Plein Air Painting

   C) 2020 Dale DiMauro

On Monday I was fortunate in joining the Saxton's River Art Group for one of their scheduled plein air gatherings. I had not painted outside with a group this year largely due to Covid 19 and other work conflicts. Needless to say it was a meaningful outing.

We met at Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, NH at 9:30 AM. By then the sun and humidity were increasing but I was able to secure a spot under a canopy of shade looking out into one of the orchards. 

This watercolor was done entirely on site. Overall, I feel good about this picture. The one area where I wanted more resolution was the contour of the field beyond the road which drops before reaching that first apple tree.

The quality of the light and fresh coloring of the landscape appeals to me. Even the treatment and warmth to the sky were reminiscent of the atmospheric qualities that morning.

Creamery covered bridge

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

This past summer I painted many plein air watercolors. I wasn't sure how they would turn out. I learned the process is very different than painting in the studio. As a result, I have accumulated equipment to provide a smoother plein air experience. This equipment includes lightweight easels, a tray that mounts on my easel for my palette and two shoulder bags for transportation and quick access.

In general, I paint outside for an hour or so and complete it at home, if necessary. There is a freedom of expression in plein air achieved through watercolor that I find no other medium offers.

This watercolor was painted in late July. In this picture, I like the combination of red and green which naturally, are complimentary colors. In watercolor you can go back into a wash for example, such as the foliage and darken it or expand the massing.

Plein air challenges

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Plein air painting in watercolor is a real challenge. I have mentioned in prior posts how the changing light, a sudden burst of wind or rain, can alter the scene in a moment. Well, late this afternoon I experienced all these qualities in my hour or so working on this piece. As a result the final version is much different than my start.

My first wash involved adding blue for the sky above the distant hill. I misted the top of the paper with my sprayer then dropped in blue and rotated the watercolor block around to prevent the pigment from running down the page. The sky was faint when I blocked in the hill, but as the weather changed, the hill was obscured. There were two guys playing basketball on the right, and I sketched in one of the figures but he scurried away as the clouds moved in.

Regardless of the challenges, I am embracing open air painting. It makes me really concentrate on the task while honing my observation skills. It also frees me to paint unlike any studio piece. I have learned to approach a plein air painting subject differently, with flexibility and a focus on simplicity. 

Improving on my figures

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Since last winter I have kept in the back of mind my desire to improve the figures that I paint in my watercolors. It has taken a while but I think I may have found a watercolor sketchbook that I can take with me to places such as a cafe or the library where I can capture on the spot, people and their postures. 

Most little watercolor journals from my experience are too cheap as the paper will buckle once you get it wet. This mixed media sketchbook by Stillman & Birn has much thicker paper which can absorb more moisture and lays flat with it's ringed binder which I find essential. In addition, my approach is to paint wet on dry as this seems to be the quickest drying method that I know of.

As I have mentioned in prior posts, once you put a person in the picture they become the focal point so it really is important to get the figure right. This requires getting the scale correct along with positioning the figure so that it reveals the activity they are doing within the atmospheric qualities of the time in question.

Lowell Lake State Park(Londonderry, Vt)

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Lowell Lake is a lovely body of water to paddle on, particularly on a hot summer day. The State of Vermont purchased two hundred some acres to be set aside for this state park in the late 1970's. With numerous islands and wildlife at arm's length, there is a vista in all directions and ever changing cloud cover.

When I was there most recently, it was an overcast morning with dramatic cloud patterns which really brought out the rich, cool greens of the vegetation. The reflections from this vegetation framed the cool passages of the relatively, still water.

I tried to capture these qualities without overdoing it. I introduced burnt sienna right out of the tube to the right middle ground to enhance the color variation of vegetation and provide a contrast to the cool temperature of the overall picture.

This is a continuation of the last posting, in a more finished state. Many people think this picture was plein air painted, but in fact, it was done in the studio.

Early Summer Paddle

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Recently, I went on a paddle with folks from the Brattleboro Outing Club. We paddled on Lowell Lake in Londonderry, Vermont on a cloudy morning. The inspiration for this picture comes from the clouds, stillness of the water and green foliage from the local landscape.

Clearly, I have just begun this watercolor, however, I do like the cloud in the middle of the sky so far. The cloud has dimension, yet I like the shadow as it sits over the distant ridge. When the dark middle ground evergreens are put in, this picture will come to life. 

In the last year I believe my sky's have improved as they have become more diversified in color and content. My judgement as far as how far to go with developing the sky without overdoing it, has evolved. Hopefully, I will continue to get better.

Flowering Quince

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

With all the rain and gloomy skies last week, here in southern Vermont, a flowering quince in our yard, really stood out. Both my wife and I on our separate comings and goings, took note of the brilliant red against the rather gray backdrop. It grows up along a fence in our front yard and has not been as prominent as this year. We even have it's fruits from last year laying on the ground. In fact, prior to last season, I do not recall it ever fruiting since it was planted many years ago.

