Quick Sketch

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

Recording a quick sketch when your subject is in an unposed posture can be quite rewarding. Naturally, it can be challenging too. Regardless, this is a good practice to develop in public if you get the chance. 

On the one hand it may be best to ask for an individual's permission. On the other hand it may not be as unposed as you intended. Occasionally, on a picnic I will sketch a friend or relatives posture, in that moment, if I can.

If it turns out terrible you can turn the page and start another one at a later point. Really, there is no loss, you just move on.

This drawing was done fast. I liked the way this guy's body was held up in and around his folding chair. You can't make this posture up. It was too good--perhaps even comical. 

Foreshortening is usually tough to convey accurately. Is his right arm drawn the way it is? I don't know but after reviewing what was done I figure the next time I will do even better.

Stickney Brook II

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

As you may have figured out by now, Stickney Brook is one of my favorite local plein air spots. The dappled light, burst of foliage, cool breezes and water in its various forms is enticing. In numerous points along the brook you have falls, pools, eddies and meandering, offering diverse vantage points to paint and dip in.

I sat on a flat ledge-like rock, seat height, with my feet dangling in the rushing water. The light was changing quickly so I worked fast from top to bottom. These days I have evolved to rotating the watercolor block in my hand to manipulate the areas which are wet until I move on to another area. The spatial qualities of the brook I feel good about even if the foreground could use some finishing touches.

This Summer I have been using Holbein watercolors almost exclusively for painting outside. One of the great things about painting outdoors is the simplicity one attains whether conscious or not. For this painting I only used two brushes.

New table for plein air painting

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

Yesterday, I happened upon a table suitable for plein air painting. Or at least for my needs. I was downtown in our local sporting goods store where they stock portable folding tables and chairs intended for the outdoors. This one is aluminum, thus very light and quite handsome, I must add. Including sales tax it cost under forty dollars. 

It beats perusing a mail order catalog or online where you are not quite sure what you are purchasing until it arrives at your door. The employee I met was knowledgeable about its assembly and the various settings to utilize. So I am quite pleased with this purchase.

The last two paint outings have been frustrating with regards to holding my brushes, palette, water container, etc. Most of the time outside I find an easel is not necessary. With this table I am convinced it is convenient to paint sitting down or standing. It is a good feeling to be able to put things down and change your position from time to time. Also, the setup is simple and quick, which is key when working outside. The wind or rain can come your direction in no time at all.

Stickney Brook Falls

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

During the recent heat and humidity I have painted several plein air watercolors at this local watering hole. While painting, it feels great to hear the sound of rushing water with a shady canopy overhead. It is also refreshing to take a dip or walk through the water where it is low in spots.

I don't know if I would call this a finished painting even though it probably will not require much more work. When the first few washes were put down I was full of excitement at the direction it was heading. The colors remind me of this particular place at the time I was there.

I have come to the realization that I am mixing colors that match what I see out in nature. I can't say that I could do that in the past, at least consistently. The other thing I have been working on is contour drawing. If I really concentrate when drawing and painting outside I seem to be able to layout the image I am conveying quickly. This is important when plein air painting as the light and color is constantly changing. 

In conclusion, it is important to focus on one area of the landscape, not all the stuff before you. It takes time to develop an eye for what you want to develop on your watercolor paper.

Ashuelot River

(C) 2019 Photograph Dale DiMauro

Vermont is a beautiful place to live. Sometimes I lose track of this. Particularly, when the demands on my time are great. As a result, it is important to get outside and embrace the natural world. Fortunately, I can take a hike and access this wonder quite readily. It can be even more rewarding to paddle through an abundance of greenery and see wildlife first hand.

After a busy Spring, work wise, I am back to watercolor painting both in the studio and out in the landscape. I took this photograph last month, from the bow of my kayak, while paddling on the Ashuelot River in Keene, NH.

I have noticed the transformation of the foliage around us from the yellows of Spring to the heavier blue/greens of Summer. In retrospect, it is good to reflect on the natural world which we live within. Particularly, as the seasons change so rapidly, at least here in Vermont.

It was not until this afternoon when I realized I had failed to write and publish a post on Wednesday. So this is it.

Sargent: The Watercolours

When my wife and I were last at the Clark Art Museum I purchased this book. It is titled Sargent: The Watercolours, by Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray. I have not read this in it's entirety but it already makes me look at John Singer Sargent's watercolors in a different light. 

