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.