Sentinel

"The Sentinel, Washington Square North," oil on panel

Many who visit New York remember the long row of red brick townhouses that line the north border of Washington Square Park, sometimes called The Row. Edward Hopper lived along this street as have other famous folks. Today much is owned by New York University. 

One of the buildings sports two stone lions on either side of its entry. I thought at least one of them was worthy of study.
 

Primaries

"Primaries," oil on panel, 6x8

This small oil painting is from a larger series of still life studies I did perhaps twenty years ago. The purposes of those studies were multiple. First, since these works were small they could be finished in a single sitting. Second, they offered an opportunity to compare paint brands, types of brushes, various supports (gesso panels vs bristol for example), and more. They offered an opportunity to paint alla prima and loosely, trying hard to capture the essence of the subject. They also provided daily practice and an impetus to keep going. All in all the series was great fun, useful, and productive. 

"Primaries" refers to the three traditional primary colors--red, blue and yellow. These paints were in aluminum tubes. The brand and lettering were omitted as irrelevant, though many oil painters may recognize the format.

Last Saturday

The recent Arctic blast that hit the upper Midwest has been brutal. Most morning this week and a half have been in single digits. Last Saturday the sketch group went indoors for the second time this winter. It was simply too cold and no one wanted to sketch in their car. 

"West End Salvage," wc/ink, 8x10

We went to an architectural salvage business that has a lot of interesting material indoors plus a coffee bar and tables on the ground floor. Most of us sat in the coffee bar and sketch. I did this watercolor while sipping a truly delicious latte.

Charcoal Study

"Study for portrait of LM," charcoal on newsprint

Some years ago I was accepting portrait commissions, generally for oil paintings. Like many others I often began a formal oil with a charcoal study to solve as many problems as possible before laying down any paint. Sometimes I began the portrait without any preliminaries (see The Sailor, one post back). And other times a charcoal could serve as an underdrawing for the portrait. Sometimes, though, I did the charcoal study as a stand alone work. This drawing is on newsprint and served as the basis for an eventual oil portrait. In this case I gridded up the drawing and transferred it to stretched canvas.

The Sailor

"The Sailor," oil on panel, 14x11

A casual portrait of a man at the tiller of a sailboat, from a decade or so ago. Many times portraits are made to cover the entire surface, but in casual work some of the image may be omitted.
 

Winter Watercolor

In winter, when green is no longer the dominant color of the landscape, colors that flashed brightly go mute. The trees that still cling to a few leaves are mostly rust-colored, or perhaps even dull brown. But as you look you begin to see faint color, muted to be sure, but color nonetheless. Many think winters are mostly black and white but for the serious observer there is abundant color.

"Sherman Hill, Winter," wc/ink on paper, about 3.5x5

Last Saturday all of us in the sketch group elected outdoor scenes. Like the rest, I sketched and painted in the warmth of my car. You can see that many different colors are there--even the distant, silhouetted trees have distant hues. This is the foot of the old neighborhood called Sherman Hill, where I often work outdoors.

Vista

"Vista," oil on panel 4x6

This little sketch took just thirty minutes or so one morning, as an exercise in paint handling and brush work. It is an imaginary mountain scene, based on many trips to the Rockies and other mountainous places. It was fun establishing the spatial perspective of distant pale blue mountains against a roseate sky.
 

Tropical Dome

Last Saturday was cold and grey, so half of the sketch group went indoors to the Des Moines Botanical Garden dome. Under their geodesic dome the air is warm, humid, and aromatic with plant life. While painting outdoors or in my car was an alternative, this environment was too luscious, too luxurious to pass up. I even renewed my membership.

"At the Botanical Center," wc/ink on paper 8x10

There is a balcony around maybe one third of the dome, with tables and a wonderful view of the entire terrarium-like interior. The staff has arranged potted plants of many kinds at each end of the balcony, near the stairs. I sat at one of the tables and sketched a partial view of potted palms, huge amaryllis blossoms, and other plants. To finish this I would add more of the darker blue-green tree foliage as a backdrop and complete the other palm.

Coffee Bar

Edouard Manet, "Bar at the Folies Bergere," 1882

Mirrored images is a fascinating subject for figurative works. There's a famous painting by Edouard Manet wherein a mirror is a major part of the compostion. In Manet's painting we see a barmaid front and center, with a marble-top bar between us covered with bottles and a bowl. At first the figure to the right seems to be another barmaid, but she is really the reflection of the woman facing us. And facing her is a man with a mustache, wearing a hat (presumably it is us). Behind the three figures is a vast crowd of people, lights, at least two chandeliers and much else indistinct. It's a masterful use of composition to suggest deep space. 

