Tree on the Common

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

Painting trees is exciting, rewarding and at times, frustrating. Lately, I have become obsessed with these specimen trees I see exposed to the wintry elements. They have such character with their graceful limbs, speckled trunks and strong shadows. Recently, I have seen numerous birds congregate up in their crowns while chewing on seeds. On windy days I am concerned they will blow down on neighboring power lines.

It is good practice I believe, to force yourself, to paint a watercolor in a limited window. I finished this painting an hour ago and started it the prior hour. From my experience, these time constraints parallel some of the characteristics of plein air painting. I was forced to keep the composition simple along with the chosen palette and forced to paint directly.

Finally, it was frustrating cropping the photograph with the blogger software for some reason. I failed to crop the first photograph but uploaded a second and it seemed to be misplaced in the folder.   

Winter in Vermont

(C) 2018 Dale DiMauro

This watercolor has been posted several times now. However, it keeps evolving into a more advanced stage. Perhaps, this is the final chapter.

Let's go back to it's origin. This was painted as a plein air painting in mid-December through our bay window facing south. I intentionally pre-toned the paper yellow so the picture would have an exaggerated warmth to it. Snow in the sunlight, at times, has these characteristics.

As a plein air painting I approach it differently than a studio piece. Painting outside requires the artist to simplify the composition, paint directly and often finalize the details at home. While inside the studio I usually paint on a larger scale at my own pace with the comfort of a reference photo or drawing.

As we know from experience, natural light changes rapidly. For this picture there is no reference other than my memory. At home I have added more branching and brought more resolution to the building on the left. I feel the freshness from painting directly has been retained while adding details has strengthened the overall composition.

Keene reservoir & park

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Some how I had a mix up this afternoon. I drove to Keene, NH for a one o'clock appointment but the people I expected to meet were not there. After eating lunch I decided to start a plein air painting to overcome my disappointing afternoon.  

At the end of summer I had discovered this park wrapped around a reservoir off a steep hill. I was able to spread my stuff out on a park bench and work on capturing the late fall color. The photograph does not do it justice, as I felt the picture got off to a great start. Just before leaving I took a photograph so it can be finished at home. 

Originally, I was taken by the stately tree, fall foliage and slope of the land down toward the water. What fascinates me are the marks created where there is a lack of paint.

Ashuelot Park Plein Air

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Plein air painting has transformed how I paint and view the world I am portraying. With the changing light it is important to not become distracted with all that is going on around me. This concentration can become exhausting if I paint for a long period of time. I generally plein air paint for a little over an hour and at that point it is time for a break. Usually by then the light has changed and I need to step back and take a fresh look at where I am on the picture.

This is a plein air painting which I started in Ashuelot Park, in Keene, NH. Yesterday I did some finishing touches at home. This view is in the vicinity of the waterfall with some buildings deleted. Mount Monadnock is very much in view.

On these outdoor excursions I have been experimenting with a Sennelier watercolor pan set which is different from my Winsor and Newton studio palette. The Sennelier set, made in France, limits the number of pigments I use to fourteen. In contrast, in the studio, I have at my disposal up to thirty five pigments from my Winsor and Newton palette. 

Until I worked on this at home, the tree trunks were so transparent that you could see the mountain through the base of the tree. I had to lift out the paint in this area and go back in with a darker color to correct this problem. Other than that, I love the vivid colors and how the paint gets absorbed into the paper.

The tree shadow gives dimension and roots the trunk into the earth. Unfortunately, the photograph does not do it justice. When painting outside you really don't know what the result will be as the paper is transformed through various wash cycles which brings the whole experience into the present moment.

Brattleboro Common

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

This morning I spent some time plein air painting on the Brattleboro Common. I had some time as my appointment ended early. It was not even mid-day and the sun was above me, which is a time of day I seldom have the chance to capture.

It is always a challenge to paint outside. However, it can be very rewarding. Regardless of the outcome, it is always a memorable experience.

When my hour or so working on this picture was up I was swarmed by twenty or so young children brought outside with their adult supervisors. They climbed up the gazebo, ran around the monument and spread out over the lawn. Some of these children wanted to know what I was up to as I had settled in at a picnic table more or less in the middle of the Common.

One of the supervisors described this picture as a sketch or drawing as a way to entice the children to take in the view that I had chosen. The little building is a tourist information kiosk when the window on the opposite side is open. I tried to match as close as possible the changing colors that were before me.

A View from the Northampton, MA Rail Trail

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Several weeks ago, my work week was cut short so I put my bike in the car and headed down to Northampton, MA. We had, had a streak of overcast days so it was important to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. This image, inspired from a photograph, I took from my bicycle, has lingered with me ever since. I was struck by how verdant the Pioneer Valley was. I thought Vermont being the Green Mountain state and all, could not be outdone.

Lately, I have been reading about all kinds of color combinations worthy of trying in my paintings. On this very trip I purchased, The Artist's Color Guide, Watercolor: Understanding the Palette, Pigments and Properties, by Hazel Soan. For some time, I have been searching for greater knowledge in the use of color and pigments as a means to expand my color palette in watercolor and this purchase as they say, was spot on.

