Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Feb 2015


This past Christmas I tried to capture the spirit of the German Christmas Market on the Lake Mohawk boardwalk.  I turned it into my 2014 Christmas card.


 
        Florida:   The Sarasota Arts Center in the middle of town and next to the marinas hosts a constant stream of workshops. In February I attended  watercolorist Bruce Handford's three day workshop. Like many contemporary American watercolorists he emphasizes a sharp white spaces at the center of interest;, and he slightly exaggerates building shapes while deemphasizing the size of incidental people.  Spiky lines on vegetation and building appendages give his paintings vitality. He also tends to use strong colors like cadmium yellow and cad orange. For example this harbor condo he did at the workshop illustrates these characteristic flourishes.


 
Go here to see his work. www.mcbridegallery.com/handford.html
My workshop pieces reflect these emphases.  First is a view of an entrance to the beach on Siesta key, which is very crowded with condos. 
 
I also did a picture at the marina in Punta Gorda.
 
 

Friday, December 12, 2014

Frank Webb Workshop

     I had a great time at the five day Frank Webb workshop in Newport RI in early November.  Frank is a great teacher and shares a lot from his experience.  It was a small group so we each got enough personal attention.  Each day focused on a particular technique that could become a major way of painting, or simply an additional method for enhancing a picture.  Frank  outlines his approaches in his workshop announcements, and his examples can be seen there.  Here are my workshop products. Each is a bit rough and has the fresh quality of al primo painting. Sometimes a rough work is more appealing than a finished product  "corrected" in the studio.

       First day we practiced a base wash with other washes placed on top. This is my least happy workshop effort.  My quinacridone gold was a more yellowish hue than Frank's.  Hard to make a appealing dark sky.  this is a winter scene, from my head, of White Deer Plaza, Lake Mohawk, NJ.

 
      The second day was a wet in wet technique, but wet in dry for the center frame.  HERE I DID THE SKY AND REFLECTING WATER WET IN WET. The painting is of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, viewed from Wellington St. in Newport.
 
 
 
    Third day we painted the darks first.  Here I tried to capture a foggy morning view of one of the mansion I had seen that morning as I drove around sight seeing.  My memory surely changed some of the contours and turrets.  Next time I will take a photo.   A good idea but needs some work--or start all over!!
 
 
 
   Here I painted a reverse view (right is left in a real life view) of Manasquan RR station.  Frank was instructing us in what he called a watercolor version of pointillism.  He calls it "patchilism."  Laying varying color of the same value next to each other for dramatic effect.



   On the final day we practiced a calligraphic painting, which to me felt like drawing with watercolors.  This is a memory of a painting I did earlier in the year of the Sparta Farmers' market.  Fun to compare the two.

 
 
 

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Summer 2014 Paintings

Since my last post I attended a workshop in Marathon Florida with Leslie Frontz
whose work I admire.  She works dark to light as does Tony Couch.  Both emphasize the underlying value pattern. The picture below displays a typical dark to light pattern; Leslie shows how she worked on this painting on her web site.
www.frontzstudio.com/aboutus/aboutleslie.php


 
Some of my recent work shows some of that influence.  Working plein air I painted some Sussex County attractions.  Each of which found homes at the sites.  I painted the rear of the Coursen Homestead in Fredon for two reasons.  I found the front hard to do on site because the wonderful plants and old trees blocked a consistent view. I could have used photos back at my studio but that wasn't my intent. Also the back side of the homestead had exciting angles, showing the shadows of the morning sun.  Coursen Homestead is a treat, a little colonial Williamsburg right here in Sussex county.
 
 

  At the Sussex County/NJ State Fair in Augusta in early August I showed Coursen Homestead and a second watercolor, All In (shown below).


The Sparta Farmer's Market is a lively place and I painted two images.  This one includes the sign that hangs between two trees on Main Street.  The vendors are all friendly, providing lots of farm produce, meat, ice cream, cheeses and other crafted products like potpourris and soaps.  The second Saturday of each month features additional crafters.

 

 
The second picture from the Sparta Farmers Market I called "Shoppers."
 

I also made a new card from a painting of the summertime action in Sparta Library Summer.  Cards are available at the library.

 


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Spent two days at Shelter Gift Shop in White Deer Plaza painting watercolor demos and then  had dinner at Krogh's.
I was at the German Christmas Market in Lake Mohawk this past weekend.  These pictures were popular.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Showing two paintings at the Selective Risks Art show in Branchville until January 2014.

 
I drove into Branchville one April morning and was hit by the bright yellow leafed trees and the quiet away from nearby Rt.206.  The twin bridges on Halsey road evoked a Thomas Hart Benton state of mind.

Sunday, November 10, 2013