Reflections

Reflections

Watercolor

Reflections: Had a lot of fun with this one. A different composition - but realistic and based on trips to the Kancamagus Highway over the past three decades.

This still needs some work, but I am going to put it aside for awhile. This one was a bit more labored than ususal - but still fun.

#watercolor #Kancamagushighway #NewHampshire #whitemountainsnh

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Tracks and Cliffs Crawford Notch

Watercolor on Paper

This watercolor was based on the charcoal "discontinued."  I've changed the scene from overcast as was as I thought the cast shadow of the cliffs on a sunny day would allow for some interesting effects.  More subjects based on this to follow including a monochrome with a steam engine.

 

Breakers and Rocks

 

Breakers and Rocks

Charcoal 12" x 16"

This seascape is an example of how drawings and paintings have a mind of their own once I get started.  I've had the privilege of spending most of my 58 years along the Maine coast.  And while I didn't realize it at the time - I was studying all the while.  The colors, the wave forms, the tides, the sounds, smells, and the play of the light on the water.

While this scene is not taken from any one location, it could actually be one of many places I've been.  This started as a very straight forward seascape - literally.  The waves approaching straight on with only water and clouds in the distance.  I found swinging the perspective so the waves were viewed as coming in from the left hand side of the picture to be more interesting.  And then, the same with changing the horizon only to be broken up by one of Maine's many wooded stretches of shoreline.

I plan to do a few subjects from this study in watercolor and oil including different times of day and night as well as weather conditions.

Discontinued

Discontinued  

Charcoal on Paper

9" x 12"

This sketch was completed at home after a day trip to Crawford Notch, New Hampshire.  I've always been impressed by the ruggedness of nature as well as of those who, in this case literally, carved paths through the area allowing so many people to enjoy a view and an experience that they otherwise would never know.

I'm still working on developing a range of values, particularly in drawings or monochrome paintings.  I find the play of light and reflected light in this case off the rocks and the ground, to be fascinating and ever changing.  Capturing that play of light and shadow and reflections is likely as close as I will get to abstraction.

From this I will be completing at least four other subjects - watercolor and oil - in different seasons and times of day.

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Time Lapse - Beaver Pond Reflections

 

Time Lapse Video (First attempt so pardon the quality) of blocking in Beaver Pond Reflections

First pass complete - 45 minutes in

Final Painting

Beaver Pond Reflections

Beaver Pond Reflections - Crawford Maine

Acrylic 12" x 16"

Below left was the painting before final adjustments for color and composition.  Subtle differences in the height of the background trees.  I developed the trees on the island and the shape of the island a bit more and, lastly, added some detail and color contrast to the pond, reflections, and foreground.

I particularly enjoyed painting the foreground.  When exploring the Maine streams and woods in the summer or fall, you will often see trees and driftwood deposited by the spring runoff  high among trees or high up on river banks.  That was the inspiration for the tree in the lower right foreground.   A small thing, an incidental accident, almost unconscious but as soon as I made the first brushstroke - there it was.  

                             

The other challenge I run into when painting is to find the proper balance of detail and impression.  I prefer letting the imagination fill in detail whenever possible.

While reading a book of Rusty Heurlin's with his notes in the margins - he had underlined and noted the importance of simplification in his work.  "Simplify, Simplify, Simplify....   Put in only what is necessary in a picture and no more."

Easier said than done but the experimentation is fun and remember - there is almost nothing that can't be undone!

Process versus Spontaneity

 

Acrylic 12" x 16"

This is an update on the progress of Beaver Pond - Crawford.   This represents about 45 minutes of work with Acrylic directly on canvas to block in the composition and then about 10 minutes on another day to begin to zero in on correcting colors.  (2nd pass)

My favorite type of painting remains on location painting, starting and finishing in one session - generally about two to two and a half hours.  However,  when I don't have the time to paint on location I'll use on location sketches and trips as inspiration.  I've documented this elsewhere if you are interested.

