Duel Hollow Rd, revisited.

50  F  light clouds, some sun.

This is where I ended up today, one of my favorite spots is in this picture.

Tone: way too red.  Block in prussian and cadmium, big mistake!  I did this last year, about the same time, what was I thinking?

Add road.

Here is where I panicked about the prussian blue, which I had scrapped off, but was getting into everything, it's so strong, I guess I forgot!

So I slathered on the ocre and began to push back the prussian.

I had started at 12:00 it was well over an hour at this point, I'm trying to rescue it from the deep blue.

Most places are covered over with anything but prussian, but those far hills.......

Here is my scene, the van you may see along the side of the road is none other than George Van Hook's

Getting there, the light was very stable, I had over 2 hours!

There's a bit of glare on the painting, and I'd like to tweak it a bit, but I've been saying that and not doing it.

The prussian got everywhere today, but I didn't have to wear any gloves, how weird is that?

Flat land, flat day, Brownell Corners Rd. White Creek, NY

43  F   Cloudy  

This is what I came up with today,

Here was my scene when I started around 1:00  I've wanted to paint this barn, but the sun was always wrong, since there was no sun today, I figured, why not?

first blocks +sky.

As I filled in the canvas, I realized how close in value everything was, all in the middle!

I got the sky the lightest which is good, barn roof was just off of that, good, but still.....

I liked the dark of the pine tree on the left



I probably could have continued on, but my daughter's basketball game was starting and I didn't want to miss (too much of)  it.

This photo shows the scene more saturated with color, and the painting washed out, oh well!

Duel Hollow Road to abstraction.

34  F  Cloudy  earlier snow showers

This was around 3:30, I had gotten a late start, it was snowing this morning and was real overcast in the afternoon, the sky didn't change much.  I had worked on it for 1 1/4 hours.

This is how I measure.

Notice my brush is measuring my scene. (it's not quite exact here) The general tenant for the sight-size method, at least in how I understand/practice it is I line up the right side of my canvas with the left side of an imaginary rectangle to the right (you could go the the left, just as easily,and I do sometimes), then I draw horizontally across the canvas along the top and bottom, essentially so you can visually line up, at the same size, the scene and the canvas, I use my brush as illustrated.

I've done this scene many times (I'll try to find some)  I like how the fields, bushes , trees , etc.. within the border of my rectangle make an essentially abstract arrangement of shapes, color form, and texture.

I'm using my pallet from Wednesday,  because it was so cold, it was essentially in a deep freeze and hadn't dried at all, even in typical winter there is some drying, everything has it's advantages!

Here is my first block in. I'm using the natural canvas that has been saturated/sealed with two coats of rabbit skin glue.  It's just about the tone I wanted, and the texture was great. I don't know why I ever bothered to use a coat of oil primer over the RSG. I still might want to tone over the natural color, I was also being real lazy.

Add sky and some snow.

Add more snow and some grass.  This painting looked out of focus from the start.....

Close, time to start putting in trees.  I often wait (always) for the thins that go on top of other things.

Where I ended up.

A selfie.

This is the same scene in September, 2013.

Full (no only partial) Disclosure, My past C.1988

Hi

I've been meaning to fess up about my past, and this is one part of it. A while ago when I googled myself I found this digitized on the SUNY Albany Art Department web data base.  This is my graduate Thesis exhibit for which I earned an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree. It was in May, 1988    I was surprised the digital world had this, so much of my other work is in the barn, frozen and waiting for me to drag it out, much of it in the old real photographs or slides, there's a lot of that but rest assured it will stay buried for a while.


Click on the link, if it works you can click on each image to enlarge and get a description,

Thanks, Matt

Graduate Work

I forgot how to paint. Ashgrove Rd.

19-14 degrees, sunny, calm

Some days more than others I start out and I forget which way is up. I don't know why this happens, It's like I'm in some other world, it looks similar, but there is this blank canvas....


Here is where I ended up today. It does need a tweaking (this photo looks too cool)

Here is my scene, It's on Ashgrove Rd. just north of Mckie Hollow Rd. I was driving up the road wanting a view of the White Creek, when I found this spot, I'm right on the road, but it's a dead end and not many cars go by.

