From the freezer to the microwave & still half baked.

Sunny, hazy and hot!  95 F

This is on Carney-Cassidy  Rd., looking at Maxwell Rd. It's just about noon on Tuesday this week.  I had wanted to re-visit Maxwell Rd. but the view was wrong, so I swung around the valley and caught a view looking east. It wasn't quite as hot as today, and the sky was clearer and everything was more crisp.

Here it is after about 1/2 hr. I liked the streak of blue sky, and how it related to the other shapes. this stretch of road was real quiet, maybe one car passed.

Here it is after about 2 hrs. I knew I had a lot more to do and the sun was really starting to move around, and I was getting hot.

Here is a trick I learned from Stapleton Kearns, who has the most awesome blog,  I was going to link it but oh well, you can google him and find it that way. This is the "bargain shoppers" way to get rid of the nasty day old 1/2 dried texture that you don't want when you go back out to work again. It's a good idea and it works!

Here is how I save my pallet for a later date, It's crude, cheap, down and dirty, thank you.

It was hot today, 95.  Last summer I would try to find places that I could be in the shade, and that's good, but it takes that much longer to find just the right spot. Today was also a lot hazier than Tuesday, but I got some nice clouds on top of the haze, so I went over the sky.

Here is where I ended up today, and it's probably finished. I'm not sure if I like the foreground, but I'm also not sure how to fix it. I "went over" the whole thing, by adding color and mixing it into the still wet paint,

I was determined to start another painting, and wanted something near water, so here I am at Owlkill creek.  This is also large (for me, now) @ 16 x 20.  I planted myself right on the road, next to the bridge, and there's a fair amount of traffic. ( 7 or so cars).

 I did one last month 30' off the road, I was feeling that lazy! This picture has it all, water, subject bush, middle ground field, and far hills!

Here it is after maybe 45 minutes, having it back in the shop I can think about it, and hopefully get it back out there and really paint. I'm gearing up for two things, 1st, Finger Lakes Painting competition, starting next Wednesday and 2nd my show opening the 14th. Wow.

Lost, found and lost again, Sun, rain, parties; recovered?

The weekend started out really cold and rainy, it was Emma's 14th birthday, so we went to the cabin and had a whole festival of fun, kids and parents alike. by Sunday afternoon the clouds were starting to lighten up and it seemed like the rain had actually stopped!

This is north-west of the cabin (on 6th Lake), I am essentially on "6th Lake Rd." (not much traffic).

In the Adirondacks there are some huge vistas, if you can get to a clearing big enough to see it. There are so many intimate places also, this creek is one of them.

This little place is so visually rich in detail, I was totally lost in trying to organize it. this is the first 45 minutes or so.

 The sound is probably more important.

The light was pretty consistent for the stretch of time I was there, sorry about the glare.

It's kinda a bit nuts!









Monday just before noon, there was sun on the dock,

To begin with there were some nice contrasts, but I had this gnawing feeing my drawing and perspective weren't quite there, I's also tiny @ 5 x 7.

The sun was moving around, so I had to move my panel.

It's difficult to work this small, your eye wants to see more, it doesn't want to crop too small, but it's kinda slimy to get a hold of where you are.






Next up:  Later on Monday,  May, 27

This is Hess pond, otherwise known as the beaver pond, a short walk from the cabin, (the source of the brook  I painted the day before). I painted here a bunch last summer, why not?

This is the start, about 1/2 hr. or so.

This is where it ended up at the end of the session. I had a hard time getting the darks dark and the lights light.

I think this is what happens when I'm set up in a very dark spot, and it's otherwise blindingly bright everywhere else, You just can't see the paint!

I do like the feel and the texture overall, and I think the variety of greens is nice. but it falls short on shadow.

How I make panels

This is a must, I make these panels frequently, they have evolved, I now do what John Carlson suggested in his book on painting. It's a good read, and maybe time to re-read.

Here is a stack of "tempered hardboard" or the stuff formerly known as Masonite cut to size, tablesaw helps, I also have cotton fabric cut and ready. Sand the edges just a bit.  The smaller boards, up to 12"x 16" I use 1/8th" for the larger size, 16"x 20" I got 1/4". This is my current largest size and first time using 1/4" stock, I think if I go much bigger I'll start to stretch it.

I'm spreading white glue on the smooth side. I actually enjoy making these panels, I can work on them at night and when it's raining, and the material cost is super cheap!  I also like the product, and having total control of every detail.

Carefully lay on the canvas, try and get it centered, then press and smooth it down from the center out until all bubbles and wrinkles are out. If you find something trapped between layers lift up on that side or corner take it out and lay the canvas back down.. You want the canvas as smooth as possible.

Turn it over and paint glue around the edge,making sure you have glue on the edge. Fold the canvas over, I cut the corners a bit and add a bit more glue.

A nice fat X on the back in an attempt to keep it flat, like that's a good thing, fold over and smooth out, always double check.

Here it is ready to dry,  Later I will prime with oil-based primer (not pictured) two coats, sanding in between. I was using rabbit skin glue and might try that again with these panels, we'll see.

These panels are from a previous batch, ground color applied, dried and ready to go!  I always want this color to be dry so it doesn't bleed into my painting.

Hoosick River @ Buskirk, 2 Days: shadow dreams

Sunny with some clouds, 75 F

Here it is at the end of the painting session today, I had started mid-day yesterday, and got a perfect match in the weather today.

