HarwichPort Main Street

The rain ended this morning and bright sunshine brought many out.  Harwich is a popular town for visitors on Cape Cod.  A painting of this strip of Main Street is iconic.  It has two very important shops; for adults there is George's Pizza and for kids there is Dr. Gravity's Kite Shop.  George makes a delicious Greek Pizza and is always busy.  This is late morning and he already has customers.  The sun was nearly overhead and cast downward shadows.  The color of a cast shadow is a slightly complementary color to the surface it falls on.  So, the cast shadow that crosses white is blue and the cast shadow falling on red is a greenish red.

Had a lot of people stop and chat. I am amazed at how many paint watercolor.  I suppose painters find their way to the Cape to enjoy that special light and quaintness for painting.

Spring Around the Corner

This is one of my favorite paintings of the plein air week in Winters. I have painted this alley several times before, but always from the street. This time I went up the alley and looked out at the street. The light was perfect. There were three different colors of brick in the wall. The yellow is an old painted sign on the side of the building. The bottom is pink brick. Lots of power lines are winding around poles and buildings. After my success with this alley, I went around and looked at some of the other alleyways in Winters. They are possibilities. I got the brick colors by starting with raw sienna and then adding alizerin crimson over in streaks and while still wet added cobalt blue to the darkest red. The direct glazing technique gets amazing color that just pops. Once it dries, add the shadows to define structure.

Contented Cows

What a wonderful week of weather for plein air painting. I was across the highway from this barn. I originally went to the house on the side but no one but a dog was home. So, rather than stay there with the dog barking, I moved across the road. A couple of years ago, a dog, out of sight, barked as I sketched and got ready to paint. All of a sudden, an angry pit bull came racing at me dragging his chain...never finished the scene. There is always a curious cow that gets a close view of you by standing and staring. As I said, in a previous post, the grass is very, very green do to weeks of rain. I toned it down a bit.
The Winters Plein Air Festival ends today with a gallery show. Winters is buzzing today with tents set up for wine tasters and the usual breakfasters. The week always ends with a 'quick draw' in which you start and finish a painting between 9AM and noon. Part of the allure of plein air painting is listening to all the sounds, talk and enjoying the aromas from big breakfasts. Winters is the place for breakfast.