Above the Old Mill Pond

Above the Old Mill Pond

Acrylic 12" x 16"

This painting was based on Plein Air sketches in Pen and Ink and the watercolor sketch done later in studio.  The perspective is imaginary, as though looking down from a high mill tower.  I wanted to find ways to include what was at the scene in one picture that you could see, just not all at once.

The mill is long unused.  Part of the building being used for apartments.  Part of it collapsing.  Part of it long collapsed.  The mill pond still exists, though the dam is slowly failing.  I broke the edge of the building in the foreground to allow another example of distance as well as the birch tree on the right for the same reason.

I was pleased at how this composition came together and I enjoyed trying to convey a sense of space without having any actual "sky" in the painting.  I plan to go back to this location to do an on location painting of the dam itself, before it is gone.

You may have noted that there is no chimney in the finished painting.  There wasn't actually one there, I was just experimenting in the watercolor.  I also adjusted the angle of the mill building to lead more into the mill pond rather than across it as in the watercolor sketch.

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.

watercolor sketching

I recently started experimenting with compositional sketches in watercolor.  Watercolor allows me to quickly block in a scene, experiment with color and different ideas for the subject.

The corner farm at dusk was just a quick impression I caught a glimpse of while driving home from work.   These sketches were only done in watercolor.

The second sketch of the corner farm is what it might look like as a winter scene with cornstalks as were actually there.  I changed the sky and moved the trees behind the house and moved the house further back in the composition.  I also extended the heighth of the silo.

From these quick small sketches I will continue to refine the paintings with more detailed studies (such as the corn stalks) before launching in to a finished painting.

All of these materials, a portable watercolor palette, a small water container and the watercolor paper scraps fit into a small sketch bag.  It's a quick ready to go at a moments notice.  I've put a couple of small watercolor brushes in a baggy along with pencil and charcoal should I desire to sketch in different media as well. 

Keeping these sketches "sketchy" will allow me to retain the enthusiasm necessary to continue to create and add throughout the process to the finished painting.