Above the Old Mill Pond Study

Watercolor Sketch - Above the Old Mill Pond

As of late, I've become more and more interested in cropping compositions differently, almost approaching the abstract.   This quick watercolor sketch is based on reality, but not exact.

I'd gone out on a Sunday morning sketch trip and revisited on old mill I'd sketched before in pen and ink.  I sketched the building from the side of the road from a much lower perspective.  The old dam, in the lower right of the composition, was also another subject of interest for me.   The mill pond was was also a point of interest that could not be seen from my original vantage point.

These sketches also took place in the winter.  I decided to imagine what the scene would look like in the fall with the reflections of trees and then how I could alter the perspective and still be true to the mill and the old dam.  So what started as a subject focused on the mill in winter, turned out very differently.  

I enjoy the process of when I am working on a painting or even when writing, that I have a clear idea of where I want to go, but the painting develops a will of its own.  This was a quick watercolor sketch that I will definitely expand into a larger more finished work.

There was an older mill across the street that I'd hoped to paint and sketch, as there were many interesting angles and designs in the decaying mill, but the last time I went back to sketch, the mill had been torn down.

Riverbed Reflection

Riverbed Reflection
Acrylic 12" x 16"

This painting is a challenge that had been bouncing around in my head for more than 25 years.  Water is always a challenge to capture, even when it is still.  The slightest wind, the time of year, the color of the material of the river bed.  Nearly endless combinations are possible.

Julie and I were exploring the area around tumbledown mountain and there was a beautiful scene of a riverbed surrounded by fall foliage.  The riverbed was all but empty this late into the fall.  I came across these scene with a reflection of the sky and trees on three sides.   

I've a number of  ideas and sketches for a series of reflection paintings.  This subject was about as abstract as I tend to get with my paintings - I did really enjoy the challenge of working with only three colors plus white.  

Alternate versions of this painting could include different patters of reflections, additional puddles  as well as including fallen leaves for more color.

I actually started this painting in part because I am a yankee and hate to waste any paint.  I was taking a break from two other paintings and I had a mishmash of paint left on my palette.  I decided to use the paints to prime a new canvas board and as this idea had been bouncing around for while  so I just decided to  keep going.

Moments of abstraction

Androscoggin River Sketch 2

Acrylic on Paper

This sketch was executed rapidly, like most of my paintings.  A pattern in most of my on location work or series studio work is a trend toward abstraction in my third or later paintings in a day.  Sometimes caused by vanishing light.  At other times caused by the beauty of the abstract patterns and color combinations in nature itself.

My preference is toward the impressionistic, but more often than not, I'm simply trying to capture the emotion or mood of a moment in time.  The shadows of the trees on the far shore juxtaposed with the light reflections and color patterns in the water were what drew me to this scene.  I also enjoyed experimenting with different blues to achieve warmer and cooler shadows and greens on the far bank and in the reflections.

Below are two other abstractions - the one immediately below done on location more than twenty years ago.  This was executed at the end of a day of exploring in and around bear notch road in NH.  The mountain was reflected in the water until the gentlest of breezes rippled the surface of the water.  It's a subject and a motif that I will return to.

Bear Notch Reflections

The subject below was born from yankee thrift.  I had some paints left over and I try to never waste or throw out any paint.  Aiden Lassell Ripley, a distant relative of my wife, is an artist I admire so this very pale imitation was born in the studio at the end of a day of painting.  It's rather liberating to simply experiment with different ideas and materials.  This painting is acrylic paint on tracing paper.

Snow Shadows and Spruce