Wychmere

Plenty of rain is continuing so I am indoors looking for something to paint. Found this sketch that I have painted many times over the years. There is no order to my collections of sketches, so I can spend hours looking for something I remember doing. It is the excitement of discovery. I painted from this sketch with an emphasis on values. It is a morning scene and the little harbor is not filled with its usual hundreds of boats. I was not as concerned with color as with contrast in value. As a result, I was never sure of when I was finished. I could always find something to alter, but stopped after a couple of changes.

Birds Over Wychmere

After all the cold plein air days I stayed inside this past week and painted a scene from memory.  Wychmere is a very picturesque harbor in HarwichPort on Cape Cod.  It is now a very private and privileged place to live.  It wasn't always.  When I was young this building was Thompson's Clam Bar and was an extremely popular place to dine.  I remember eating there on the deck with all of the windows opened to the harbor.  If you weren't quick, a gull would suddenly fly in make off with your fried clam or French fry.  The Clam Bar is now gone. The building is a private eating place and site for weddings.  So, the gulls are off to find a new dining spot.

Wychmere Boats

Yesterday was a beautiful day for painting. I was on the commercial dock in Harwich Port painting this scene and had plenty of company. A lot of people make the wrong turn and want directions. The boats are tied to each other and the largest was a wooden yawl with great lines. When I was in college I used to sail a 34ft yawl along the New England coast. I knew very little about navigation but was ok as long as I could see the shore and read my maps. There were some surprises with fog. Cape Cod is pretty safe for sailing with little experience because it is all sand bars. Maine is a different story. Our yawl was also wooden but always in great shape. Lots of stories from those days.

All Small Boats

I painted this on location. It was a beautiful morning on the town dock. Lots of activity but I chose to put only the closest house with 3 of its many boats in my composition. Nature needs rearrangements. Someone asked if I would accept a commission to paint their house. I told them that they may not recognize it when I am finished. When I am in the zone painting, a lot of things can change, even from my preliminary sketch.

Wychmere Harbor from the Inside

I have painted this harbor many times but always from the highway. This view is from the lookout at Snow Inn Rd toward the highway. It is an interesting perspective looking down on something. Your horizon line rises above the midline and leaves a lot of water to cover. There are still many boats in the harbor but I chose only a few and because it was mean low-tide put the red sail boat practically on the beach. There were lots of clouds on an overcast day.
I will do more from this perspective. It appears to me that looking up at something or looking down gives a more dynamic composition.

Wychmere Harbor, Harwich Port

Was home today instead of with my painting group at Sausalito. It seems that the Bay Bridge was closed and I was told to expect big traffic shunting over to the Golden Gate, so I decided not to fight it. Did some sketching of scenes from summertime and went on and painted this imagined Wychmere scene. Had a good feeling about it with the reflections.