By the Sea, Part Three

Great Island Common, Part Three

Here's a not-so-far-from-done image of the Great Island Common painting, begun at the Friday class. It's 18x24".

Today I worked on the rocks.

I also worked on the sky and on the water. 

I guess that means I worked on everything..

 The image of the painting isn't a perfect photograph, but they never are. I still have to insure that the water on the horizon is level, at least approximately.

Here's a close-up of a portion of the sky, on the right-hand side----in case you wonder what it's like.

A new Friday class will begin on 17 August, and will continue on 24 and 31 August, 7 and 14 September, 5, 12, 19 and 26 October, and 2 November. As usual, the class will be from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Soon I'll have some information about it on the workshop blog. Sign-up will be first come, first served.

Also thinking of a February workshop in Savannah, to banish some of the winter blues. More on that, soon, on the workshop blog, too.

Comment below, please, if you'd like to be included in either opportunity.

By the Sea, Part Two

Great Island Common, Part Two

Today found me in the studio, monkeying around with yesterday's plein air start from Great Island Common.

Although I liked the sense of sunlight, it wasn't quite the look I wanted. I was after a bit more reddish brown in the rocks, and a greater sense of a definite, late afternoon shadow on the lower part of the shore. The original shadow on the lower right was "bitty", made up of too many small changes in value. What was needed was to follow the old advice: 'make your shadows strong and unified.'

No photo of the whole painting tonight, but a couple of details from today's work----just to show the paint handling on the rocks.

Tomorrow night may bring a photo of the whole shebang.

For those of you who have never seen one of my paintings 'live', you'll see that I usually paint quite thinly. The canvas is Claessens No. 13, single-primed. This is a portrait linen, and quite smooth. Even still, the paint is thin enough to allow you to see the canvas weave.

By the Sea

Great Island Common, Newcastle, NH

The Friday Plein Air painting class met today at Great Island Common, in Newcastle, New Hampshire. This is a lovely park of thirty-two acres, along the sea, south of Portsmouth.

Below is today's demonstration, 18x24". There remains much to be done----not least getting the horizon to be level! I'll post what changes there are another time (if I make them, and if I remember).

The slivers along the horizon to the right are two of the Isles of Shoals.

All in all, a productive day, shared with friends, along the sea. What's not to like?