Happy Halloween!

35  F  clear.

It was just over 20 F, and sunny when I woke up this A.M. I got out and it had warmed up nicely, with sunshine and no wind.

#650  County Rte. 62

10-31-15

12x16

The silhouette of the barn against the sky was the first most different thing, so that's why it happens first.

 The road and foreground are pretty light, maybe just a little darker than the sky.

With the sun still low, the side of the barn was very dark, I wanted to emphasize that, even though the rising sun would lighten and give color to it.

 Details can be vexing, some are necessary, others are extraneous, discovering that is it.

The blackness of this barn struck me as it's size and shape, (I'm a little far back)  Many years ago, as a general carpenter I worked on this building.

Sight-size shot.

My pallet.





Halloween came and went with the usual parade of costumes, kids, candy, etc.....it was good that I walked around with all that candy in me.

Downtown!

45  F  mostly sunny.

I ended up here, at the passenger station in Cambridge.

#649  Rail Station Cambridge, NY.

10-30-15

14x16

I've been feeling like I've neglected my own little village, there are plenty of good scenes, and I could have walked (I didn't).

When I started the foreground was bright green, a condition that changed rapidly.

There was a lot to love about the light on the grass and buildings. Defining that light seemed to be the third most important thing to get.

The large shadow of the old hotel encroached on the foreground in a big way, so I put it in.

By the time I got a start on changing the foreground, it changed again, but there it was and I had to fake it in, trying to remember what it looked like, just a few minutes before.

The "Money Shot"

Sometimes the farmer's market is here but there hasn't been passenger service for a long time, otherwise very quiet.  I had one visitor, she said hi and told me she followed this blog! I'm always happy to have a visit, so if you see me out there stop and say Hi!

Over my head, literally and metaphorically.

51 F, light wispy clouds.

I went out in the morning, and found a great scene that included a whole bunch of power lines with birds sitting on them, but the foreground was way over my head.

#648 Oak Hill Rd.

10-27-15

12x16

There wasn't a lot of contrasts or color for that matter, but there was a great composition with diagonal lines.

The first few shapes say the most.

The light changed, but not by much at this time of day.

Sight-size shot.



I couldn't get a grip on the foreground.

Money Shot.

My spot.

After I set up, I looked this way and thought this would be good too

Here are some photos of my roof project.

This was the end of the day yesterday, I've lucked out on the weather.

Roof!

Sunset, and roofing.

51 F  mostly cloudy.

I've been roofing, actually tearing off an old roof, the new one starts going on tomorrow.  I've been tired and sore: no paint.  I went out today and the light was delicious, fast, and delicious.

Here is the scene close to the start, the clouds would block all the sun every few minutes.

20 minutes later.....

15 minutes after that, not only is the area of light reduced, but the light is warmer, and the shadows cooler.

Here is what I did.

This is close, I started trying to chase the rabbit, and that just makes a mess!

The Money Shot.

#647 Carney-Cassidy Rd.

10-25-15

9x12

 There is still some color around, a lot really, but tomorrow I'll be putting on a roof, and we need a roof (it's over my gallery/storeage area), but maybe I can steal out for a paint, we'll see.

Turnpike Rd. with a little history.

55 F  clearing at sunset.

It was cloudy all day, by the mid afternoon a little sun peaked through the clouds, so I thought I'd venture out.  It took me a long time to find this, at that time there was all cloud cover.

#646 Turnpike Rd.

10-20-15

7x10

This was the scene at the start.

This is the scene in the middle.

Much of the work is done before I put any paint down, That is to say I do a lot of looking, and finding my composition in the world. By the time I get this far, The biggest and most important things in the painting are there.

The subtle greys, greens and oranges were elusive, they kept changing on me!

Sight-size shot.

Money Shot.

Turnpike Rd. is a fast moving and a little busy this time of day, but I wanted the corn fields, and when the light hit that corn, it rewarded me.

I was in front of this place, which as you can see has a lot of history to it, the house had burned down decades ago, but the place is still historically significant in the battle of Bennington, which was fought a few miles to the South East, and was significant in the lead up to the surrender of the British forces in Saratoga a few months later.

McCart Rd.,with friends,yesterday.

47  F  some wispy clouds.

This is a quiet composition, the road, the far hill, the telephone pole.

#645 McCart Rd.

10-19-15

11x14

My scene.

I'm starting on a pretty dark tone.

The colors are very muted, but the green of the foreground field wasn't, there were also touches of very bright light yellows on a few trees.

There are almost always bright highlight bouncing off things like grass, or the road, even if they're small.

Sight-size shot.

Money Shot.


A nice quiet spot, I had a visitor; Thomas E. Moses, a painter and the great-grandchild of Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka: Grandma Moses, who painted in these same hills not that long ago. Here is an interesting article about his work:  http://www.benningtonbanner.com/artsweekend/ci_8311604

At the same time, a fellow painter and friend, Stella Erlich, was painting just a few hundred yards down the road, she's an awesome person and painter and her web site is here:http://stellaehrich.com/.