A brand new pallet (I use scrap Plexiglas that I've had lying around, and cut it to the same size as my panels so if I'm carrying it any distance I can put in in the panel carrier with the panel(s).

Here is my first block-in. My tone is a warm light brown, and I modulated the dark a bit for the pretty dark areas. My hand is blocking the sun on the top right.

It's often difficult to get a photo of the painting and the scene that are both in-focus, I had to back up more than I usually do.

Add sky.

This is almost done, I started at
1:30,  almost an hour after I actually left the house, I finished at 3:10, and for the most part it was a comfortable day.  There was hardly any wind and my start temperature was 19 F, so I made 1hr, 40 minutes, but started to get cold fingers and feet. The sun had changed the shadows quite a lot, so I had to catch myself from trying to chase it as I went.

Here is my set-up.  Despite getting hardened by the cold, my time out doors is limited, so quick and easy set-up is a must. It was 14 F when I got home.

In this photo I have both the painting and the scene in focus, but obviously the sizes are different!

Content Farm Road, 20 degrees, a heat wave!

20+ F  clear, sunny

Here is where I ended up today, it wasn't nearly as cold as yesterday, the sun with fresh snow!

I returned to this spot, because I figured I'd be working small (10 x 8) and it's just around the corner, and I have cell service, and it's still freezing, and it's a great scene. Notice the shadow, (it'll start to move, fast) and the sun on the canvas, the last time I was here it was cloudy so I didn't have this issue....

My pallet, yes that is snow, it blew down from the trees, I just mixed it in with the paint, I'm not sure what the result will be....

 My tone had been the orange from November, which I covered over with brown. The light was making it hard to see the paint, but soon it would be in shadow.

About 1/2 way through, or about 45 minutes, after yesterday it's like I'm lingering, but I'm not, I'm still pushing fast, which means getting the essence, and not fussing or thinking too much. The shadow is moving and the light inside the wooded area is changing by the minute, but I'm able to get some color in some place, so I'll take what I can get, and move on.

I'm closing in, I had to settle in on the snow shadow, and to some extent the dappled light in the woods, chasing the light just doesn't make sense no matter the season, and it often catches me by surprise.

My home-made easel.

Notice the bungee cord.

View from shop, Today's (crazy cold) adventure.

0  degrees, who's counting!

I couldn't stop myself today, was it the challenge for challenge's sake,  or just insanity?

This is the view from my shop's slider doors. I wasn't going to paint today, with a high of 2 degrees.  I had to deal with frozen pipes, drafts, etc and wasn't finished until 3:00, later than I'd usually start anyway, but the light was deliciously crisp  and the colors were like nothing I had ever seen, besides I wanted the ultimate bragging rights! or to prove I've lost grip on reality, or I was climbing the walls and had to be outside painting if just for a 1/2 hr.


Note the cement sculpture of a foot (pointing up) I made that in 93' out of cast concrete, and it's a reminder of my previous life as a sculptor....

 I spend a lot of time in my shop, it's where I prepare for just about all my worldly activities, store my tools and materials, pack them etc. It has a wood stove, but I hardly ever bother to light it, the building is not insulated. But today it was where I painted from, at zero degrees I couldn't be anywhere else.

OK so it's cold, but I'm out of the wind, have all my stuff at hand, and I'm moving in and out to paint. It's  6" x 8" the smallest I've ever done!

Sorry the photo is so bad.  I  never paint this close to dusk, but I did this on a whim (or dare) and needed the flash, maybe it's more about compulsion than art (ya think)  but did I learn anything?  (other than if you out side in the cold your fingers will start to tingle after about 45 minutes) I may be nuts, but I'm not stupid and I didn't get frostbite. The paint was seriously thick, and I had to use a lot of medium to even use it. (My pallet hadn't dried since my last painting 3 days ago on New Year's Eve. Mixing colors and all the other decisions that go into a little sketch like this are pared down to the most rudimentary basic, there is no time to think, you do it, and you trust your instincts.