The Saxton's River Art Group had their last plein air outing of the season, earlier this week. It was the only one I was able to attend. This one was held at the historic Scott Farm in Dummerston, VT.
This was my watercolor from the outing, painted all on-site. I found a lovely spot to paint out of the sun under a big tree with the steady sound of a running waterfall.
I added the two figures above as their had been a couple sitting on the picnic table earlier.
Landscape painting never gets old. At least for me it doesn't. I notice things about the landscape everyday in my travels. The light and shadows say so much about the time of year and characteristics of the land.
For this watercolor I tried a new painting block, one by Winsor & Newton. The paper has a different texture than I am used to but I feel good about this surface.
I like the foliage of the tree and the space within the leaves. It sort of has a life of it's own with well-defined edges. In addition, there was an interesting cloud which I was proud of, but it got buried behind the tree foliage
Painting more varied and diverse skies is something I have been working on. In the past I relied heavily on ultramarine blue with some combination of blue and perhaps would add some red to get a little gray.
However, this Summer I purchased a cerulean blue from Daniel Smith which is the best tube of this pigment I have ever used. Here I have blended from the horizon - brilliant orange/alizarin crimson and cerulean for a sky very different from what I would normally come up with. The sky sets the mood for the landscape setting so it is important to capture what it is you want to say.
The more I use The Master's Choice watercolor paper, the more I like it. In particular, I like this rough surface which has a lovely texture when the pigment has settled into all it's little hills and valleys.
This has been a challenging year to paint outside. With all the rain and forecast for rain it has been very uncertain whether painting outside would be successful.
Today, I got outside on this lovely day and did some watercolor painting. I had low expectations for what I would produce but was pleased with the experience and the result. I hadn't painted outside in months but found I was quite focused and not bothered much by all the distractions.
There is a well-used frisbee golf course in town at the local open space called Living Memorial Park. Many, many people paraded by me with frisbees but overall it was a great experience.
Every summer my wife and I make our journey to the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is a beautiful museum in a beautiful setting with a state of the art permanent collection.
The last few years after the museum closes for the day we have been climbing the hill above their campus by trail to take in the view. I like the pastoral landscape up on the hill with the clusters of mature trees, open grassland and rough contours. Usually I take some photographs as the landscape is so distinct and undeveloped.
This experience inspires me to paint watercolors of this setting. This watercolor above is drawn from that experience. Since this last visit I have tweaked my palette some. To represent the warm greens and yellows I have been combining aureolin with cerulean and cerulean in my sky over ultramarine blue.
On my recent trip to Portland, Maine I purchased a small watercolor block made by Rembrandt. I had never heard of this brand of paper but I really like how this surface receives pigment.
You can see in the photograph above how fresh the watercolor looks. This is the first time using this paper so I am optimistic about what I can do going forward.
The surface of the paper has a nice little weave to it. I purchased this in Maine at the Artist & Craftsman Supply Store. This is the best arts store I have ever been in.
A Summer of rain has made Vermont very green. It's like Spring in the Summer. Also, the various shades of green are so vivid and lush.
I painted this watercolor of a local trail because I have not seen it like this, at this time of year, if ever. It does make for a good scene though. These colors tweak my palette more along the cooler blues than I usually use at this time of year.
With this rain the animals seem to have returned, too. After a trip to Maine the skunks, woodchucks, squirrels and mice seem to have multiplied.
Last week my wife and I visited the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, Ma. This is basically our annual pilgrimage to see some of our favorite paintings from their permanent collection as well as view new exhibitions.
Unlike most major museums the Clark Art Museum sits in a rural setting which makes the visit even more special. The buildings and campus were upgraded several years ago and now has walking trails and a greater environmental focus.
Since I am recovering from an eye infection and did not want to do a lot of reading, my wife and I took a tour let by a knowledgable docent and participated in a talk in their prints and drawing room. One of the drawings was a watercolor by Winslow Homer.
