Old Mill - Sabattus

Old Mill, Sabattus Maine

If you see and old building or any building that strikes you, record it in your own way.  I cannot count the number of buildings and scenes that I wanted to paint that were gone by the time I got around to trying to paint them.  In the U.S. in particular, our history is fleeting and the "old" is often bulldozed for the new.

I often rise early in the morning and explore for subjects of interest.  This mornings journey took me to Sabattus.  A weathered mostly abandoned Mill complex caught my eye.  It was a grey day but the greys and rusted roof of this buiding spoke to me.  I took a few notes for reference later when I decide to do a painting of this subject.

As often happens to me when I'm on location, is that I get lost in the moment and the subject requires more simplification and scaling than I accomplish with the first pass - still I was able to put down enough of the subject for further study.  There was an old dam and mill pond to the right of the subject which I'll explore further later.  The reflections in the pond were fascinating and could have been the subject of many paintings.

Old Mill Sabattus, Maine

The advantage to utilizing Pen and Ind for these field sketches for me is that it is quick, easy to transport, makes me think before blocking in the composition and I can take reference notes quickly and easily.

The disadvantage is that color notes are not the same as matching the colors.  Which is why i also enjoy sketching on location with watercolors.  I could have easily combined the watercolor with the Pen and Ink, but for now I prefer to keep the two seperate.