Blog

I think I'm ready.  I sure hope so!  I have paintings lined up here and there in the studio waiting to be delivered to various venues for shows and receptions. I have been painting Christmas presents and other commissions and I've even made a path to the woodstove so I can "light the fire" when the chill hits the air. I've updated my portfolio of paintings on this site.  My 9-11 collection didn't remain up too long but once the remembrance on TV was over with no further mention I thought it best not to remind folks either.

The sun is almost shining and the weather is temperate so that's a blessing.  The Virginia Creeper just beginning to turn and a few leaves on the maple show hints of changing.  The oak that keeps its leaves all winter has leaf tips dulling up and my black maple (a friend announced it was a rare type) has it's whirly giggys still on it and it's leaves are dropping without much change as in the past.  It must be becasue of the whirly giggys.

I've updated my portfolio of paintings on this site. I have the new Autumn Collection as the first on the list. I hope you enjoy the bright golds, oranges and burgundys that aren't yet present here as I look out onto the hydrated landscape. I must be patient for a few weeks.

I've begun a late summer, back-lit painting of Meems Bottom Bridge.  A previous painting of this same subject was on a full sheet and the winter with lots of cold hues. This one will fit into a 16 x 20 frame and is much warmer. It's harder that I thought to work this small since my usual size paper is a half sheet for most landscapes.  I'm using a vertical profile which I seem to do alot of lately.  Part of me wants to paint this loosely and part of me wants to render it with detail.  It will be interesting to see which one wins out.  I could start another "wild and crazy" that I painted in between some other tightly rendered works (shhh, Christmas presents!). BUT, if I don't stop procrastinating nothing will get painted today and so I bid you all happy painting times!

Sketching is not my most favorite part of the creative process.  I'd much rather be layering one transparent color over another .  I like making things luminous and they show depth and I like the effect and wait------I'm sketching, remember? 

I was surprised at my sketching session the other day.  I had planned on painting en plein but the weather was much too damp. I had my doubts whether I'd be successful.  It had rained the night before and I was in a park that was nearly all woods.  I settled for taking pictures in the morning and decided that once the sun came out fully I was gonna paint because that was my plan and I was "working my plan"! 

I decided to set up an easel and paint out the the back of my car.  I've done this a number of time before but with oils not watercolors.  It was simple enough and once my supplies and brushes were all set so was I. I had three starts (small works)and none of them was drying.  I found myself checking the skies, listening to rustling leaves and noticing that I didn't have much natural light. My paintings weren't drying-----I was away from my trusty hair dryer---and there I was with hours until my art meeting.  I hung in my location until the raindrops came and still those starts weren't dry.

I had no choice but go for plan two which was sketching up some watercolor card patterns.  I also had some photos I was considering using as references for autumn paintings.  Here's the shocker.  I actually enjoyed my sketching session (by now I'd moved indoors to the meeting location). 

I used my pencil to measure and counted one eraser length or more and compared to the photo to keep things the right porportion; things I'd learned in drawing classes.  It was  automatic and I was making lines without  searching for my ruler.  I made bold strokes with my pencil and while I had my gum eraser I found I really didn't use it very much. I remembered scale and compared shapes and sizes, overlaps and all those elements in drawing.  Yikes! I was making progress and actually enjoying myself.  I even took the time to "shade" some values---OK, only a few----instead of my usual L,M, D in the empty spaces. My sketches didn't turn into complete drawings but I'm going to be able to use them in paintings and my afternoon was productive.  Will wonders ever ceases?