Washington Lumber Mill

From the flat files

Decided to post this while I work on paintings from

Maine. 15 x 20 watercolor on Arches cold press paper.

On Watch

The beginning of paintings from Maine.

Morning came early and told me it was time to paint.

There are still some things I want to change, but generally

I like the direction of this painting. Any thoughts?

As always, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to

future visits.

Acadia, 2nd try (Maine)

Still poor photo quality. This version is quicker and seems

to have more depth. To me it feels like a cartoon background.

Along the Coast (Acadia)

Not only is this a poor quality photo, but I'm not thrilled

with the painting. It started out way to literal and ended up

even worse.

Bar Harbor (Maine)

Only time for sketches yesterday.

View from the top (Maine)

7 x 10 Watercolor on Arches Cold Press.

A cold windy day with gray clouds rushing by and about

8,000 people all trying to stand on the same rock.

Bass Head Light (Maine)

I think it's time to clean the mud off this palette.

The Truth!

Yes I'm in Maine. I had great expectations of painting

and drawing in plein air. So far that's been a bust. I want

to but I can't work up the energy to try. Can't explain it, but

it's happened before. We've done plenty of site seeing the last

two days and like all the impressive views. I tend to worry about

things I have no control over. This creates unfounded anxiety, my

worst enemy. I appreciate everyones support and kind comments.

Just wanted you to know what's happening.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maine

Just wanted you all to know that I'm really here.

A Walk in the Park

From the flat files

One of the first plein air attempts from several years ago.

After spending far too many years as a commercial artist, plein air

painting was something new for me. Now retired, I have time to

try it out. I joined a group that met once a month and got a feel

for what I needed to do.

This trip was too a small town in southern Michigan. I found this

park and settled into this spot. It was a cold misty day in the fall.

Not conducive to brilliant color and contrasting shadows, it became

a struggle and challenge. I wanted to put in the base color scheme

with wet in wet technique. That part went well ... it was at that time

I realized that the wet paper was going to lay there wet for the rest of

the day. Wellllllllll, I was cold and damp, the paper was cold and damp,

so I fired up the car and turned the heat on high and hoped for the best.

It did finally dry enough to continue. I think at this point my interest

was no longer what it needed to be and the painting lost something

because I was in a hurry to finish and go get some coffee. The big tree

is too heavy and over worked and dominates far too much. I think the

best thing about the painting is the last stroke I made. I quick brush

across the road up close to the front. Adds a little flair. All in all it's ok,

but as I sit here writing about it, I see the things I should have done and

are anxious to attempt it again in the studio.

I know an artist is his own worst critic, but I choose to write about the

good and bad about paintings so that people at different levels of

ability realize that all of us struggle and sometimes fail. Everyone

needs to know this so they feel comfortable with continuing.

I think it's important!!

Well, Thursday I'm off to Acadia National Park in Maine for 7 days.

Hopefully this will spark my interest in plein air painting again.

Wish me luck.

Cold Pie

From the flat files

From a plein air paint out last fall.

The wind was howling, the temps were in

the low 30's but the sky was clear. At the end of the day

I was sitting in the cargo area of my jeep trying to get

warm and waiting for the rest of the crew to gather.

I kept looking at these pumpkins, or maybe they were looking

at me ... strange. They kept saying to me, hey you slacker why don't

you come out here and paint us. It's not that cold, naa, naaa, naaaa na

we dare you to try. I popped the hatch on the back of the jeep,

dropped down a piece of hot press, which I don't normally do. Started

with a one minute sketch and about 5 minutes of shivering and slapping

paint around. I couldn't really tell what I was doing because of the tears

in my eyes from the cold wind blowing. I think it's ok for what it is.