Approaching Storm

-



Approaching Storm
Acrylic on Canvas Board
18" x 24"

When painting a subject that is imaginary, or half memory and half imagination versus an on location painting, different challenges arise.  However, I find that each choice in painting informs the other.  Thinking quickly about the genesis of this painting - four things come to mind.  

A sketching trip to Cushing Maine, Painting trips to Evans Notch, Dunes on Cape Cod and the fields and forest that I used to play in growing up in Westbrook.  This composition is an amalgam of those experiences and more.

I've submitted this painting for consideration in an upcoming juried exhibition. This painting is one of the first that I've specifically designed for a show.  Generally I've simply matched paintings completed with the themes of juried shows.  I can't really say that I have a preference beyond painting effects and subjects that are of interest to me.

Another different thing that I've done with these past few paintings is prepping the canvas with yellow ochre and raw sienna.  that's part of the effect that you see of the reflections in the water - it is the under-painting being revealed by thinning the surface of paint.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lone Pine - Cape Cod

-
Image
Lone Pine -Cape Cod  Acrylic 12" by 16" (Doodle Bug) Art is about discovery and the journey, for me at least.  Last week I went down to work on a subject for my next painting, and I ended up going in a completely different direction.  But that's a different story for a different day.   This particular painting was done from studies completed on location last year as well as preliminary sketches done from those studies and blogged about previously. I was captivated by the light and the dunes on the Cape.  The patterns of light on the dunes, the surf, as well as the shapes of the dunes themselves were such that one could paint them every day and have a different painting result every time. With this painting I also really wanted to experiment a bit with the sky and even though the initial subject of interest to me was the pine, I actually came to enjoy working on the surf - a small but important part of this composition.   To me, the pine had a
Read more

Study Ice Breaking - Androscoggin River parts B and C

-
Image
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 bet
Read more