I have learned the fewer color combinations required, the better. For example, it is easier to combine two pigments instead of three and the less you utilize the more vibrant the wash.

This green field is a pairing of aureolin and prussian blue which I have come to use for some time. However, I tried a new dark from the combination of cadmium red and prussian blue for the tree trunk. For a couple months now, I have introduced more burnt sienna into my landscapes which seems to add a greater dimension and variety into the foreground. 

Plein air painting

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Plein air painting is a challenge but I am committed to working on one small one each week for a while. I purchased a new watercolor easel intended to be used outside and a beautiful palette/ pan set by Sennelier. The challenges to painting outside from prior experience include the changing light, weather patterns such as wind and bird droppings. Ultimately, you have to keep your composition simple and paint in a direct manner with minimal detail.

The most challenging thing for me is to plot out where I am going to paint in advance. This way I am mentally prepared for what I will be faced with. This painting was done as I sat on a picnic bench in a nearby state park while I sat in the shade and looked toward the sun. I kept this painting to one hour in duration.

This painting has too much green for me, even though there were layers of green in the scene. I am learning my way around this new palette which has bright, rich pigments. I like the warm tones and the soft and hard edges in this picture.

Portrait in Profile

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

This is a little study of a portrait which I am certain will become a much larger painting. These days it is common to see people looking at their phone throughout the day with that head bent down posture. Someone told me recently that the average young person looks at their phone over one hundred times a day. That number if accurate, is unbelievable to me.

For sometime I have been thinking about trying to capture that 'phone' posture as it has become universal across cultures. As a composition, I believe the profile perspective as compared to a straight on shot to be the strongest. Not only can you capture the expression of the face honed in on the small screen but the fingers moving rapidly across the phone. In essence, I like the idea of an 'L' shaped composition along one edge of the sheet of watercolor framed against the backdrop.

Before painting the figure I applied a diluted wash of permanent magenta, a light purple color over the entire sheet to reduce the overall whiteness of the paper. I think with the skin tone as such it made the face come forward a bit. I feel the simplicity of the color scheme and brushwork makes the viewer focus on the facial expression.

Late fall in the field

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

This is a local field in Brattleboro, Vt, walking distance from my house. I have walked this field in all kinds of weather throughout the seasons. However, the sky is what I have learned to pay attention to. Sometimes there is bright light and it feels great to have the warmth of the sun on my face as I walk across the uneven ground. Other times the clouds are racing across the sky with strong winds and the desperate cackle of birds flailing in the air. 

With the advent of a new year, it is a great time to develop new techniques and try different things. One year ago I would not have used the color combinations in the above watercolor. I like the effect of dry brush in the mid-ground on the left, which I do not do enough of. I also used opaque white paint in the foreground to suggest corn stubble.

For Christmas I received a ukelele so perhaps over time as I learn that instrument my paintings will evolve in a new direction. However, since the new year I have been a bit under the weather. So this watercolor was intended to give me a quick little push into 2017.

Eldridge Hardie

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Several years ago I purchased this book, The Paintings of Eldridge Hardie: Art of A Life in Sport, which I consider one of the best of many art books that I have. I particularly admire his watercolors of outdoor sporting scenes. There is something captivating about a figure in motion in the landscape.

This watercolor is inspired from the work of Eldridge Hardie. I tried to emulate some of the techniques and stylings he may have used in some of his watercolors. 

When he paints water he seems to achieve this great dry brush affect as he drags the brush along the surface of the paper leaving white speckles. His evergreens appear darker than mine and he uses wonderful vibrant colors to convey his fall foliage with warmth.

Big sky

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Recently, I tried my hand at a dramatic sky painting. To capture the sky with some sort of mastery is no easy accomplishment in watercolor. However, painting in the ribbon of landmass solidified the painting and provided the scale for the sky.

The inspiration for this picture came from last summer's trip to Maine. Late in the day, near Bar Harbor with all the heavy humidity in the air, even up in Maine, a storm had just passed through. The result was the warm glow of the late day sun.

It seems important to provide some sort of definition to the underbelly of big cloud masses which strengthens the perspective in landscape paintings.

Acadia National Park

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

On our recent trip to Bar Harbor, Maine we did a bit of hiking in Acadia National Park. We were told island visitors were up twenty percent for Acadia National Park's centennial year. However, we did not encounter congregations of people any larger than in years past. 

With the hot weather even reaching Mount Desert Island, we decided to hike in the late afternoon in the shadows of other mountains. This approach worked splendidly one particular day. We hiked Great Head above the ocean and Sand Beach then through a forested valley before climbing to the top of Gorham Mountain just as the evening clouds began to move in.  We had views in all directions of vast ocean and numerous mountains.

This watercolor was inspired by our hike up Gorham Mountain. Earlier in our trip we stopped at an art store in Portland, Maine where I picked up a tube of Winsor green (blue shade), which I was eager to try out. There is some Winsor green mixed with burnt sienna in the midground vegetation.