reading my notes from that week - I do still have lots to share!