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!

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.

 

Two Lights, Cape Elizabeth

Comprehensive Charcoal Drawing

Between the Rocks and Sea

Two Lights Cape Elizabeth

12" x 18"

Although I don't have  any single process for creating a painting, this subject has progressed in a fairly typical way of late.  Spending time on location is always motivating.  I make a number of quick notes and sketches on note cards in addition to simply spending some time walking a location and observing.  I've begun using note cards for these sketches as they fit into a travel kit very easily.

Pencil notes from direct observation 4" x 5"

I then review a number of sketches and decide which subject to elaborate.  See below.

Pencil Comp Sketch

8" x 11"

Years ago I had a happy accident when looking through some old sketches - they were on top of one another and at times created new and interesting compositions.  So I now will intentionally crop drawings to examine other possibilities.  When I'm on location, its still easy for me to get caught up in the scene and not seeing things from a perspective of composition.

                                       

When examining the two halves of the picture - I immediately settled on the right side of the composition as much stronger the whole composition as originally sketched.  The left side of the composition seemed much too static when viewed in this manner.

I plan to execute a number of paintings from this drawing including watercolor, acrylic, and oil.  I enjoy exploring different media as the unique qualities of each capture different elements of nature. 

Good Neighbors

"Good Neighbors" (Andy's view)

Acrylic 18" x 24"

This painting was inspired by my recent trip to Cushing and the Olsen family cemetery.   The rock to the left was actually off to the right and would have been out of the picture but I wanted to include it.  In my mind, I've seen a painting by Andrew Wyeth of an erratic boulder.  I've no idea if this was the one or if my memory is faulty, but in my mind, it added to the composition and is also a testament to how hard farmers worked to clear their land along the rocky coast

.

The barbed wire fence was an addition, not there in reality.  A memory from exploring the fields where I grew up. Perhaps a reminder that this is Wyeth country and no one will ever approach his talent, sensitivity, love and familiarity of the subject and his friends.

I freely admit, that for years I paid little, if any attention, to the art of Andrew Wyeth.  Reproductions of work abound.  Personally, I prefer more color - from his earlier works.  However, when I began my own artistic journey - a day at a time for more than twenty years now - and as I continued to experience loss - as do we wall - and expressing myself through my art I developed an entirely new understanding of and an appreciation for Andrew Wyeth.

The Wyeth center in Rockland, at the Farnsworth Museum, is a treasure and it's well worth the trip to see the art of the Wyeth family. One of my favorite paintings is the Witching Hour - seen below.

                  

 I also recently picked up a used copy of Wyeth at Kuerners - it provides a glimpse behind the curtain, of the artists working methods and process.  I've always been attracted to the "unfinished" - the work of an artist caught up in an inspirational moment where perhaps the composition isn't really considered, but what caught the artists eye is captured in a way seldom captured again in the finished painting.   It's also equally telling to see what the artist has decided to leave out, to simplify, or to relocate in order to strengthen the pictorial interest.

It's been a particularly productive few weeks, with half a dozen paintings completed or nearly so.

 

Incoming Storm Sebego Lake, Maine

Incoming Storm - Sebego Lake

Acrylic 18"x 24"

This acrylic was painted on location at Harmon's Beach Sebego Lake, Maine many falls ago.  I can remember the day like it was yesterday.  I used a heavy french easel which I had to prop against a tree to keep it from being knocked over by the strong wind gusts.

It was so cold, that when I finished painting, I couldn't drop the paint brush, I needed to remove it from my right hand with my left.

I was focused on the water and sky, amazed at all the colors that we often think of a simply a grey day.  Like any painting I look at later, there are some things that I would do differently now, but i was and still am pleased with the effort.  I captured things that I could never have imagined because it was painted start to finish on location (en plein air).

When I look at this today, I am transported back to that moment in time.  I can hear the crashing windblown surf, and feel and hear the howl of the wind and the spray from the waves.

If you've never tried painting on location, I'd encourage you to do so.  Don't let people talk you out of it talking about all the challenges - its worth it.  I've found that even though some of the effects I'm trying to capture in nature are still beyond me, the mind takes in far more than you are aware of at the time.

For me, sometimes, things go exactly as I hope, or I have happy accidents, and I have a picture ready to frame.  At other times, I use the piece as a reference for a studio work, or I use bits and pieces of what I've painted in other painting compositions.  Others simply are stacked up in the studio. the result of many lessons learned - unlikely to ever see the light of day (or the internet).  Still it is time well spent, in my opinion.

#pleinair #pleinairpainting #acrylicpainting #landscapepainting #Sebagolake #Maine #arttherapy

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FMI please visit robertkahler.com

Androscoggin, Ferry Road, Lisbon

Adroscoggin River Color Sketches

These two sketches are Acrylic on Paper.  Done from observation on location and the composition sketches below.  I tend to sort through my composition sketches and on location sketches for ideas for paintings - especially when I don't really have the time to paint.  In this case - I'd actually intended to work on a completely different subject - which I'd taken from small composition sketches like to these to a full sheet charcoal drawing.  But instead the image on the upper right caught my attention and I decided to skip a larger charcoal (for now) and go right into color sketches.

Androscoggin River Comp Sketches

My art critic - Echo accompanies me on my trips to my basement studio.  I paint standing up, and you can tell from the picture that it is probably a good thing that I do so as sitting isn't really an option.

Echo -Art Critic

 Once Echo sees me getting my palette ready, he settles in for a nap.

Ready To Paint

Androscoggin River 1

Acrylic on Paper

The lights and the darks were so impressive on this day creating rich color contrasts and striking shadows.  For this sketch I was also experimenting with different blues throughout the painting and intentionally leaving some of the white of the paper showing to add range to the color palette.  

The sketch below was completed quickly after the first, and was intentionally much more abstract than my normal painting.  This will be the subject of my next post.

Adroscoggin River 2

Acrylic on Paper

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.

Pemaquid in Progress

 

Composition Sketch in progress- Pemaquid 

This compositional sketch is the result of the roughs below and two on location watercolor studies.  It is intentionally not detailed.  I enjoy the design process.  I never used to take the time to experiment with different compositions - I just wanted to dive into painting (Truth be told, I still struggle with that).  But I consistently started running into composition issues which were so labor intensive to correct.  

In this case, I'll also re-position the boat further back and alter the angle of its profile so it leads back into the cemetery.  These are small rapidly executed studies, including the watercolor on index card below.   There will be much more foliage, as was in reality, in the final paintings.  Shadows in the foreground were also part of this composition.  I will also try a winter scene with shadows as an important part of the composition. 

 

Watercolor Study on Index Card 4" x 6"

One of the effects along the coast and tidal rivers that I find particularly interesting are the vignettes of color of the ocean between trees.  I'm also working to study more of the dramatic skies that we have here in Maine.  The skies effects are so fleeting - yet beautiful and dramatic.  I also enjoy working in Monochrome - to focus initially on value and composition without having to give a thought toward color is freeing.  Working on the different color variations is an entirely different - yet no less exciting process. 

Stay tuned.

Lone Pine - Cape Cod

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 story to tell.  How it it survived and thrived here when no others had?  It was bent and twisted by the elements, but it continued to grow and persevere.  It appeared to me to be cautiously looking over the dunes toward the horizon to what was coming next.  

As I completed the painting, I was overcome by a feeling of melancholy and I couldn't really identify why.  Then it hit me.  I'd actually completed a portrait of my buddy - Doodle Bug.

This was Doodle Bug's last trip with us.  She too was holding on so that we could get ready for her journey beyond the dunes.  She is missed every day.