Old Country Church

Old Country Church

Pen and Ink 

I am fascinated by old churches.  The buildings and surrounding graveyards are full of so much history.   This drawing is an amalgamation of many churches and locations seen throughout my years of travel throughout New England.

If pressed, I would say the main inspriation for this drawing comes from the Spurwink Congregational Church in Cape Elizabeth, Maine (Built in 1802) and St. John. the Evangelist Church in Pembroke Maine, build circa 1855 by Irish immigrants who had come to work in the Pembroke Ironworks.

As I child I explored the church in Pembroke (it was left unlocked and open to any who wished to enter in those days) but at the time I was more fascinated by the surrounding grounds and cemetary.  The ground in front of the tombstones was depressed - where the old caskets had collapsed over time - and the thick woods surrounded the graveyard.  There was a bald eagles nest nearby.  I could never quite find it, but I saw the eagles for many many years patrolling the nearby Pennamaquan River which drains into Cobscook Bay.  It was a magical place to explore as a child.

Clouds Over Mountan Pond

This charcoal is 12" x 16" with a few highlights of gouache

Working in the studio today.

The bulk of this drawing was completed years ago and set aside.  That is something I will do from time to time.  Sometimes its because I've reached the point in a subject that I've reached the limit of my technical skills (In other words, I know what I want to achieve but I don't know how to do it yet) ,  More often than not, its because I am most inspired by source material (aka nature) so I'll work on a number of subjects at once leaving studio work for later.  

 I decided to experiment with this subject, adding to and changing the composition of the clouds, shadows on the mountains and reflections in the pond and some general touch up.

I also pursued some experimentation with tracing paper, pen and ink, on an oil composition of an Amish Farmer.  The two sketches below are future projects.  The top sketch is a compositional study for continued work on the oil of an Amish Farmer.  More on that subject in different posts.

The drawing below was also completed years ago.  A snowy hillside in Lewiston.  My next studio day of experiementation will involve this subject. 

Find your own way, study with moonlight

I've always been fascinated and drawn to the effects of moonlight.  It always seems so mysterious to me.  In particular, in the winter, a full moon and frozen ponds and marshes would expand the world I could explore as a child.  It opened up corners of the woods often closed off in different seasons.  Even very familiar places seem different at night, and moreso in the moonlight.

I also vividly remember the brilliance of the moonlight dancing on the ocean - particularly in the cold winter air.

Here is a study for the second in the planned series of Androscoggin River paintings.   A night scene.  I've thought about doing painting series of a particular scene for years now and occasionally I've done it but in a time period of years not weeks.  I'm not sure exactly what has motivated me to purposely paint and draw this series, other than the incrdedible contrast of this change of season from Winter to Spring.

This scene was done primarily with indigo with a few highlights/ darklights with prussian blue.  I do enjoy monochrome painting as it really forces me to focus on value and composition - errors in which can sometimes be masked with the use color.  There's still work to do on the composition.

I've also been struck by the varied surface of ice on the river.  Some areas windswept reflecting light like a mirror - others still snow covered. The patterns of darker and lighter cracks in the ice definately lean to the abstract

One of the most common misperceptions about watercolor is that once you touch paint to paper, you cannot undo anything.  I've not found that to be the case - with very few exceptions.   You do have to plan your darkest darks and lightest lights out first but beyond that, I've found watercolor to be very flexible and suited to a wide variety of techniques.  Find your own way.  You certainly can learn from others but be confident and experiment - you will develop a style and method that is all your own.

What to do after an art show opening? Paint of course

Paint of course!




I enjoyed the opening of the show at River Arts last evening.  So many differnt artists, styles, and media.  I spent more time studying abstract works than I think I've ever done before.  I don't know if its because some of my latest subjects (winter / ice) have had an abstract quality about them or not.

Had a great dinner with Ari and Julie and when we got home I headed down to the studio and began work on a new watercolor based on earlier studies.   First Pass at compositional study.

First pass at larger watercolor last evening.

Then I referred back to the sketches made on location and took a quick trip back to the location for a few more details.  I went back to the comp study and indicated the foreground river bank and trees.  As well as some other work on hardwoods on the island.

                                

Below is the final painting with those details mentioned above and some ice build up where the current continues to etch away at the ice.  Will not set this one aside for reconsideration later.  

I rarely decide if a painting is complete and ready for framing immediately.  I find some time and distrance from a paitning provides me with a "fresh look" at the subject.  I don't like to pick or fuss over a painting - and usually finish a painting in one or two sessions - but one never knows.

Study Ice Breaking - Androscoggin River parts B and C

This large charcoal (18" by 24") was done to expand upon the small pen and ink sketch done from on location observations.  I added a few elements such as the additonal open water in the foreground.  The next step was the color compositional study below.

                                  

This compositional study (9"x 12") was a double experiment for me - one in terms of subject matter.  Had never attempted an ice dominated subject before - am quite excited about the possibilities.  It's a short season but one that, for me, demands more study.

This was also an experiment in terms of ground for the painting.  I used a watercolor block for this.  I was pleasantly surprised at how even a lighter weight paper (in this case 140 lb paper) didn't buckle.  I'll definately continue to utilize watercolor blocks, particularly for on location paintings.

I decided to leave the foreground as is for now - time will tell.  In some ways I like it better, but I think it creates a weaker composition...  Need to give it time.

Why I Love Plein Air Painting - Reason 1007

This morning started as just one of those mornings.  Got out of bed, stepped on the cat, )(the cat's fine), spilled morning coffee - you know the kind of day.  Nothing major, just irritating.

Later I took a short ride to see what was happening at the river bend today.  It was beautiful.  The sun was high, the ice was reflecting the sun, at times making difficult to see, the ice almost silver.  There were dark channels of open water working thier way through the ice pack creating a dramatic contrast to the silver ice and the trees were backlit so strongly they had an almost flat appearance.

More striking were the sounds of the day.  The wind blowing some stubburn   brittle brown leaves which had held on all winter.  When the wind held sustained gusts - you could observe the ice rolling ever so slightly, but it was the sound of the ice moving which really was the attention getter.

I did a very brief compositional study in Pen and Ink today.  Including a particularly interesting (to me) tree to be included in finished paintings.  I acutally spent more time taking some brief observational notes.



I began a large compositional sketch in charcoal a little while ago - just the very beginning of a sketch.  Then everything clicked.  The past few days of observation plus many random observations over the years.

From this one composition I'm going to do five subjects - which will all be different - and all based on my own observations of nature.  My own much simpler version of Monet's haystacks or Cathedrals.  Three daylight scences with differnet lighting as observed and two night scenes.  Am excited to get started.

The previous day, I'd done some four compositional studies from another vantage point.  They are sketchy (no pun intended) but turn out to be great time savers for me.  In a matter of minutes I was able to determine that an idea I had for a painting wouldn't really work as I'd envisioned it (rather than finding out at the end of a painting) and then eventually settling on a different composition to explore in more detail later.




Back to why I love painting on location - not simply the artistic problem solving - though that is satisfying by itself.  Most of all, the feeling of peace nature instills in me - no matter the day, no matter the time.