Hoosick Falls with sunshine.

54  F  sunny,

            #730  R.R. Ave. Hoosick Falls, NY.  3-16-16  12x16

I liked the dark shadows but lost them after a while.

2nd.

I quit here because I the light had fundamentally changed and I just couldn't pretend anymore.

My scene at the start, complete with freight train.

The sight-size shot, showing how the scene had changed.  The utility truck parked there just at the right time for me to include it, then left.












     It was one of those days when the sun warms you like a snake on a rock, it felt good.  Maybe that's all you need, even though I spend a lot of time and energy finding what I want to paint, with countless things of interest,  big picture, intimate subjects, natural, man-made, beautiful, sublime.  I question it all, question it to the core, and when I'm done I want to sleep and forget, and see what the next day will bring.  Thanks for reading my blog, I know my musings might verge on the insane, on questions that asks for answers that can't be made, so I appreciate your patience and understanding! 

Main St, Greenwich. A new 1st.

51  F  sunny all day.

             #729  Main St. Greenwich,   3-12-16   9x12

      I drove around a lot before I came to this spot. I really do feel bad about the carbon footprint of days like this, but I get going on my quest, and I have to think through everything, following one hunch, then another, but the draw of the village scene in a place with people, buildings, cars, and all that stuff prevailed.

It takes a lot to get to this point, is that painting or is it something else?

The brew pub was across the street, I didn't go in.

Today's money shot.

This is what 82 panels look like. 

Oak Hill Rd.

56  F  mostly sunny

         #728  Oak Hill Rd.   3-11-16   14x16

I've been thinking about confidence and how balanced life has to be to maintain that confidence.  Having the ability to put the paint on deliberately with a strong composition, values and color so I'm actually satisfied with the result. It happens, and it's great, but just as soon, I  miss something, it may be obvious or more subtle, but it's certainly a miss. There is no substitute for growth, change and learning, and that sets you up to failure, at least for a day.

1st light.

2 nd light.

Darks.

  
Money Shot.


I've done this scene a number of times before, there was a very large barn just to the left of the truck, it fell about a year ago and this is the first time painting it since then.

Champlain Canal lock #6 What the shadow knows.

68  F  sun and haze

             It was unusually warm and sunny yesterday, and I had a standing challenge on to re-visit this site. Lock #6 of the Champlain Canal, along the Hudson, in the southern most part of Ft. Edward.  I'm not convinced that I satisfied the challenge.  The site has a lot going for it, the river and canal, with the lock, the road bridge, and the pump house.  There are really too many "things" here competing to be the subject, and I thought I dealt with that by focusing on water, embankment and the bridge.  The shadow, inescapable at the start  was soon to disappear, and I knew it but went ahead anyway.  There are lessons but the strong graphic quality of that shadow and the light really makes the painting, and I take total responsibility for that, it's a theme I want to explore so abstract and  (potentially) powerful.  The failure as I see it was going forward knowing I would only have a few minutes with the shadow before it disappeared, I got the shadow and some of the brightest lights in, but when the light changes, and changes so dramatically there is no real way to fake it with, or in, the other areas of the painting: the "other" parts are so fundamentally different That the whole scene cannot be  rendered as a whole.  That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

My scene at the start.

Squinting gave me this much darker shadow, and I liked it.

OK.

#727 Champlain Canal Lock #6

3-9-16

14x16

Stevenson Road at the end of the day.

56  F  mostly cloudy.

               #726  Stevenson Rd.  3-8-16  7x10

The scene at the start.

Sight-size shot.

Fin.

Finished February Paintings

Here are the finished paintings from February, 14 in all, my least productive month in a long time.  Of course it's the shortest month and I had two shows including the Home show, that took days out of my life.  Anyway there are a few decent ones in the lot, and a few are large, not usual for February when it's usually cold and I'm working small.

#707 Pencil creek @ Duel Hollow Rd.

2-4-16

9x12

 #708  English Rd.

2-5-16

12x16

 #709  Cty rte.  62

2-6-16

8x10

 #710 Eagle Bridge Rail Yard

2-7-16

9x12

 #711  Covered Bridge Museum, Shushan, NY

2-7-16

8x10

 #712  Plains Rd.

2-12-16

9x12

#713  Outback

2-13-16

6x8

#714  Hudson River @ Rodger's Island

2-15-16

9x12

 #715  R.R. Ave. Hoosick Falls, NY.
2-18-16

14x16

 #716  Coila Rd.

2-18-16

8x10

 #717  Fish Hatchery Rd.

2-19-16

7x10

#718  Old Cambridge Rd.

2-23-16

9x12

#719  Cty Rte. 60

2-29-16

7x10

#720  Backlots

2-29-16

8x6 

Petteys Road, the grey prevails.

25  F,  sun to clouds

         #725  Petteys Rd.   3-5-16  9x12

When I started there was at least some bright sun, by the end it was totally overcast, and no matter how much I try to push it. the grey just gets in.  I think what happens is that the bright light makes the mid and dark tones darker, or at least the way your eye sees the darks.  When the cloud cover diminishes the brightness, you can see the details in the mid and dark tones essentially making them less dark.

Lights.

There are a lot of old places like this around here, I'll have to paint more of them!