I found this spot along River Rd. I had painted in this area before, but not this exact scene, (I was able to work right from the back of the truck).  Notice the shadowed far hill, with the sunny foot hill.  I grabbed the camera when It was like this so you'd beleive me, because the clouds moved alot while I was painting.

This is into it about 1hr. getting the panel covered is the first hurdle to jump.  All the colors (and values) are so relative within the painting that I feel pretty lost until this is done, adjustments are better made after you have something to just.  Notice I haven't put in the trees on the bank.

 This is where I left off yesterday,  When I decided on this spot I knew I'd have to play up the reflection in the water, otherwise my composition would be too horizontal, I also lead the bank up a bit on the left, for the same reason.

This is where I ended up today,  My pallet remained  ready to go this morning, which is a big help, I may play with it a bit more here at home.

This is Buskirk's Bridge, this view of it is just too straight on for me.

I did this in January of this year, from a spot just up the river.

Greene Rd. day 2 or what a difference a year makes

Warm and sunny 75 F

I'm continually surprised by how different things look in a photo than they do in real life. I swear I got the angle of the barn (the east gable side) correctly drawn, until I saw it in this picture, I still don't know what happened.

This is how it looked at about 12:30, when I finished (at least for the day)  I had trouble with veridian, I just couldn't control it at all, even with white and cadmium yellow  to temper it, I just might remove it from the pallet, we'll see. This photo is a bit washed out, but the color at home is almost electric.

Here is what it looked like when I started this A.M.  I was here yesterday about the same time, it was very cloudy, and the colors reflected that, there was also a lot less contrast, and no cast shadows.

I painted here last year too, wow!

This is the painting from last may,  it's #2 from when my great re-boot occurred, so I think I've made huge progress this last year, indeed what a year!

Brownell Corners Rd. Days 1&2

 Sunny and warm, day 1  sunny with clouds, cool, day2

I went down this road last friday (the day of my closing @ SAW) thinking I'd like the do the creek, looking north, like I had done this winter, but the sun was way south, and not even west at all.  I found this, clear and crisp, with the perfect tree.

 I started with a dark purpley ground, and think it was too cool but it worked out ok.  This was about 45 minutes into it, and I was getting different readings on the mid ground and back ground, there were a few clouds, so when one passed over the distant hill, while the sun stayed up the mid ground it was perfect. I changed the distant hills to a dark.

This was how it looked @ 2:30 friday

This is where it it got to @ 1:30 today.  It was much cooler, and there were way more clouds, (I forgot my camera, so I took this @ home)  I had been concerned about the tree,  I hadn't given it enough room and let it go over the edge. I don't know how these disconnects happen, I'm glad it wasn't a hand grenade.  This still needs work, especially the tree, but I think I'd like to go back with a larger canvas and re-composition it so the tree is really in the picture, that is another painting.

This is looking east, and is also another painting.

S.A..W. closing reception tomorrow night! & Old Camb. Rd. day 2

Tomorrow night is my closing reception from 5-7 PM, at the Cary House Gallery, Cary Ln. Salem, NY, If your reading this and can come, I'd love to see you tomorrow eve,  it should be a good time.

Yesterday @ Old Cambridge Rd. in Greenwich NY:

75 +/-F  cloudy and gusty winds

  I had some light yesterday AM, so I thought I'd go out before the rain came.  The biggest problem was the road, so I darkened it, generally the lightest area should be the sky, and the road, well, I used the same color as the sky maybe with a touch more of my "dark-o-the-day" paint, (saved from the previous day)  I made darker versions of the bluish and orangeish road colors and used them, I also noticed that the road curved a bit so I fixed that. Otherwise, I worked on the middle ground, putting some more detail in (that I hadn't gotten to on tuesday). I'm still trying to figure out how to do trunks and branches, argh...

The gusts of wind were ridiculous, I had to hang on the the easel, practically the whole time.  I also wish I had time to lighten the distant hills.

"Paint what you know".

84 F  sunny

This is a favorite spot, and area, but the view is different, still it contained road foreground, fields, middle ground and hills background, a favorite general arrangement.   I had in my head "paint what you know" when I set out so I did.

Need I say more?  I'm looking south-west,  It's noon, really bright, but I'm getting some darks out of the shadows, especially the pines. The cows weren't there when I started.

This is my start, I wanted to establish the mid-range hills to be the darkest, the mid-range fields, to be 2nd, the far hills, 3rd, the road, 4th and the sky the lightest.  I got this, basically, but the mid-range hills had some light areas, the far hills ended up too dark, and the road too light.

I hadn't put the large pine in yet, I did later, putting it to the right of where it was, I just thought it made a better picture, not blocking the smaller if the two far hills.

The painting is not done, but I was really happy with the way my pallet worked today, I got the initial dark-of-darks, mixed right, and that made all the difference!  I use this to mix MOST, not all colors down, so it gets into everything.  I also realized that the road needs some thought, I did mix two colors, both the same (or pretty close) in value, but one bluish, and the other orangeish.

  OK here is Eagleville, with the tree removed, I also changed the rocks in the foreground, and fine-tuned around the shore-line in the middle distance. I'm still not happy with the color but I think It came out better than I might have.  The softness of  the mid-ground woods is kinda what I wanted, but the water slipped through my fingers, (sorry I couldn't help myself)