Rain on Peak’s Island

 

Summer activities and work kept me from a blog post last weekend, but that’s okay. I was able to get some sketching done this Independence Day. I went with the girlfriend up to Peak’s Island off the coast of Portland, Maine. It was a quirky and interesting place. People were riding around in patriotic themed golf carts and we saw a woman walking her pet macaw. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the time we were there, so I was only able to do a quick watercolor. I chose a coastal scene of a lighthouse island and then got to work.

 

I split my 9″x12″ paper in half and did a one minute preliminary sketch. Then I slapped some quick color on it. All in all, it turned out pretty decent. I was unhappy with it at first, but looking at it now I appreciate the looseness. I just wish I could’ve defined the lighthouse in the background a little more.

Jigger Johnson Campground, Arethusa Falls, and Franconia Falls

This weekend I went camping with my girlfriend and some friends up in the White Mountains. We went up Saturday, set up camp at Jigger Johnson Campground right off the Kancamagus, and hiked Arethusa Falls in the afternoon. It was a cool hike, though I was slightly disappointed by the adjoining Frankenstein Cliffs trail. The view at the end was just about average. Sunday we packed up and on our way out of the areas we hit up the Lincoln Woods trail. It was a nice flat trail that used to be tracks for trains. A couple miles down and it joins up with the Franconia Falls trail, which leads to some awesome waterfalls and swimming holes. It was there that I managed to squeeze in a watercolor.

 

I only spent about an hour on this sketch, but I felt so confident through the entire process. The process is beginning to feel quite natural. But although I’m enjoying watercolors, I really can’t wait to get back to oils.

 

Also, I took my early birthday present along and caught some footage of the trip!

My parents decided to spoil me and give me a GoPro. I’m beyond happy.

Odiorne Point

I’ve been going to Odiorne State Park since grade school. With its science center and tide pools the park is perfect for educational purposes. It is also great for unplanned day trips. Which is how my girlfriend and I found ourselves at the park last weekend. We woke up, saw it was nice out, grabbed our watercolors, and headed off to the coast.

There are things I like about this painting. The ocean, the black rocks, and my girlfriend’s shirt. But there are plenty of things I’m unhappy with. Chief of them being my execution of the bench and its shadows. Something went wrong there. I also don’t particularly like the saturated green bush in the middle. But for a two hour, 9″x12″ painting, it’s all right.

Umbrellas at Daytona

 

Friday was my last day in Florida and we spent the majority of it at Daytona Beach. It was a decent beach, but I won’t be making it a go to destination next time I’m in the area. The sand was rather hard and parts of the main strip were rather sketchy. Still, it was a fun day and I managed to get a 9″x12″ painting out of it. So I’m happy.

 

When I first sat down to start the underlying ink sketch the frontmost two umbrellas were not there. As I worked, more people showed up and changed the composition. And my painting benefited from it. I feel like I achieved a nice layering effect with the umbrellas that gives the painting more depth.

I’m definitely becoming more comfortable with using more saturated color. I no longer start too light and have to paint over a section several times.

Finally, I have the sad news that I accidentally left last week’s sketch in Florida. Hopefully the cleaning ladies like it.

On the Way to Orlando

Spending this week at Disney World! So because I won’t have a lot of time to do any art, I did some watercoloring on the plane.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to do some sketches in the evenings. But I think that might be a little unlikely. Woo Disney!!

Coos Canyon Bridge

 

This Memorial Day weekend I went camping up near Weld, Maine with my girlfriend, her brother, and her sister. We stayed at Mount Blue State Park and were able to hike both Blueberry Mountain and Tumbledown Mountain. I did a little watercoloring at the top of Blueberry, but rain forced us to pack up and head back down. Luckily, we found our way over to Coos Canyon in Byron, Maine and I was able to set up in the gorge and get some painting done. I got about two hours into it and the rain forced me out again. I eventually finished the sketch by using a photo reference.

 

I worked about 2 hours in the canyon, and 7 hours by reference at home. Despite  only being a 9″x12″ sheet, I found myself getting lost in the painting. Watercolors are very different than oils. I made quite a few mistakes, but I learned a lot.

Watercolors in the Sun

I haven’t used watercolors since my summer in Italy. God. That was two years ago. So I haven’t used watercolors in a long time. And before then I’d never even used them. What I’m getting at is that I’m very inexperienced with the medium. But today as I was sunning by the pool with my girlfriend I got inspired to give them a try.

I spent about three hours on the sketch and I feel like that’s about as far as I could take it. I realized I’d made quite a few mistakes at the start of the painting and those mistakes eventually turned into problems in the later stages. Still, it was fun. I will definitely be using watercolors more often now.

The painting is 12″x16″, but I measured in two inches from every side in order to give myself some breathing room.

 

My girlfriend took a picture of me while I was painting. I don’t own any sunglasses for some reason, so I wound up borrowing some from my mom and they made my face look small and childish. I swear I’m almost 23.

Morning at the Crane Estate

Several weeks ago I went to Ipswich, Massachusetts with my girlfriend and visited The Crane Estate. I was overwhelmed by its beauty and spent most of the time with my mouth open. The building! The grounds! The view! It is all picturesque. They even have a John Singer Sargent sketch. So when we were leaving and I spotted a fellow artist painting away, it was then that I knew I had to get my easel and go back for some plein air action.

This morning I made the trek back down from New Hampshire to Ipswich, this time with my parents. They had never been down before and wanted to go on a tour of the estate. It was a quick ride and I was able to set up my easel around 10:30.

I was originally going to paint the guest house, but I made a split-second decision and decided to paint the old rose gardens. Because the exit road wound past the gardens, I had to squeeze myself onto a narrow patch of grass. Looking left from the easel and down the hill, I got a pretty decent aerial perspective of the garden. So I gave the painting a shot.

The gardens had fallen into disrepair and resembled an ancient Roman structure of some sort. The columns once supported trellis but are now broken and crumbling. The slow decay of man-made structures was a great contrast with the gorgeous greenery.

Overall, the painting took a little under three hours. It felt good to transition back to a more Impressionistic style. The day was a success in my book.