Northampton Rail Trail

                                                                                       (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

When I can I like to bike or even walk along the Northampton Rail Trail in Hadley, MA. It is a well kept up rail trail with lovely scenic views of agricultural land for the most part. It has quality signage and areas where you can pull over to make adjustments to your bike or drink from your water bottle out of the flow of other cyclists.

This watercolor was inspired from one of my more recent trips on the rail trail. The strong light and warm ground plane really left an impression on me.

This was painted on this Masters' Choice watercolor paper which I have taken a liking to. This is a rough-textured paper which conveys a nice quality to the image.

COVID-19 & Other Thoughts

                                                                             (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

It has been a difficult process to go from painting outside to inside this year. The actual act of painting is not what has been difficult but all the stuff going on in the perimeter.

The days have gotten short so fast I have not been able to paint much of the lovely fall colors or autumnal scenes. At the same time it seems like it rains a lot or is at least damp well into the day.

Along the way I have been thinning out stuff in my studio to get in the right mindset for winter painting. I usually thin out stuff at this time of year, but this year, it seems to involve more areas of the house.

On top of all this I tested positive for COVID-19 last night. Based on the symptoms I have exhibited over the last eight days or so such as fever, chills, and sore throat etc., I have been self-isolating already.

When it was raining yesterday afternoon I was able to paint this figure study. I like the warmth of the colors.

Late Summer

                                                                                      (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

It always feels good to push watercolor and pigments around. Certain colors I associate with places or the time of year. That experience is strong for me just as smell is said to conjure up all kind of associations.

This watercolor screams of late summer with the dark canopy before the leaves change color and fall off. Likewise, the gray New England hills and the dappled light across the lawn speaks to me of the lazy days of Summer.

After a week of being ill and away from the brush I needed to paint a little cheery scene.

Watercolor sketch

                                                                        (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

I don't like to waste paper and since I am under the weather with a nasty cough this watercolor came about. You can always learn something when mixing up different pigments.

I am not sure if this is a finished picture but I like how the viewer is drawn into the picture. Alizarin crimson and permanent sap green made a nice lively brown which I put at the base of the shrubbery.

On thing I have learned is that you need to get the drawing correct. If the drawing is right the colors can make the drawing sing.

Rough Paper

                                                                                       (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

Often I will paint on a scrap of watercolor paper I have laying around. More so, if the opposite side has a painting that didn't turn out so well. Sometimes I just didn't carry the picture further for some reason, usually because of a lack of time.

This is one of those cases. In addition, I didn't realize how rough the surface of the paper was. The roughness of the paper I don't find as a hindrance as much as an opportunity. It is important to try not to fill in all the valleys of the paper with paint. Thus, I need to lay down my brush stroke and then move on to the next area to paint. I have learned to appreciate the 'sparkle' characteristic of where the paper is absent of any pigment.

As a side note I have been introducing more browns into the colorations of the structure of my trees. I don't really know if this development I am conscious of or not. Many tree trunks from my observation have a gray or purplish coloring depending on the light or time of year, however, there is a warmth when in the light.

Living Memorial Park

                                                                          (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

When I go to our local park, Living Memorial Park, in Brattleboro, VT, often I experience great vistas of the landscape with dramatic contrasts in light. This was one of those days. Even the road had interesting color patterns.

What I do like about this watercolor is that it was painted in around one and a half hours. I was locked in with few distractions enabling me to move across the page with no real hesitancy.

I find myself learning and experimenting with each watercolor, regardless of the topic. It has been said that painting is about seeing. I concur with that insight. 

The West River

                                                                                       (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

Recently, I walked along the West River in Brattleboro, VT. It was a late afternoon and the sun was shielded by the clouds for a period of time. So I took a photograph which appeared as if it were a black and white image.

Days later this made think I should consider painting a monotone watercolor or a sepia-colored painting.

Well this is what I came up with and I kind of like it. It is a stark image but strong in conveying the tree, river and distant landscape. To me it appears timeless as if it could have been painted one hundred years ago.

I only used three pigments to paint this scene: sepia/ultramarine blue and permanent sap green.

The Upper Field

                                                                            (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

It is always satisfying to paint the landscape whether it is outside or in the studio. To observe the colors out in the environment is a noble activity. Or at least I think, so as they are constantly changing.

This is the upper field at the Brattleboro Retreat. I hadn't walked through the trails, forest or fields in quite some time. I acknowledge the colors are going to change soon and a majority of the foliage will fall.

I prefer to combine quinacridone gold with either ultramarine blue or viridian for the yellow-green or green of fields.

Plein Air Painting

                                                                             (C) 2022 Dale DiMauro
 

On Saturday I was fortunate to attend a free, local, watercolor workshop with my mom. It was a little less than three hours in length. However, it was great to paint outside, as the seasons are rapidly changing. When we arrived at the painting location the temperature was still in the forties with a few drops in the air and much cloud cover.

I got off to a rough start with my painting as I was sitting on the edge of an uncomfortable stone wall which had a lovely vantage point. My original location was occupied by two other people so I had to adjust on the fly.

I only got so far with my picture but it seemed like I was heading in the right direction. In the distance are New Hampshire mountains with Mount Monadnock just off the page to the right. Compositionally, I like the idea of framing the picture with the tall tall birch tree on the left and the evergreen towards the right.

Every painting experience is different but I seem to look at the sheet of the paper and the pigments differently all the time. I seem to paint more direct all the time with little hesitancy. However, at least when painting, I often feel pressed for time.