In general my method in these types of cases for acrylics is

Compositional Sketches (very loose - mostly line drawings)

Larger Charcoal Sketch to work on values

Then onto working with Paint:

1st Pass  Covering the Canvas in Paint

                    Blocking in the composition rapidly

                    While attempting to get colors and values correct at this stage - but 

                     not worrying if the colors are off 

2nd Pass  Fine tuning painting for both color and composition

Set aside for a few days (or months or years in some cases)

3rd Pass (if painting is not completed) further refinement

I resisted developing a system or process for years.  I just wanted to get out and paint.  While that helped me develop as an artist in many ways, it was also frustrating for me as I often spent as much time searching for what I needed, often wasting what little time I had for painting.  

I've slowly come to realize that even on a day when nothing goes as planned with a painting, if the results are horrible and in no way reflect what I am trying to capture - it's fine.  I still have learned something.  

It took me years to establish a system that works for me with the time I have that still allows me to maintain a sense of spontaneity and excitement when I'm painting.

I also have a "go bag" (three actually) for Watercolor, Acrylic, and Charcoal in addition to my main paintbox which I will switch out between all of the above and oil paintings.

Fall Reflections by Elmer Ham

Watercolor by Elmer L Ham

I love the light and the sense of atmosphere captured by Ham in this watercolor painting.  While this is likely a painting executed in studio - it clearly demonstrates to me the lifetime Ham spent studying nature and painting and sketching on location.

This is most likely a Maine or Massachusetts scene by Ham.  I've seen landscapes and florals executed by Ham in Watercolor, Pastel, Oil, and Pencil.  

Working as a sign painter and painting outdoor advertising murals allowed Ham to pursue his love of painting throughout his life.  Ham exhibited paintings in Boston, Provincetown, and Springfield Mass, and Ogunquit and York Maine as well as in competitions and local venues throughout New England and California.

Elmer L Ham (1884-1978) Two Seascapes

 

Elmer L Ham painting a seascape on location (en plein air) location unknown

Discovering this photo of Ham painting on location confirmed what I had expected when I first saw one of his paintings.

There is something about painting on location which I find intoxicating.  As I've written elsewhere, I came across a few old beaten up black portfolios thick with paintings tucked away in a corner in an upper floor amongst overturned furniture.  When I opened the first portfolio I was mesmerized by the painting after painting, which had the life, movement, and crispness of having been painted on location or at least having been painted by someone who was a student of both nature and painting.

Here are examples of a couple of watercolor field studies done on location by Ham.  Ham often traveled and painted on location with his life long friend - Vladmir Pavlovsky (1884-1944).  Ham and Pavlovsky shared a studio in Boston on Newbury Street.

Watercolor Seascape by Elmer L Ham

Watercolor Seascape by Elmer L Ham

Beaver Pond - Crawford - in progress

 

Beaver Pond - Crawford

Charcoal - 18" x 24"

The above charcoal is part of my process in what will be one of my next paintings.  I stopped on my way home from a trip Down East at a little roadside rest area in Crawford.  The play of light through the thick trees and the reflections in the beaver pond on the far side of the brook running through the rest area.

There were so many potential subjects to paint.  In years past it would have been overwhelming. But I've learned to just take a deep breath and to simply soak in the sights, sounds, and smells.  I had the place all to myself for nearly twenty minutes.  I took a few photos for reference as well as I didn't really have the time to sketch as much as I would have liked.  For me, photo's have become a way to take notes at times when there is a fleeting effect in nature, or as in this case, an area that is not one I'm likely to get back to very often.

I suspect I'll never see this place looking the same way again.  The water was so low due to drought so what was normally out of sight in the middle of the river was front and center.  Judging by the river bank, I was standing high and dry in what was normally chest deep water.  

Below is a page from my sketchbook.  I made the two compositional sketches on the left with a few notes from my recollections.  I wanted to paint some compositional sketches but I simply didn't have the time to paint even small sketches.

The first few compositional sketches were closer to as the scene really was, but in order to capture the feelings I had while there, I needed to rearrange the elements and open up the composition as in the larger charcoal sketch.  I've grown to really enjoy working out compositional issues in these quick sketches.  It's almost like completing paintings except that it's much quicker and I haven't spent two hours painting something to then discover I've got to start over if I want the effect I was pursuing.

