Saturday, August 25, 2012

Hot Tub

Another image from the evolving book. It will be entered into a juried show called "The Art of the Book". I can't wait to get it all put together. Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Looking Up the Hill

The vantage point here usually includes St Georges chapel with its beautiful tower, but I was attracted to the complementary barn and field just to the left. We painted under a gazebo usually manned by beach employees monitoring parking; no one there this past Saturday with the rain was coming down hard as we finished our paintings for Wet Paint, the annual Newport Art Museum Event.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Bailey's Beach

Thrilled that this painting was among 50 to head to the live auction "under the tent" at the culmination of the Wet Paint event at the Newport Art Museum. I was sitting under an umbrella with the rain coming down hard all around and was so absorbed in painting that it wasn't until I got up that I realized I was soaked to the skin.Talk about being in the zone. My motto for the weekend: Live life and paint often!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Battery Park

The humidity broke on Friday giving me the inspiration to start a plein air series for Wet Paint, the annual fundraiser for the Newport Art Museum. I wanted to be in the shade so I headed to Battery Park on Washington Street overlooking the harbor and the Pell Bridge. It was blissfully quiet and I soaked in gratitude and appreciation for the abundance before my eyes.This little painting is oil on gessoboard 5x7.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Gimme Shelter

Another page from the book project, not necessarily in order at this point. The title of the book is One Day and shows children engaged in a variety of summer activities. The photographs are printed on heavy stock that can hold up to the gouache and ink I apply in subsequent layers.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Rock Play

I've been playing with some ideas and images that I plan to make into a book. A little handmade book, mind you, and probably it won't be for sale. I am experimenting and am not sure how this will turn out, but I am having fun with finding the amount of information to show, to lose, to alter. This image may not be the final cut, that's how "in process" this project is. Do you find this image interesting?

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Cape Cod Cottages

Started to adjust the sky, bringing in more yellow,want to address the foreground fence, and make the posts more irregular.
The next day, I worked on unifying the left, connecting more of my darks, pumping up the volume of that yellow sky. Softened window by adding soft glaze, the shape suggesting curtains. The background "alien color" which doesn't appear anywhere else, makes a bigger impact for that reason. It's finished.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Progress

This is the end of the 3rd session. I put in alot of sky and worked on the background, not sure at all that I want a blue sky. I want to depict early morning, and yes, the day did have a blue sky. but I am considering other possibilities. Something I would not consider if I was painting this scene plein air. Which gives me a terrifying freedom.

Friday, August 3, 2012

And so it goes..

This is the second day in the studio where I began to use color to establish values. I am keeping the paint thin at this point, so I can easily make changes. I am spending time checking the drawing, and making sure the dominant shapes are in the right place to make my composition work. Things that look defined, like the lattice work, will become vague, and things vague, like the background, will become more defined.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A Start

I thought I would show the process I go through when making a larger painting. The steps, such as they are. This 30x30 canvas was first toned with Transparent Red Oxide, which I applied with a big brush, letting the paint drip, not fussing or trying to be too neat. My plan will be to let some of this peek through the final painting. The next day in the studio I worked with the same paint, combining it with Ultramarine Blue to establish some of the important darks to make this composition work. The shadow off the central cottage is just the wrong shape altogether, but I am done for this session. I always like to leave a painting knowing where I will go the next time I am in the studio, and I'm going right to that shadow!