"Coffee Bar," oil on panel, 12x9, private collection

Years ago I adapted Manet's composition to my own work to explore how to show deep space. The result, "Coffee Bar," went to a collector years ago. But I discovered the photo above, showing a young woman in a coffee bar. behind her is a shelf with a mirror above it. The counter in front of the woman has a napkin holder, sugar container and salt. Beneath it are various coffee cups and glasses. On the shelf behind are two ketchup bottles, reflected in the mirror. We see her back, the backs of the seating, and in the far distance another counter with various items. All together, there are seven or eight layers of depth.

Grey Days

"January Snow," watercolor on paper, about 3x5

If this January is like others these past few years, there will be dim, grey days with snowy haze and not much to see, unless you look closely. Once you do, muted colors are everywhere, from shadowy snowbanks to distant trees. Details merge and the world goes cold and soft.

 

West End Salvage

"West End," wc/ink on paper

Although the sketch group mainly goes outdoors to work, sometimes the weather chases us inside. Last weekend was dreary and cold so we elected to go to a local architectural salvage place that sells all of the stuff that's reclaimed from house and building demolitions--doors, fixtures, windows, etc. It has a coffee bar and tables and is usually uncrowded.

Floating the River

"Floating the River," oil on panel, 11x14

This oil is the newest of a body of work involving images of a river we visit annually. This particular painting was done from photos and plein air studies.
 

Multicolored Orange

Long ago one of my pursuits in studying painting was still life studies, usually quite small, many 6x8 on gesso board. Still life gives the artist the luxury of an unchanging subject, especially if the lighting is controlled too. These tiny studies were ways to explore all sorts of things: color, composition, light, and more. 

"Orange Study," oil on panel, 4x6

This particular painting was the result of perhaps an hour's study and painting. I was interested in how to produce a believable orange in oil paint. It's not as easy as it might seem. If you look at the painting you'll see many colors in the surface of the fruit, most of them more yellow than red but many more red than orange. There are many colors, from very dull reds to brighter reds and a range of in between colors. At the brightest spot on the orange we see bright yellows. In the shadowed areas on the left some very dull greens appear. While it's possible to remember and imagine an orange and perhaps even paint one believably, painting one from life is considerably more useful. 

Freezing Rain

Last Saturday was one of the few days when the sketch group didn't go out. Most of the group--a varying majority--manage to go even in snow or cold. But the weather was the worst you can imagine, with freezing rain making everything slippery. So far as I know no one ventured out. 

Instead of going outside I stood in my studio window and sketched Druid Hill Creek, what you could see of it. I keep a pocket sketchbook on the windowsill and sketch the view north/downstream a time or two monthly. This little book is about 3.5x5 inches or so, a truly small book, intended for pockets. But I leave it on the windowsill and simply do a watercolor of the view from there every few days. So the book becomes a visual journal of the year and an artwork as a whole, too. 

"Druid Hill Creek, Freezing Rain," wc/ink on paper

This view is about 6 inches wide. The grey skies and freezing rain, superimposed on a recent inch or two of snow, made this one a bit bleak.

Warm Memory

"Fort Des Moines Park, August," oil on panel, 9x12

With low temperatures less than 10 degrees F and highs not much higher, with snow on the ground and Druid Hill Creek frozen solid, I needed a warm memory. This was painted outdoors as a demo at a plein air paint-out in a local park. The day was hot and sunny with weather moving into the area.
 

Saturday at the Lake

"Gray's Lake Beach," wc/ink on paper,

The weather was unseasonably warm during the last weekend. Temperatures were in the low 60s a couple of days. The sketch group went out last Saturday and I was able to sit outside to draw. This is a view of the public beach at Gray's Lake Park. The skies were brilliant with light, unlike the usual December skies and there was a soft southerly breeze.
 

Winter Study

"Tree Study, December," oil on panel

December has most often gloomy, cold and snowy. Warming weather may push that experience into January, but here's a December painting from a few years ago, a study of the woods outside on a dim snowy day.

River House

"River House," oil on panel, 12x9

As we commonly do, we visited friends in southwest Virginia last year. Their summer home is literally on the bank of a river, maybe thirty feet from the water. You can go out into the crystalline stream and cool yourself. The bottom is rocky, the surfaces worn smooth by eons of flowing water. 

This view of the house if from about the middle of the stream, so you see the house and trees and distant hills beyond as well as the boulders and stones of the bottom. This painting is literally wet and still on the easel.

Fair Weather Saturday

"Skyline," wc/ink on paper, 8x10

The weather was wonderful last weekend--bright, sunny and not very cold. I went to Waterworks Park and sketched the city skyline over a couple of lagoons. 

Summer Scene

"Raccoon Afternoon," oil on panel, 9x12

As happens quite often, I ran across a plein air work from a couple of years ago. Here in Iowa we're facing our first blast of winter weather, with morning low temperatures in the teens. Happily, this small painting is a bit of a mood booster as winter closes in. 

The scene is the Raccoon River as it passes through Waterworks Park, perhaps a mile from my home studio. I stood on the bank and painted the bike/pedestrian bridge and woods.