The Benefactor

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

As a break from posting watercolor paintings and to offer variety, I figured it would be best to publish a portrait drawing. In late winter, as I was recovering from a broken wrist, I was eager to try out these new charcoal pencils purchased from Jerry's Artorama. While charcoal pencils traditionally make a mess, these claim to not smear at all. I find this claim to be quite accurate, and, in addition, they come in four different colors: black, white, sepia and sanguine. The above drawing was done with a sepia  pencil, a color traditionally used throughout art history. 

The subject is taken from one of my wife's alumni magazines in which they provide profiles of alumni with a page-length photograph. This is a drawing of a photograph taken by David J. Turner in the Spring 2014 issue of Macalester Today.

Using these jumbo pencils, one feels a waxy sensation as the lead is applied to the paper. For me, they are quite pleasant to use; however, it is not easy to keep a sharp point, thus areas around the mouth and eyes are not as precise as with a regular HB pencil. What do you think? 

Outward Bound (finished)

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This is the finished version of the watercolor I posted from Sunday. In some ways the composition is very different from other buildings I have painted. The building is no longer in the center of the picture; in fact, some of it has been cut off. The focus really is about the changing of the seasons and the larger landscape. The building offers context, and I do like the shadows and warmth it projects. 

I seriously contemplated putting a figure on the covered porch, reading a book. However, I had already put in the trunk of the tree which sits right behind the porch and felt the figure would be lost in that very trunk. I believe painting a figure in the landscape would also reflect on the changing of the seasons with the warmer temperature and more conducive climate for outdoor activities. Regardless, I did not intend a figure to be the focal point. Often in town, here in Vermont, you go for a walk or hike and pass a home and you are not even aware when someone is around. I was searching to express that quality after I had started this picture when people begin to move outside from their winter 'cocoon'. People begin to rake the lawn, prepare the garden, and open their screen windows in eager anticipation of spring. 

When I do a picture of a Victorian house or some other architecture of this period, I frequently find people referencing Edward Hopper. Houses have many stories to tell, particularly when there have been many residents through the years and numerous building alterations. I do appreciate when an older home with fine architectural detail sits elegantly on the land with mature trees that complement its scale. Maybe that is my background in landscape architecture coming out.

I have altered the landscape significantly in this watercolor. All overgrown plantings and dark foliage have been eliminated. The land has been opened up to the the river valley in the background where the light is.

The sky in this picture I truly enjoy. I like implied movement in a picture and the passing of the clouds does it for me. The colors are not overstated. The shadows stretching across the ground plane suggest nearby trees and provide variety. Green, I find to be the hardest color to mix to satisfactory results. Most store bought greens come out of the tube in an 'artificial turf' like color. The green in the foreground is comprised of quinacridone gold with Prussian blue and occasional brushwork with ultramarine blue.

Outward bound

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This is one of those houses I have walked and driven by in my hometown countless times. 
If you live in a small town like I do, with some history to it, you make note of it, because it defines the town. Most of the older homes are in a prominent location, in the downtown area, and in our case are fortunately kept up. This particular house is pleasing to the eye with the mansard roof, multiple dormers, old shutters and timeless architectural details. The way this home sits on its flat lot in contrast to the distant ridge and river valley below and beyond make it an appealing subject to paint.

However, I did not want to depict it as it truly is. Recently, when I started this watercolor I had aspirations of painting a large picture but was going to start with a study in order to work out some issues with the landscaping. I wanted to enhance the presence and mystery of the river valley, which is to the right of the building.  This is the area of the picture where I imagine the greatest light to be, in contrast to the building, which casts its own shadows, existing tree canopies, and the driveway, which juts across the foreground. I intend to delete all the little bushes of rhododendrons and other random plantings, which are detrimental to strengthening the experience of the historic home and the sequence of spaces, which lead the eye to the view of the river.

I am always trying different approaches to the sky as they are so important in the picture. Some really contrast with the building while others offer subtle effects that set a quieter mood. In fact, the first area I paint in a watercolor is the sky, and in many cases it involves many washes including several blues. In this sky I can feel the clouds passing the chimney as they clear away towards a beautiful sunny day. I will let you know how it turns out or in which direction it takes me.

Summer squall

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

When I was preparing for my colonoscopy last week, I had to drink a lot of Miralax over a three hour period, which eventually makes you visit the bathroom way too much. As a divergence, I started this watercolor so I could focus on something else. I was forced to paint this picture in a very direct manner, with a simple color scheme and abstract shapes as I would have to run off to the bathroom for a while, frequently before a wash would dry.

This is a ubiquitous summer scene in the fresh water ponds, lakes and inlet coves of the state of Maine. Often you will have a beautiful summer day, when all of a sudden these dark clouds move in quickly, the breeze picks up and all signs of life disappear momentarily. You will hear birds squawk in the distance, waves lapping against the shoreline while whitecaps build out on the open water and then before long it all passes and their are breaks of sun again. At least this is an experience I retain from many summer visits to Maine since youth.

I introduced raw umber into the sky to create warmth and variation. The water is comprised of indigo, ultramarine blue, payne's gray and ivory black. The warmth of the rock formations on the shore is from yellow ochre. I added birds to dramatize the event and provide a sense of urgency, as a result of the conditions.

