Of Sea and Sky

TM8218 Clearing Out 36x36 oil on panel

TM8220 Ode to a New Day 36x36 oil on panel

 

Two paintings, two views  – both from a day trip to the Isle of Shoals off New Hampshire.  On the way out we encountered the remnants of a storm – then the day cleared and the weather was almost too perfect - hence the titles – Clearing Out and Ode to a New Day. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Winter Comes to the Cape

TM8219 Winter Comes to the Cape 30x36 oil on panel

 

Yes, after an extended fall, there is no doubt that winter is here. A wind-blown snow dusting the outcrops and beach is a sure sign of more to come. I find the empty quiet of a beach in winter, toys and towels gone, appealing. Once more the coast becomes a place for meditation (and many layers of warm clothing!). Enjoy. 

I Sing a Song of Praise

TM8217 I Sing a Song of Praise 32×50 oil on panel

 

I Sing a Song of Praise – to the new year and to things unchanged, to the poetry of motion and to the vibrating stillness at the heart of everything. Enjoy!

 

Technical painting notes – based on a glorious day at Bass Rocks on Cape Ann, this painting presented many challenges.

 

Because the painting is on panel, seemingly infinite blends of color with soft edges can be tricky. Unlike forgiving canvas, a smooth panel reveals the trail of every hair on the brush. To paint the sky, a number of shades of blue and gray were mixed, then, starting at the top, I worked quickly to “stripe” in the various blues going from a darker blue near the top to a lighter, softer blue above the departing fog bank. I then blocked in the clouds, again using a specially mixed range of grays and warm and cool whites. The fog bank, with its violet undertones and staggered clouds, was last.  I then used a number of differently sized fan brushes to blend the colors – again working quickly before the paint could start to set up (alkyd mediums speed the drying time, which means working as fast as one can – on the other hand, because they dry quickly, glazing can begin the next day). The accident of staggered streaks coming from the clouds in front of the fog bank was fortuitous, suggesting a slight passing shower. The ocean and rocks were loosely indicated with transparent color and a bristle brush. I blended the horizon line into the water slightly, after which it was time to let the painting dry.

 

The following days were begun by glazing warm or cool tones into the sky with a very soft watercolor glazing brush, and developing the water. The scale and perspective of the foam lines in the water necessitated a fine lining brush and mornings without coffee – my hands had to be steady enough to traverse the length of the wave. Some of the lines were “dragged” with another soft brush to suggest movement.  I used a square-tipped nylon brush to lay the planes of the foreground rocks, and used the seaweed to introduce notes of stronger, warm orange and gold.

 

Lastly, I used semi-transparent and transparent green and pale, blue gray glazes to develop a sense of light on the water and to introduce hints of green and brown into the shallows.

 

 

The Light Advances

TM8216 The Light Advances 30×36 oil on panel

 

Ever since my first trip to the Isle of Shoals, I’ve been haunted by the extraordinary loveliness of dawn at sea…something about the nuanced colors hovering almost invisibly along the horizon, and the sound of lapping water. The Light Advances is an homage to that sequence of moments – still enveloped by the silence of night.

 

Technical painting notes: This painting is entirely dependent on layered transparent and semi-transparent glazes for its impact. The sea was roughed in using a bristle brush, Liquin medium, and indigo and greenish umber pigments. The sky was washed with hansa yellow dark. Once these base layers were dry, the real work began.

 

The sky was thinly painted in gray and peach tones using a nylon filbert brush and a fan blender brush. The band of clouds along the horizon was painted a bit darker than I wanted it to finally appear, allowing the clouds to show through future glazes. The sea was developed using a fine filbert and numerous, rhythmic lines in tones of gold to violet and blue. Each day I glazed the sky with thin, pearly tones of pink/peach and turquoise, and also used a range of violet and turquoise glazes on the sea. The process of repainting and refining the pattern of movement in the water, interwoven with glazes, finally began to capture the nuanced, quiet effect I wanted. Similarly, the refinement of tone in the sky is a result of dozens of subtle glazes – often alternating complementary, muted tones of orange and turquoise to achieve the modest grays near the top and right of the painting. I wanted the painting to be more a whisper than a song.

 

One by-product of so many glazes on a hard panel is an enamel-like surface.

 

Marconi Morning

TM8215 Marconi Morning 36×48 Oil on panel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Marconi Beach at the Cape Cod National Seashore has an interesting history – it was at this location that the Italian inventor Marconi set up his wireless station to prove that wireless, trans-Atlantic communication could work. Erosion eventually destroyed the station, as ocean waves chewed at the high, sandy dune plateau. The steep beach is still lovely, however, and the Park Service maintains a lookout post high on the dune, overlooking the original site, offering a wonderful vantage for enjoying the stark beauty of the Cape Cod National seashore.

Marconi Morning shows waves rolling up to the sandy beach on a fine morning in June. I know Marconi “heard” the vibration of the water’s music  (and the vibrations of his tower)  during severe weather. I offer a more subtle music with this painting. Enjoy!

Three ways to look at a wave

TM8212 After the Storm 16x16 oil

TM8213 Release 16x16 oil

TM8214 A Fine Wave 16×16 oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three wave paintings, developed simultaneously, provide an interesting view onto a short moment in time. Enjoy!

 

 

October at the Pond

TM8209 October at the Pond 12×12 oil on panel

A walk in the woods and suddenly you come upon a pond. This discrete view into nature’s heart was obtained during a brief walk at Hamlin Woods before starting my day at the studio. The abstract reflections and intense color were startling. A painting found…and a very abstract one! Welcome to October at the Pond. Enjoy!

Technical painting notes - The painting began in my usual way, brushing  transparent colors on a prepared panel with a bristle filbert brush, mostly transparent reddish tones and burnt umber near the top, then greenish umber and sap green below, with patches of red oxide. When the underlayer was dry, I began at the top using a palette knife and assorted grays and whites (mixed with Liquin Impasto) to loosely block in what would become dried grasses at the pond edge. I worked my way down  using the knife and medium to refine what I remembered from the woods, with a group of photos for reference. I used a brush to draw in the reflected tree trunks and branches. After a few days working toward detail, I realized I was missing the spirit of the moment, so I went back to working more broadly with a palette knife, layering color over the previous work and softening the surface with a nylon wash brush. With less detail, the abstract underpinnings showed through more brilliantly, I “saw” finally the place I had seen. Additional refinement of the color blocks with glazing and a suggestion of reflected trunks came next, along with picking out a few small details in the grass edge with a super sharp, nylon detail brush.

I’ve found that some paintings can only be achieved with a false start. The painting begins, you realize it needs something drastic, and the process of sanding, wiping out, or obliterating the image becomes the key to achieving the effects you needed. It’s a slow and sometimes painful process, but one that can yield some of the most interesting work.

A Nauset Wave

TM8211 A Nauset Wave 12×12 oil on panel

A Nauset Wave is a Nauset Wave is a Nauset Wave…..or so a famous poet might have said had she seen the waves at Nauset Beach on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Something about the slope of the beach and the amount of sand carried in the waves gives a distinctive color to the water as it crests, hovering between green and sandy brown, with bits of seaweed floating about. I loved the delicate tones in the wave and nuanced movement of foam left high and almost dry in the foreground. Usually a wave just quietly does what it does, and we are left to enjoy it or not. Enjoy!