I was too tired last night from working outside to finish the picture but thought the timing of the subject was important to post. The vivid pinkish-red is hard to achieve as I don't usually paint with such intense colors. I do like the red against the gray background which essentially harmonizes the picture. As a result there is a calm quality to the watercolor. I think the simplified composition gives the flower more of a stage to shine on.

With a little more work done to the leaves I think the red will really shine as green is it's complementary color. The picture may look a little sloppily painted as I experimented with the background. This painting started as a study where I developed the woodland edge with different pigments than I usually do in cool colors as a technique to enable the flower to project forward.

Out-on-the-Range

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro All Rights Reserved

This past December was so mild here in Vermont that the ground did not firm up as it usually does. The result was a landscape that felt surreal, which even had a Serengeti quality to it. Replace the pine tree with an acacia, and you'll have a very different part of the world. Can you see a giraffe or elephant in the picture? A few weeks ago when I worked on this picture I could envision a whole slew of four-legged mammals roaming through the open spaces and grazing in the sun. 

This little watercolor was inspired by this time of year when the days were short but the temperatures spike during the mid-day hours, not unlike early spring. I was attracted to the strong contrast from the warm foreground hues against the cool-colored background. 

I tried to saturate the paper with strong pigments as the moisture evaporated. However, I could have taken the strengthening of pigment even further. I do like my evergreens painted with a tinge of blue-green. This color is created by mixing alizarin crimson with Payne's gray and pthalo green. I have tried other greens for this vegetation but ultimately come back to this mixture. Down the road perhaps I will come upon a different color combination.

Across the field

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This is a view across a nearby field on property owned by the Brattleboro Retreat, a local institution in Brattleboro, Vermont, where I live. The foreground was lacking in subject matter so I added this figure to provide a sense of presence and to draw the viewer's eye into the painting. In addition, I added the cluster of birds in the distance as they weren't there when I recently visited the scene. Regardless, I have walked through this field in all kinds of weather, throughout the year and have experienced all kinds of bird activity from a squall in the distance to a cackle in the nearby brush.

I have learned it is vitally important to get the scale of the figure correct and to articulate his posture with conviction. Perhaps, the figure could have been positioned better but I am pleased with what I settled on. Before I dropped in the figure, it was a pleasant little picture but with the individual in place the focal point instantly became the man and how he was depicted.

This scene is inspired from the western sun in late February, when the landscape elements such as the hills, trees and ground exhibit this wonderful glow.

Sqeal heard from the woodland edge

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This picture is inspired from the warm, late fall we had here in Brattleboro, Vermont. On walks through the woods and fields in December, there was a moist, soft earth and often the clustering of birds flitting about. The mild weather made it feel surreal as these were some of the shortest days of the year.

In this watercolor I tried a different approach towards painting the sky. Instead of painting wet brush on wet paper, I painted wet brush on dry paper so as to achieve a greater contrast from the pigment to the white of the paper. Also, there are areas where the edge of the brush leaves interesting, dry marks, suggesting an irregular cloud perimeter.

This watercolor was completed in less than three hours. There were areas in this picture such as the background, where I knew exactly how I wanted to approach the painting. On the other hand, in the foreground, I was not settled on a specific approach and thus spent more time reworking some details and shadowing to give the boy more of a presence. 

I do like how the boy's posture leads the viewer right to the action.

Stickney brook watercolor study

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This is a watercolor I did plein air this past summer. Plein air is challenging to do in watercolor. However, we had a hot and humid stretch, and I wanted to hang out by the water. I took a dip in the brook and stood there painting this rapidly; however, with the humidity as it was, the paper took forever to dry. In addition to slow dry times, the light is rapidly changing, as shadows expand and colors are constantly evolving. To me this painting is not very good in addition to being unfinished. Watercolor dries much lighter than when it is wet, enough so that your excitement of the scene diminishes when you look at your art piece later at home.

One of the pluses in painting in plein air is that you must simplify your subject matter and your painting process. As I recall, I enjoyed laying out the drawing that is the basis for this picture. I also like the color of the rocks and ledges, which convey warmth and light through the water. 

Vermont, where I live, is a great place to paint plein air, at least in the summer and fall when there are lots of places that can provide inspiration, such as rivers, fields, foliage and covered bridges.

Before Winter

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This is a local scene here in Vermont. It is walking distance from where I live. I amble through the back woods and climb to an old expanse of corn field belonging to the Brattleboro Retreat. It certainly doesn't feel like late December with such mild weather and soft earth beneath my feet. I cannot stop thinking about the fact that in a couple of days, after a winter storm of one sort or another: freezing rain or snow, it will all look so different.