The low angle which Sargent preferred to view or portray his subject is clear as day. In the photography of Sargent's watercolors, or at least those selected for this book, one can feel the brushstrokes made across the paper with either dry or wet edges. Most of all, perhaps, is Sargent's direct approach to painting with minimal fussing around. As a result of his mastery of drawing, or sureness of line, his economy of colors radiate from the paper. This moved me in ways no other watercolor paintings have, period.

John Singer Sargent not unlike his sister Emily, never married and shared a mutual interest in the arts. I have read in previous books on Sargent, Emily's understated interest in watercolor. However, on page 142 I was thrown when the authors state that a 'recent discovery of more than five hundred of her watercolours in a family trunk has confirmed her talent and revealed her as a serious and dedicated painter.'

While writing this piece I find it ironic because it is hard to find watercolors on exhibit when I attend most major art museums. I have asked countless museum employees if there are any watercolors on exhibit. They either do not know or seldom exhibit works on paper. Now I understand watercolor paintings are sensitive to light and the paper can and will deteriorate. 

However, we live in a time when the technology for art preservation and the evolution of materials are greater than perhaps, any point in history. Watercolor has become a unique American medium due to it's portability and low cost. We owe Winslow Homer some credit for this as most of his art materials were not available at the time in America. As a result, plein air painting has grown in popularity ever since.

Ida Ten Eyck O'Keefe

From my visit last weekend at the Clark Art Museum this painting has became etched in my memory. There is something simple yet extraordinary about this composition. I believe it has a lot to do with the colors or at least the concentration of color against a subdued background.

This oil painting titled, Still Life(Still Life with Fruit), was created by the late Ida Ten Eyck O'Keefe(1889-1961) in 1926. She was a younger sister to Georgia O'Keefe. Georgia, being the older sister, claimed she was the artist in the family and wanted to keep it that way. What is it about sibling rivalry and what does it tell us?

I found the exhibition on Ida Ten Eyck O'Keefe paintings fascinating. She was no amateur painter and had a clear aesthetic. For me her still life paintings stood out as they had vibrant color, not to minimize her landscape paintings. 

The current exhibition at The Clark is titled: Ida O'Keefe: Escaping Georgia's Shadow: July 4 - October 6, 2019.

John Constable

Yesterday, my wife and I got out of the heat and headed to Williamstown, MA. We made our annual pilgrimage to the Clark Art Museum, located in the Berkshires. We have not found many world class art museums set in a rural environment such as this. 

On the drive over I noticed how important it was to have large, mature trees in our life. The environmental benefits provided by the shade and lush greenery made it a more enjoyable day. The cultural landscape of our every day experiences at home consist of treeless parking lots and the proliferation of scrawny fruit trees. In general, there is a mindset that trees are too much trouble with all the raking and pruning etc. However, to experience a tree that is allowed to grow in a heathy setting for decades and even centuries, truly is beneficial to our species.

Enough with my rant. My wife and I made sure our beloved paintings were still hanging on the walls of the Clark Art Museum. There is a masterful Thomas Gainsborough double portrait which we admire in addition to many John Singer Sargent paintings. There are too many other great painters from the past with their works on display to include here.

However, this classic John Constable(1776-1837) painting titled The Wheat Field, I associate with the very first time I visited the museum which was decades ago and certainly prior to to the museum's recent expansion. Constable, an Englishman, painted this oil on canvas in 1816. 

The write-up by the painting at the Clark Art Museum succinctly states that traditional farming practices were disappearing as a revolution in agricultural techniques swept across the British countryside. This nostalgia Constable felt was a result of a rapidly changing way of life. There are parallels to the times we live in, certainly full of technological advances whether for the advancement or regression of society. Regardless, I love the color of the wheat field and regrettably, acknowledge how greater connected to the natural world our ancestors were.

Saving your Watercolor with Corrections

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

This is the subject matter from a few posts back. I have been trying to capture this time of year with all the verdant growth. Then on top of that, this proliferation of green is cast onto the water as a shadow.

On the top left corner of the watercolor I inadvertently got some green pigment on the page. This is a staining color and thus hard to remove. I am not sure which color, perhaps pthalocyanine green. However, I did lift most of the pigment and will try again to make it a non-factor.

Many people claim that watercolor is such a difficult media to handle. Regardless, of differing perspectives, there are readily available remedies to correct problems that you may find your self in. In this case, I dampened the area of the paper in question with water and lifted it with a paper towel and small scrubbing brush.

Watercolor is all about marking the paper with which ever technique you choose. This may be include pigments, pencil, masking, gouache, etc. You as an artist just have to find an additional technique to draw your eye away from a particular flaw.