Am looking forward to launching into a large watercolor of this subject and smaller oil.  I am also thinking of painting this view as a fall and winter subject as well.

Sunset Paris Hill Pass 2

 

This is today's pass with Gouache over the charcoal sketch below.  The Focus was mostly on the sky and distant mountains.  The house had a particular shade of blue which is work for another day.  Feels great to be painting again.

"Just Paint"

Charcoal Compositional Sketch
18" x 24"

I fell into my bed - exhausted. Drifting off.... "Just paint" 

It could have been the tinnitus, but the voice was persistent. "Just paint" 

I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled down cellar to my studio where I had previously taped four blank note cards to my easel. 

 For a host of reasons, I've been unable to paint for quite awhile - too long for my liking. But where to start? "Just paint" 

Many years ago on Paris Hill a particularly striking sunset looking west from the village green beyond Hannibal Hamblin's house to the mountains beyond was seared into my mind. It was breathtaking.... I soaked up every minute of that sunset. 

 "Just paint" 

 I did a few quick Pen and Ink compositional drawings and then broke out some gouache and did these four quick compositional studies.   From the top left to right - sketches 1,2, and 4 were closest to the actual scene as it was. Three was a combination of the scene with a cloudscape at sunset from a different time and location. 

The color was way off (off-full you might say) but for my purposes it didn't really matter. I just needed to push some paint around and work out a few ideas that though they would not be exact representations of the scene but that would capture the feelings it provoked in me. 

In looking at the sketches - a combination of numbers two and three let to this larger charcoal sketch (18" by 24") which will be the basis for a finished painting

These are all quite loose for sketches, but each one informs me a bit more and helps me catch errors in composition before being heavily involved with the final painting.  

I thank God I'm no longer held captive by the thought that each and every painting and drawing must be perfect and "finished."  It relieves so much unrealistic self imposed stress to not make any "mistakes."  I wish I'd figured that out well before my mid 40's 

Each and every effort informs the next one and so on.

Just Paint!

With All Thy Might

 

With All Thy Might
Acrylic 12" x 16"

I enjoy times at the coast when the weather is such what the roar of the ocean and wind drown out the concerns of the day.  These walks and painting sessions bring to me a deep sense of peace that is both as indescribable as it is increasingly rare in the frenetic pace of our daily lives

This subject, like many of mine, is a combination of a number of places along the Maine Coast and it's islands.  The bulk of the painting was completed in one day.  I'd really been fascinated with the ever changing cloud formations.

The original pass at this subject is below.   I knew that the wave was not correct, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it - so I simply set it aside..

Sometimes the time in between first pass and second is less than a day.  At other times - years.  In this case it was the latter.  

I added more movement to the wave, with the center pushing forward more quickly.  I also added a little more contrast to the tall grass and a few hangers on - leaves on the saplings.  I'm always amazed how nature finds a way - in this case a few leaves in an exposed wind and surf driven spot remain attached even through the first snow.

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#robertkahlerlandscapepainting,#acrylic, #maine, #ArtForSale, #WorkingMethods, #seascape

Rising Tide

 

#eastportme #artforsale #watercolor #robertkahlerlandscapepainting

Above the Mill Pond

Above the Mill Pond

Mixed Media - Acrylic and Oil

12" x 16"

This painting began on a Sunday afternoon drive.  I did some on location Pen and Ink sketches and then explored the area as much as time allowed.  The small watercolor sketch below was done in studio and just a quick experiment to see how I might capture different aspects of the area in one painting.

Below is the first pass at the subject with Acrylic paint.  I enjoyed the exercise of altering the perspective of the subject.  I also wanted to simply suggest the background bank of the mill pond rather than painting it directly.  Although this "draft" of the subject did capture some of what I was trying to achieve, it wasn't complete in my mind.  I set the painting aside and moved onto other subjects - which is something I do either consciously while I let things simmer in the background of my mind.  The more I paint and observe, the more I have to draw on for the next subject.

