Hoosick River, Buskirk Bridge, Stage Rd., Day 2

43  F  Sunny, felt warmer.

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Here is yesterday's painting today, it's just before 1:00, the sun is high, and there are no clouds.

The sky and general mood of the light was really different.

Here is the scene @ 1:00.

This is after about 1/2 hour or so, I had to change the color of the sky, and a bunch of other things,  I forgot my pallet knife.

This is at about 2:30or so. I know it needs a bit of tweaking, but it's not too bad...

This is my spot,  It was close to a house with a few carpenter's working with a loud radio. Although I didn't actually see anybody, I didn't mind having "work" music on.

Paint a barn then the roof need fixing. Half way across a bridge.

53  F  Partly sunny
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Here is where the English Rd. Painting ended up.  I did some work on it here, and I don't think I ruined it, but I don't know where to put it either.

This is where the McCormack Rd. farm scene ended up.  I worked on the milk house roof, but it still didn't end up as flat as it should have.

I got it in my head to come to Buskirk when I left to paint today, The sun came out once in a while.

First block in.

This is after about 1 1/2 hours, a good start, we'll see about tomorrow.

My spot was on stage Rd. where there is no room to park, so I parked a few hundred yards and hiked over to this spot. Plenty of room,  I'll be back tomorrow!

On the Farm, Clouds, cows and......

50   F   Cloudy, Windy,

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Here is where I ended up today

Here is my scene, not bad eh?

First few minutes, it's amazing how much happens in the first basic things.

By the time I was leaving the sun had come out and was shining on the canvas, not a deal breaker, but I think I'll try and fix a few things here.....

Picture perfect, at least for a minute: English Rd. day 2.

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51  F  clouds with some sun!

This was taken @ about 3:45 after another 1 1/2 hours or so.  I had written off coming back today because there were clouds predicted all day, so at 1:00 the sun came out and there were these big clouds in between I wrapped up what I was doing and headed out.

My scene had come back!  but just for a few precious minutes, throughout this session the sun and clouds alternatively lit and shaded different parts of the landscape, but I had the toe hold, and the shadows were across the road not toward me.

English Road, it a real farm road, dirt not much traffic.

The Painting was 1/2 dry, so some of the texture was still there, (even though I tried to flatten it out Sunday night).  I also could have used a bit of damar to get the colors back, it's a weird animal to work on such an inconsistent surface.  I'm thinking I'll work on this here a bit more. The clouds are super weird.

Blinded by the light: perplexed by the shadows, English Rd, Cambridge, NY.

56  F  Big clouds, with some sun.

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Here I am @ 5:30 or so tonight,  The sun was setting right in front of me!

Here is the scene @ 3:30. Notice where the shadows of the trees are, the sun is actually above the huge cloud that dominates the sky in my picture.

The first block in, I couldn't resist using two different darks, and I slathered them on with my pallet knife.

I swear the cloud was that dark, also slathered on with the knife.

About 1 hour into it, I've got most of the canvas covered, I've used the knife for most of it and made myself put it down (I really don't like the texture of the knife)

The sun is getting lower and lower, so there's not much I can do about it.

I put in the shadow last and well, would you look at that!  (the sun wasn't  there to cast the shadow!

With the sun blocked, here is where the shadows are and the light is on the landscape.

Here is the reality. Maybe it's better, maybe not, but it's definitely   a different painting.

Hudson River @ Stillwater

64  F  a bit of overcast.
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This is what I brought back from today's paint. I went in the morning and had to deliver another painting to the Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, I stopped to check out lock (#5?), and it was worth it.

Here was the scene when I started, I'ts apparent that I need to travel with the back-pack ready to go, even though this spot is just 100 yards in, Painting off the back of the truck is definitely a Washington County  thing.

The first two colors.

Just about covered, the dreaded crimson tone.

I had about an hour, so the 8x10, really not enough time, ant it's too far to bring it back.  The scene had changed quite a bit, the morning shadow was gone and the darks had lightened too.

View from my painting spot looking at the lock.

The lock from the parking lot, my spot was on the other side of the canal.

The kill @ the ville, Day 2 & The creek up the street.

61 F mostly overcast.
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I ran up to my spot today, getting there @ 1:00 but the sun I had seen at noon, in the village was way overcast. Here is where I started.

Here is what my scene looked like when I got there, completely different than yesterday, So I decided to wing it.One thing about painting this was that when you look at the bridge, the foliage looks a certain way, like wise the near trees and the same with the far hills, so sometimes you have to paint one element like you're looking at another element, and see what happens.

Here it is at the end of the session today, about an hour's painting. I had to try and remember what was happening with the light, but at least I had the scene to reference. I could have done it yesterday, or at home...

Here's the bridge.














At 5:00  55  F, with  the sun ready to set.

This is right up the street, I could have walked  It's the same creek that flows through my backyard, I could have painted here. I liked the reflection off the water, the light on the field in the background and the back lit overgrowth.

This is after I just got the panel covered, I didn't have much time, so I mixed just about all the colors with the pallet knife and threw them on before they were ready.

Here is the scene. Why do this?

Here is where I ended up.  The light on the scene keeps shifting, as does the reflection on the panel itself, squirmy thing this light!

Hard to organize a painting like this.

This is Coila Rd. the bridge was just closed and I thought I'd get to paint on top of the creek, but the light wasn't there.

Solid or not, Battenkill @ Battenville;Day 1

67  F  sunny and beautiful!!!
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When I went out today I wanted it all.  The day was (and is!) absolutely gorgeous! Clear skies, sunlight illuminating yellow leaves, nice dark shadows, I could go out my back door for that, but I wanted something else, a man-made item and a river.

This is a fishing spot, and I've seen lots of people fishing here. I used the complete hike in kit. I wanted to find a spot  opposite the sun. This scene poses some difficulties, looking through the trestle, the autumnal foliage and branches to see the far hills and sky, make layers and veils of stuff!

Here is the first block in. The steel bridge poses some difficulty, I wanted to get the drawing of it right at the start, but allow myself lee way to back fill around it.

Here it is after about an hour or so, I have most of the panel covered and just about everything is in play. I'm afraid the grey of the far hill is a bit flat, but overall I like the composition.

Here is where I ended up @ 2:00 after 2 hours, the light was beginning to hit the far hill and make everything crazy, so I stopped here. This pic is washed out, but I defiantly need to go into this some more.

Ollie came today, and it took him a while to settle down.

Here is my spot, it's a bit tricky to find a place for the easel and my stool, but I can't stand and work here so it's very awkward, I'm always wondering if I'll slide into the river, or loose the panel!

This is my pallet, I've settled into my colors and feel good about them. I'm using phalo blue which is very strong, but worls well in the sky (when properly moderated)  One of my reds is burnt sienna, and mixed with ultramarine blue make a real workable black.