Snowy Saturday

The Saturday sketchers went to Waterworks Park last weekend. The day was grey and the light was very flat. And of course this time of year the colors of nature are muted. Besides that, several inches of snow persist except in high traffic spots or where it's been removed. Waterworks Park is less busy now, but warmer temperatures have brought out pedestrians and cyclist. The ponds are still frozen and surrounded by snow but the river is open, running dark as chocolate. 

"Waterworks Pump House, Snow," wc/ink on paper,

I parked along the park road and sketched a brick building--a pump house I think--that sits on a curve by the river. It's red bricks and ochre doorway are always interesting, and it faces southeast so it gets good light, even on overcast days. As in nearly all of these sorts of sketches I began with a light graphite sketch, trying to understand the big shapes and masses. Then I painted the scene, trying to capture the muted trees in the distance, a tree or two in the middle ground and the pump house as the foreground main subject. Matching color and value until I was satisfied, I gave it a bit of time to dry then added accents and some fine branches on the middle ground trees. 

That small work above (about 5x10) took a bit over an hour, so I dug out a bigger sketchbook and gave the subject another look. The new sketchbook is about 8x11. This time the pump house is in the middle ground but is still the main subject. In this case I washed in masses of colors to suggest distant trees, just as in the smaller sketch. But here the building and tree are middle ground and the road curves left in front of a big snowbank. Transparent washes of warms and cools help establish the snow.

"Waterworks, Snow," wc/ink on paper, 7x11

Frozen

"Frozen (Grays Lake)," oil on panel, 9x12

Although I painted this plein air oil a year or two ago, it could easily have been just a few days back when the deep freeze had Des Moines in its clutches. It was a very cold, painfully clear day in late winter but I stood in a sunny spot sheltered from the northeast wind.

Pei

"Pei Wing," oil on panel, 9x12

This plein air work depicts the south side of the Des Moines Art Center, which has three wings by three renowned architects, including Eleil Saarinen, Richard Meyer, and I.M. Pei. The windows and framing of this wing seem to spell out the designer's name.
 

A Summer Sketch

It looks like the winter blast we've had here is going to moderate--temperatures will be in the 30s--but we're all weary of the snow, grey skies and below zeros temperatures here. 

Here's a summer plein air oil sketch to warm us all a little. 

"North Shore, Grays Lake," oil on panel, 9x12

 

Longing for Outdoors

During the brutal cold, deep snow, and entirely necessary stay indoors, I found myself long for the chance to go outside and paint. Although I painted a couple of small watercolors from the window of the studio, they were no substitute for the chance to spend significant time outside. 

"Druid Hill Creek," wc on paper, 3.5x5.5

This little watercolor, done at the height of the recent blizzard, is an example of coping with severe winter weather. The creek that runs past my home was frozen and blue-grey, surrounded by big drifts. 

Nevertheless, I long for the lushness of spring, the heat of summer, and even the cold winds of autumn when the weather closes in. 

"Pastureland, Virginia," oil on panel, 9x12

This oil was one outdoors in Virginia, a view of pastureland along a serene river. The initials to the right of the tree were scratched into the wet paint when I finished the sketch--a tradition that indicates it was a plein air work.
 

Master Copies

Through the ages, probably since people have been making images, new artists have learned the craft in  part by making copies of works by their masters. Studios in the Renaissance (and probably earlier) kept drawings and paintings for their apprentices to study and reproduce. Although my own learning experiences are not based in the ancient atelier system, I've spent time with many old paintings and drawings, doing my best to emulate what I saw.

These are all my copies of originals by artists of the past. 

"Patton (after JCL)," oil on panel, 11x14

This painting is a copy of a work by the peerless J.C. Leyendecker, a gifted illustrator whose works a century or so ago were the envy of many, even Norman Rockwell. In this work my interest was in discovering how Leyendecker managed to render the general's leather jacket. I think this was a work supporting World War II war bonds.

"After Fragpmard." oil on panel, 11x14

This one, an 18th century work by the French rococo paint Jean-Honoré Fragonard, "A Young Girl Reading," is one of a famous series of tronies he made--that is, studies of expression, body types, situations, and so on that are not portraits in the traditional sense. In this particular work, Fragonard's genius with color is clear. My interest was in the beauty of the dress.   

"Achilles and Chrion," (after Herculaneum mural), oil on panel

This one was painted after a mural discovered in the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum, The image shows Chiron, the "wisest of the centaurs" teaching Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War, how to play a lyre. Although damaged, the image was clear enough to copy.

"Rockwell," after NR, charcoal on paper 20x16

Finally, here's a copy of a Norman Rockwell self portrait, done in charcoal on newsprint. It's a portion of a Saturday Evening Post cover the artist made of a visit to a newspaper office, published in 1946, My main interest was in Rockwell's self portrait, though he placed it to the very far right edge of the painting to give space to the staff of a country newspaper.

Making copies of other artists' work is an exceptionally useful way to study on one's own, In my case not only do I make copies of the images in question but I often also experiment with media that are different from that used for the originals.

 

Snow Days

We haven't had much snow this year, probably less than four inches, and almost none for several weeks. But there is a slow-moving cold front bringing snow for at least twelve hours or more. As I write it's coming down hard. Tomorrow I may have a chance to capture the results. Meantime, here are a few snow scenes from my files.

"Sunup, Light Snow," oil on panel, 6x8

"Winter Shadows," oil on panel, 4x6

The first two are oil paintings, done as exercises while looking out the west window of my studio. The third is a silverpoint, also done looking in approximately the same direction. None of these were done at the same sitting.

The final painting is a watercolor done in a 5x9 sketchbook. The view is north from another studio window, looking ice and snow along Druid Hill Creek. 

"Spruce in Snow," silverpoint on gesso panel, 6x8

"March Snow, Druid Hill Creek," wc on paper, 5x9

October Color

"Along the Middle Raccoon," oil on panel, 9x12

This small studio landscape is a view of a bend in the Middle Raccoon River last October. Some of the trees and small scrubby growth along the water had begun to turn but full autumn colors were only a few days away.
 

Dark Days

This painting always reminds me of the dark days of winter, when you turn on the living room lights at 4 p.m. and the wind mumbles through the trees. It's long since entered a private collection.