North Davis Pond

I go by this location every day. This morning at 6:AM a full moon was up casting its light across the pond. It would have been a great scene to paint but I jogged by. Later, this morning, I was back out there painting with my plein air group. We painted many different views of the pond. It was a nice warm sunny day and I had my new umbrella to keep my easel in the shade. I did this in a loose, quick fashion. I experimented with a number of made up greens. The important thing is to keep the palate clean and keep making them. I also do much of my mixing on the paper.

Blue Car

More indoor painting as our temperature stays cold.  Just thinking about summer and Cape Cod warms me up.  This scene is a complete head shot as I remember Main Street in Harwich Port on Cape Cod.  There always seem to be people cruising up and down between the Kite Shop and George's Pizza.  I have done paintings of both these places many times.  This painting was done with a lot of thought about color.  Wherever possible, I put in complementary colors to create conflict.  I purposely put in many figures to enliven the scene.  My light source is 3/4 Right and I imagined the cast shadows.  All in all, it was an afternoon of fun.

Amalfi Dreams

A year ago I was on the Amalfi coast of Italy. It was a busy place trying to tour the different towns.  Crowds were everywhere especially, on the buses that leave you standing.   I came across my sketch book from that trip and decided to try putting together an imaginary scene from those sketches.  The steep walls with roads and tunnels dwarf all of the boats below.  It is an awesome place.  I would love to return and just set up and paint.

WELCOME

I have not blogged for the past month. Lots of travels, some computer glitches and other priorities. I have been painting and they have accumulated so I will post some this month. I'm on my Davis patch on the west coast. There is quite the contrast with life on Cape Cod. The tempo here is much more upbeat with students buzzing around and keeping the downtown busy. It feels energizing compared with the slow shuffle of the Cape. Both places work for me but I do like to be warm, so this is right for me now.