If I were to take this scene further, which I might at a later time, I would reduce the amount of water in the foreground and increase the amount of sky, thus making the viewer feel diminutive. I do like the dark foreboding quality of the water in the foreground, which immediately sets the mood. 

The Good Wife, (further progress)

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

The latter part of this week was not particularly productive for me regarding drawing and painting. I had to prepare and thus recover, from a colonoscopy at the Cheshire Medical Center in our neighbor state of New Hampshire.

I started this painting of my wife back in late May but had become sidetracked with other demands of my time. My art mentor, Gerard Doucette, thought I should simplify the background even though I had already arranged the composition. I followed his advice with a couple of big, dark washes of warm and cool pigments around and behind my wife's head, thus pulling her forward in the picture. Her mouth looked as if it were pasted on her face because there was a hard edge around the lips which I lifted with a scrubber and paper towel. 

Now I am at the point where once the face is complete, there will be some final details such as finishing her hands and then the picture will be nearly done.

I do think the strength of the picture is the warmth of light conveyed across the model's face and reflected on her clothes. I have been experimenting with the combination of gamboge and payne's gray resulting in a rich earthly green, which I particularly like. You will find variations of this color in the foliage.

Sketchbook drawing

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This is a drawing from my sketchbook following our trip to Washington D.C. in late April, 2015. We went to the National Portrait Gallery where I was inspired by paintings of American figures and past presidents. To my eye, the paintings of the earlier presidents was not at the level of the paintings of later ones. A lot has changed since our forefathers were around. The painting techniques, media, scale of the picture, composition, and expectations, etc. have evolved tremendously. One thing which has not changed is that most artists favor putting the left eye in the center of the picture above the midpoint. I mentioned this in a prior post but feel it is worth re-emphasizing. In this case, I intuitively positioned the subject that same way!

When we were in Washington D.C., my wife and I visited Ford's Theater where President Abraham Lincoln was shot. We found the National Park Service Ranger to be well informed and knowledgeable. However, the above drawing is not of that particular Park Service employee.

On a subconscious level, this picture is a composite of the individuals who crossed the stage that fateful night when President Lincoln was shot. I had recently read the Lincoln manhunt book of the events following the assassination, so many of the events were fresh in my mind. The dimly lit theater with threadbare curtains and the shadowy president's box lent some influence. Other guests had declined President Lincoln's invitation to the theater enabling John Wilkes Booth to continue with his murder plot.

The facial expression in the drawing evolved from a gregarious personality to a more reflective, diminutive individual with increased age. He seems to project the mood of the country following that period in our country's history. More specifically, his eyes are not locked in on any specific point of reference as if he has been traumatized.

I sketched this picture late one evening while the television was on with my favorite drawing pencil, an HB Cretacolor.

Fly Fishing

(2015) Dale DiMauro adapted from a photograph
attributed to the American Museum of Fly Fishing

In Brattleboro, Vermont where I live, we have had a run of beautiful days for quite some time. In fact, the now famous Strolling of the Heifers which weaves its way through our downtown benefitted yesterday, from one of these dry and sunny, seventy-degree days. I enjoy this weather and really try to take advantage of some of the outdoor opportunities we have around here which include kayaking, tennis, hiking and skiing.

This weather inspires me to draw and paint outdoor scenes. I have driven by the Battenkill River in western Vermont many times and have sought to paint a watercolor of it before. Noted artist Ogden Pleissner portrayed the river life many times just as Norman Rockwell was inspired by his close proximity to this same valley. However, I did not have much time this past week but wanted to paint a figure in the landscape.

The above watercolor has the influence or look of a Winslow Homer. Not only is it an outdoor scene done in watercolor but you can see pencil lines which were left, a Homer trait. It has a relatively simple color scheme which harmonizes the picture while enhancing the focal point, which is the figure. However, it was not painted outside as many of Homer's were.

Sign of the Times

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This spring Vermont experienced a prolonged dry period before it finally rained early this week.  I went kayaking with a friend a few weeks ago. To reach the water we drove down a dirt road between cornfields, and the dust our vehicles kicked up was unbelievable. I have spent my life mainly in the Northeast and the Northwest, two areas with plenty of rain and humidity.  This dirt road in the dry spell made me think of the Dust Bowl.  

The painting above looks like the Midwest due to the isolation of the house, the flat landscape, and the dry dirt road running along its side. In fact, the house stands in a village in central Vermont. I have exaggerated the Midwestern qualities in this picture because this spring has felt so different, somewhat foreign. People have said this looks like an Edward Hopper painting, perhaps because his work often creates that sense of alienation and isolation, which was common in modernism.

I intentionally isolated this building from the neighboring houses to heighten its starkness. I usually paint very blue skies but attempted a varied sky with streaks of rose and Winsor blue, which show on the painting but not so much in the photograph. The house clearly is unoccupied and the "for sale" sign emphasizes its precarious future. 

However, to me, there are a lot of positive aspects to this picture. First, it is spring, which brings promise. I like how the distant lawn rolls off the horizon and makes you wonder what lies beyond. I also like the upper window where you can see through the glass and back out into the sky. The unusual rock in the foreground was likely found from the nearby river and brought to the site to mark the property boundary, perhaps over a century ago.

For this watercolor I used Arches 300lb watercolor paper which is a thicker and heavier weighted paper than my usual 140lb. This thicker paper can take repeated washes with scraping and lifting of pigment but dries more slowly.