Earlier this evening I started this little watercolor. I had been meaning to do a picture with an absence of buildings, and this sunny field caught my eye. All the raw earth colors of this time of year, which include the yellow ochers, raw siennas, and umbers, are exposed before they are covered with a deep blanket of snow or swaths of white and gray, creating a patchwork of ice and bare ground across the local landscape.

I appreciate the natural light at this time of year when the sun is low. It is a limited resource, yet it still makes the birds sing and highlights the open spaces.

Coast of Maine

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

I have been thinking about the subject matter for this painting for some time. Originally, I liked the dark, solid foreground balanced against the simple, yet abstract background.   

I intentionally took on several challenges in this picture. First, there is the really dark foliage in the foreground which to date I cannot say I had attempted. Generally speaking, I do not mix or apply darks or even black to the the degree I did here. For the foreground to be this dark often requires the background to be in the light. Yet I tried to get variety in the foreground with the verdant green growth in the front of the picture which is a combination of Payne's gray with gamboge. This combination provides an earthly color alive with moisture and light if you can capture it. However, the clump of evergreen trees in the foreground got away from me as I applied subsequent layers of watercolor. They ended up out of scale, unvaried and mechanical looking.

In addition, I am trying to get better at painting water with it's varying surface characteristics such as: placid, gentle waves, turbulence, whitecaps & reflections. Recently, I have been trying to capture the true color of the water I see, which always seems to be changing with the light. It is another thing to try to mix a comparable color. There is an overall cool feeling provided by the range of blues.

In watercolor you learn something every time you put paint to paper. Sometimes it is the most subtle change in color or how much the paint changes from when it was wet, until it is in a dry state. 

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. 

Bar Island Sand Bar

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

These beautiful warm days with the dry ground are beginning to make me think of summer and yearn to stick my toes in the ocean. Each summer, my wife and I make the annual pilgrimage to the coast of Maine, during the heat of the season in July, to visit family. This watercolor is of a classic summertime experience on Bar Harbor when the tide is coming in as the sun begins to set. People walk into the ankle deep water or more as it pools around them creating all kinds of patterns on the shoreline and reflections in the water.

I tried to capture some of these qualities of swirling water and changing light in this picture. I do like the glow of the young man caused by the sun behind him and the varying cool tones of the water.  The picture does seem to have the colors of summer here in New England. In addition, there is something about a solitaire figure, in motion, focusing on a task against the backdrop of the coast.

Ashuelot Park

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

I like the Ashuelot Park, in Keene, New Hampshire at this time of year. In particular, I enjoy the trail that runs from the park in Keene up towards the Cheshire Hospital. Once the snow melts and mud subsides, it is a lovely walk or bicycle ride on soft ground with the Ashuelot River on one side and wetland areas on the other. Often the sound of the first peepers of the season I find here, along with the new arrivals of birds out in the sunshine. This is the embodiment of spring. 

This watercolor expresses that time of year when we finally have beautiful sun, warm temperatures, and the promise of a new season. This old tree casts interesting shadows in contrast with the undergrowth of thickets on the undulating forest floor. Over time people have carved out little trails along the river's edge while bisecting the forest.

In this painting I really tried to paint the variation of subject matter within the shadow of the tree. Instead of using a dark monotonous shadow, I attempted to suggest the contour of the land, the trail surface, and a bit of temperature in its silhouette.

I usually paddle with a buddy of mine in the Upper Ashuelot Canoe Race, which is typically the first Saturday in May. However, with my arm still undergoing physical therapy, I do not know if I will enter this year.

Hopeful Signs

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This painting I did a couple years back, but it reminds me of this time of year, the time of year when looking at old snow in particular gets old, fast. It seems unusually late to have so much snow around here or at least in Brattleboro. Having said that, I realize it is receding everyday on our property of late. Against the house on the south side we have daylily and iris foliage emerging. 

To me, this painting has a degree of optimism even though it may seem toned down with browns and subdued yellows. It has the light of longer days and increasing temperatures yet to fully arrive.

The old fellow in the van is bundled against the cold and enjoying the hot air blower of his vehicle while having a "driveway moment," as NPR calls it, listening to the radio before venturing out into the chilly gray day once more.

Sunshine and rising temperatures

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

Today, we finally had some sun by mid-day. I took a walk in that good weather with the temperature reaching north of thirty for the first time in a while. I really noticed melting on the roofs and roads of Brattleboro, VT where I live. Neighbors were talking to each other while others were jogging and walking. This little window of suggestion offering the potential of spring I find in the above watercolor. 

The blue in the sky, strong shadows on the snow and walls and the overall brightness of the environment offers great promise. Granted, it is not painted with the mountains of snow we have had lately. I often paint blue sky, but recently have been adding more variety with clouds, subtle color gradations and greater atmospheric affect. There is also a great clarity of forms which are muted in the cloudy overcast weather cycles we have had this winter. I think I got the color of the distant hills in the background and the warm "earth colors" in the shrub and tree silhouettes.

Does this picture make you feel optimistic? It works for me.