Meetinghouse Rd. in snow, sun, clouds, wind, all at the same time!

24  F  Some sun, some clouds, some wind, some calm, some snow too!

Today's sight-size shot.

#457 Meetinghouse Rd. White Creek.

8 x 10  on prepared paper

The sky was interesting today  a decent amount of sun, so I went out and found this scene, how quickly things changed!

I started just dealing with what I had in front of me, lost of clouds!

The lightness was blueish grey, but I kept veering off, first toward green, then purple, I think I got it reasonably close.....

After the snow shower the sky started to clear, so I scrapped back the sky, and ended  up here. I was painting for about an hour.  When the wind kicked up it got me cold, luckily it was calm most of the time.

This is near the end of my session, the sun was on me and my painting for part of the time too.

The "Money Shot" for today, with the scene changing so quickly and divergently, all bets were off.

My pallet, yes that is snow, and yes it got mixed in with the paint, but no it doesn't matter!!!!

This was taken just before I left, as you can see, there is sun, clouds and snow all at the same time!



Happy New Year to all, may 2015 be the year to beat all years!

On the road again: Old Cambridge road, that is!

25   F  clear and sunny!

I'm way behind in making panels (tonight for sure), so I'm using prepared canvas taped to a board, and I didn't like the surface, but I ended up liking the result (and it didn't seem to matter in the end.

#456  Old Cambridge Rd.

9 x 12

The not tight quality of the canvas and the smoothness of it was a problem at the start, but by the time I got the thing covered it flattened out.

You can see how weird the structure of this composition is, but it's a good weird.

I love all the soft greys, where the tree branches fell more like smoke.

There were cows and I did put them in, it's kinda like "find wally"

The temperature got to the mid twenties and that's good, I was out there for about 1 &1/2hrs. and finished before I got cold.  The sun was out and the light stayed consistant, what could be better?

This is where I ended up, can you find the cow?

The scene, I came over here, there are lots of nice rolling hills, but I found a road and a farm.

Sight-size shot, I don't like the blue tape, nor the oversized board, they're distracting.

The day held ethereal colors and strong shadows, I didn't even have to think about it, who need too much thinking?

 My pallet, this is for you, Chani, it's three days' painting, maybe time to scrape it clean?

Today: rushing dam water!

35  F  some sun, some clouds.

The Money shot from today:

#455  Hoosic River @ Johnsonville.

9 x 12

The tone is too warm, I had this left over from Germany, and I'm out of panels.

The building is an electric generating plant.

Middle tones......

At this point everything is in play, but the feel of the structure is dogging me, I need it to contrast with the water, but how?

I've been down here before, when I went down today the water was roaring! I couldn't pass it up.

This is where I ended up, not a great photo.....

Here's the scene, what you don't see is the sound, the water was roaring!

How I painted it...

Today's office, the plant dead ends the road, I saw only one person.

I parked across the road, but I don't think it mattered.

The road starts to the north of this bridge and the dam is about 1/4 mile up. I've painted here a number of times.

Back on the Farm: Birch Rd.

40  F  Mostly cloudy & WINDY!

It's been a week since my last paint, so many distractions so much cloud cover, but I was back from Christmas and the there was a little thinning of the clouds, I found this scene.

#454  Birch Rd.

14 x 16

When I saw the rushing stream with the silos in the back, (a few unresponsive cows) I had to stop.

Warm lights.

This kind of scene is challenging because when you look at the reflection off the water, the ground around it looks very dark, when you look at the ground and not the water, it looks lighter and greener. This is the best illustration of how looking with your own eyes is far different that looking at a photograph.

There were a lot of weird things going on, the shape of the opposite side of the creek was dramatic, maybe too much.

The wind was kicking up and whoosh the easel went over!

This is where I stopped, after about 1 1/2 hrs.  The wind had died down and I was able to fiish. The light was moving lower and the contrast between the reflection and everything else was increasing, I liked that.

This is the scene at the end.

Sight-size shot.

This has been my least productive month in a long time,  I'm resolved not to panic, everything ebbs and flows, and a short break can help gain just a little perspective. None the less it was great to be back out there painting, the clouds and the wind, just  nuisances.

Finished November Paintings

Another cloudy day.

#433 Duel Hollow Rd.

11-11-14

 8 x 10


These are not in chronological order.and they are yet to be varnished, all are available, so if you want one let me know.

#434 Battenkill @ RR Bridge, Middle Falls

 11-13-14

 9 x 12

#436 Legry's Rd. @ Plains Rd.

 11-18-14

 8 x 10

#437 Riley Hill Rd.

11-19-14

11 x 14

#439 Niles Rd.

11-22-14

9 x 12

#440 County Rt. 59

11-25-14

9 x 12

#431 County Rt. 69 (Andland Farm)

11-3-14

14 x 16

#432 Hudson River @ Rt. 4 bridge

11-10-14

11 x 14

#435  So. Cambridge Rd.

11-15-14

12 x 16

#438 Content Farm Rd.

11-21-14

7 x 7

#441 Outback

11-27-14

8 x 6

#442  Battenkill @ Eagleville

11-28-14

12 x 16

#443 Hudson River @ Hudson Crossings Park.

11-30-14

12 x 16