 

Robert Kahler Landscape Paintings for Sale!

Tired of hearing about the election?  Looking for a unique gift for the holidays?  Escape into Art!

I have one watercolor and two charcoal drawings for sale at River Arts Gallery in Damariscotta, ME.  Two of the three are pictured below.  These are sold without frames which allows a lower price for the holidays!

If you are interested in any additional paintings on my facebook page or blog  or if you would like to potentially commission a painting please email me at robert.kahler65@gmail.com

I work in oil, watercolor, charcoal, gouache, acrylic and pencil and I have paintings ranging in size from 4" x 6" to 2' X 3'

Rainy Day at the Basin

Watercolor and Gouache

12" x 18"

$125.00

The Falls, Little River Topsham/Lisbon

Charcoal on Paper

12" x 18"

$100.00

If you'd like to learn more about the locations or my creative process, please explore my blog

https://robertkahlerlandscapepaintings.blogspot.com

Enjoy and be well.

#robertkahlerlandscapepainting

#artforsale

#watercolor

#charcoaldrawing

Eastport Shades of the Past

Shades of the Past

Gouache on card stock

I've been experimenting with small painted sketches, working out different ideas for subjects including utilizing differently cropped perspectives which keeps the subject focused yet implies a lot of distance outside of the view.

This scene was taken from an on location watercolor I completed a few summers ago in Eastport, ME.  I was struck by the play of shadows on the sunlight face of an abandoned factory just off main street.

As a student of history, I could just imagine the harbor filled with three and four masted schooners in its heyday and I decided to alter the pattern of the shadows on the factory to represent that history.

#robertkahlerlandscapepainting #workingmethods #sketchingwithpaint #eastport #maine

 

 

Overcast Day at the coast

 

Overcast Day at the Coast

Acrylic 3" by 5"

This is another small seascape I painted after doing some detail work on a larger painting.  It's an imaginary scene but based on many years of exploring the Maine coast.  I find these quick sketches to be very freeing.  

I go through different phases of sketching.  A few years ago it was a deep exploration of pen and ink. Lately it's been small color sketches in watercolor and acrylic from imagination.  I keep being reminded of how each work informs future works.  While I was painting this small sketch I had a an unplanned trip.  I didn't do it consciously, but when I mixed the paints I flashed back to living over a garage in Westbrook, working on landscape painting with our new arrival (Ari) asleep in the living room.  

It was just one brushstroke but as the paint mixed on the canvas I was transported back nearly a quarter of a century.   This is also what I love about painting on location.  The intense focus and observation of nature, processing it and expressing it on canvas or paper that place/moment in time becomes part of you and you of it.   I urge you to give it a try!

Islands Edge

Island's Edge 

Acrylic 12"x 16" 

I had originally envisioned this painting with a bright clear sky with almost silver reflections off the sea.  But as I began to work on it, I wanted to focus on more color in the surf - which would lend itself more to an active storm.  I wanted to vary the colors in the sky more than a storm would allow so I decided to focus on after a storm with patches of blue sky and storm clouds breaking up.  It would take awhile for the surf to return to normal.  I also decided to have the time of year be late fall which would allow us to see through the wind  blown scrub brush clinging to the cliffs.

I enjoy the creative process whether it goes exactly as I had planned or, as in this case, it goes in another direction.   

Small Seascape

Seascape 
Acrylic 3" x 5"

While doing some detail work on a larger seascape, I began working on some small paintings for a couple of reasons.

For one, I don't like focusing for a long time on small detail work, so I need to break things up.  Also, the yankee in me hates to waste any paint.  If I have paint left over I try to do a small painting - like the one above.  If the paints do not lend themselves to a monochrome or a painting like above, I will use it to put a first coat on a canvas if I have any about.

Below are a few other examples of smalls.  Some of which will be simple studies and abandoned.  Others will lead to other painting journeys.  All, good or bad, complete or incomplete, do help inform my future paintings.  Any day painting is a good day!