The Sluice - composition deconstructed

"The Sluice"

Paper Mill Trail

Watercolor on Paper

This painting is an example of how I've taken different elements from an area to create a composition that isn't exactly what exists in nature, but which still honors the landscape and captures the feeling of the landscape that does exist.  My interpretation of the landscape, so to speak.

The basis of this painting was captured with an on location watercolor sketch (which looks little like this final composition)..  The tree covered hill to the left, the "pond" the sluice (right mid-ground) and the rapids are as was.

The stones in the foreground, do exist but would actually be out of sight to the left and below the edge of the field, forming the wall of one of the canals and a foundation for part of the mill..

The background of the picture, is actually an expanded view from upriver.  The actual view from this spot, wouldn't allow the viewer to go back into the picture.

Hopefully, this scene will feel familiar to those who are familiar with this Mill Street view in Lisbon.  But furthermore, hopefully this scene will touch the memories of those who have grown up near old industrial sites being reclaimed by nature.  If I've really done my job well, this picture will also appeal to people on its merits as a painting.

Lisbon Mill Ruins - reconsidered

Mill Ruins - Lisbon Maine (The sluice)

Old Mills were so common while I was growing up in Westbrook, Maine.  Some have found new life and are being redeveloped and re-purposed.   The same thing is happening in nearby Lewiston.

Since moving to Lisbon Falls in 2003 - three mills in town have been demolished.  These ruins have further been demolished as part of an effort to rehabilitate the river.  I'd started to sketch another mill in nearby Sabattus - and a month later - that was gone too.

This large watercolor was started about a year ago and, as is often the case, was set aside while I worked on other projects.  I then darkened the sky with another rich wash of blue (see the picture on the left below) but that didn't really seem to balance the great deal of activity in the foreground of the painting.   I added some clouds as was (same picture) and lightened the sky.  Back to the revisit bin for a few more months until earlier this week.

I decided to be much more aggressive reworking the sky, to add more dynamic clouds/ patterns and I was happy with how this turned out.  Still a little more work to do, but almost there.

I'll explain the construction of this composition in another post.

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.