A ship and a silo, one abandoned, one back-lit.

Today  63  F  mostly sunny, with a bit of wind.

This is the silo, it's on McCart Rd. in White Creek,  NY.  I painted this scene last year maybe it was October (before I started this blog).  The atmosphere is amazing this time of year, it's low humidity and bright sun, it's got amazing contrasts.

Here is the scene,  I liked the far hills in the area beyond the road and mid-range hills on the left, and of course the back-lit silo.

Here is the very start.   It takes a bit of effort to figure out where I am and what I'm doing, I line the panel up next to the scene, and measure with a brush handle, and there's lots of squinting.  Once I find the "scene"  I position myself so I'm looking from the exact same spot, generalize the shapes and find the very darkest elements, that's what this represents, its a lot for a few black smudges, but the're important smudges.

I try to get the canvas covered as soon as reasonably possible, because all the colors live in relation to each other I dont' even try to make each one perfect at first (as close as possible).

I started this around 1:15 and had to get going about 2:45, I felt like I left it way too unfinished (when don't I ?)  This is also a site that seems to improve during this time of day, in contrasts, shadows and brightness.  I really liked the dark/light just above the road and in the reflections off the barn roofs.

Awesome spot, handy to have a lot of these now, I can leave the house and be set up in 1/2 hr. (time is money)













Yesterday, 75  F  sunny Perfect!

I had to go to Ft. Edward, NY, (not far from Rodger's Island) yesterday, and I couldn't let this day go by and drive by the canal lock in Ft. Edward, so I stopped and found this totally cool perch just north of the lock, maybe it's some kind of dock?  anyway I didn't have much time, so I broke my first rule, and that was to set up looking north.  There was a tree so I was in the shade at first, then The light hit my canvas and!

Boom! the glare was crazy, I abandoned ship. too bad, I was onto something,  I'll need to get a shade umbrella, because there are too many views I'm missing out on.