Panel Drawing

Walking down Bedford Avenue not far from Eastern Parkway, I came across this truck.  It demonstrates another reason why they are called panel trucks.  I've probably done an injustice to the graffiti.

One Way Wander

We are still wandering the streets of Red Hook, here at the corner of Delavan and Van Brunt.  The signs vehemently tell you that there's one way to go.  It's early in the morning, too cold for anyone to be about.  This drawing is number 50.

Winter Street

A view of Van Brunt Street in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn is the subject of this 8x10 pen and ink drawing, number 49 in the series.

Red Hook

In our return to Brooklyn with this 8x10 pen and ink drawing, we are looking down Delavan Street towards Richards Street in the section known as Red Hook.  It's early in the morning, and quite cold, but at least the sun is shining.  The name "Red Hook" comes from the Dutch for the point ("hoek") of land with red soil extending into the sea.  I don't think the original red hook is still there.

Sloan Slope

This 12x12 oil on canvas is the last winter painting until I make some more.  It's a view from the bottom of Sloan Road looking west toward the Taconics.   Up the hill on Sloan Road is the vantage point where one can see the Hopper and Mount Greylock when turned around looking east.  The building on the left is the farmhouse of Ridgeview Farm.   Back to Brooklyn drawings tomorrow.

Another Winter Snow Scene

This morning it is not snowing.  It's just cold.  This 12x12 oil on canvas I did a couple weeks ago, showing a gully off Stratton Road, where I walk frequently.  There's a veil of vertical trees intersected by a zig-zag of creases in the ground, and a convenient arch formed by branches (it's really there),  a simple and effective composition, not to mention that it's another winter snow scene.

Wintry Blues

An 11x14 oil on canvas view of a hidden stream at Field Farm north. The stream is just peeking out of the snow at the lower left, and its location is given away by the slope of the ground.  Most of the streams in the area are now hidden under a blanket of snow and ice.  The blue in the painting is grayer than it appears in the photo, at least on imac monitor that I'm using at the moment.

Big Cold Rock

Another cold blast moves into the Northeast.  I might be wrong but I sense some Brooklyn fatigue.  I don't have it, but I will continue with the pen and inks next week.  The above is an 11x14 oil on canvas of an erratic on the north side of Field Farm.  I painted it quickly with a limited palette.  In my series of snowy woods paintings, I try using a slightly different limited palette for each painting.

A Tree in the Snowy Woods

I've been working on winter paintings, from my snowshoe walks in the woods where there are only sleeping trees and tons of snow.  This 12x12 oil on canvas is a view of another pine tree located at Field Farm south.

The Connections at Forty-Seven

The forty-seventh pen and ink drawing displays the corner of Franklin Avenue and President Street in Brooklyn.  The bent sign post is also present in the street level Google map photo from October, 2104.  It adds some drama to the drawing.  That is snow on the sidewalk.

I'm reading the book Spirit of Place: Contemporary Landscape Painting & The American Tradition by John Arthur.  He quotes the painter Elmer Bischoff, who said, "The more one brings in terms of depth and diversity of art experience to whatever the art one looks at, the more one will gain from it.  To put this more pointedly, I would argue that a person who responds positively to African sculpture, for example, will find vital qualities in Rembrandt that will escape a person who is blind to the merits of African sculpture.  There is an aesthetic level at which all art forms from all times and all places start to connect."   As you might suppose, Arthur is more inclusive than some of the dogmas in art world would allow.

Forty Six in Red Hook

There's a screw loose in pen and ink drawing number 46, of the corner of Delavan and Dwight Streets in Brooklyn, early in the morning.  This area is known as Red Hook, an area that I want to explore further.  When I looked at the street level Google maps, taken last year, for this corner, the stop sign was still securely fastened.  That is snow on the sidewalk.  Google maps didn't have any snow.

Drawn Back

The forty-fifth pen and ink drawing shows the corner of Montgomery and Franklin in Brooklyn.  There is snow on the sidewalk and street.

Snow and More Snow

Yesterday, I missed a day, since I was drawn away, but instead of another Brooklyn drawing today, I am posting a more topical painting from a couple days ago.  This is a 12x12 oil on canvas of a location on Field Farm south.  I didn't paint it on site, but I did snowshoe to the location.  A few years back, I did a pastel of this same tree, which I posted on November 2, 2010.  Brooklyn Number 45 will appear tomorrow.

Drawn Away

The 44th pen and ink drawing, 8x10 with some pastel and charcoal, depicts a view down St. Marks Place at the corner of Grand in Brooklyn.

Mountain View

This is the fifth and last of the 24x24 oil on canvas paintings of the Hopper and Greylock from Sloan Road.  It depicts a late October period.  At this precise location, with the road dipping down, one can see the mountainous expanse spreading to the right.  There are trees to the left blocking the view, which only seem to help the right side expand.  I'm always amazed at how the huge barn with its upward thrust seems to duplicate the mountain. Of course, I assisted the stretch of road at the bottom in pushing up.   In this painting, I love the repetition of the triangle of the telephone pole and the road shape.

Drawing 44 is in the wings, and will appear tomorrow.

Sidewalk Drawing

An 8x10 pen and ink drawing near the corner of Pacific looking down Classon in Brooklyn.  Number 43.

The Hoods Are Up

An 8x10 pen and ink drawing of a car repair shop on Fourth Avenue at the corner of First Street in Brooklyn.  The cars are on the sidewalk and their hoods are up, a common sight in Brooklyn.  Number 42 if you're counting.

Keep On Drawing

The forty-first pen and ink drawing shows Twenty-first Street looking towards the Gowanus Expressway above Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

Forty

This series of pen and ink drawings started on Christmas day.  I didn't think I would get this far.  Today's drawing is number forty.  The view is the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Bergen Street in Brooklyn.

A Late Winter Hopper

As it starts to snow again, I'm posting the fourth large Hopper painting completed last week.  It depicts the Hopper and Mount Greylock view from Sloan Road near the end of winter with just a patch of snow left.  The painting is a 24x24 oil on canvas.  I've learned that the large barn and farmhouse have a name, Ridgeview Farm.  This series won't be as extensive as the Brooklyn drawings: I have one more large Hopper painting to post but I'll post another Brooklyn tomorrow.

Thirty-nine and Still Counting

The corner of Sterling Place and Washington Avenue in Brooklyn is the subject of the thirty-ninth pen and ink drawing.  As you may have noticed in these drawings, I've taken advantage of the ink in my pen, which is not waterproof.  I received the idea from the drawings by John Berger in his Bento's Sketchbook.  He also used a brush and water to run some of the ink in his drawings.

Do Not Walk

This is the thirty-eighth 8x10 pen and ink drawing,  with a lot more touches of pastel, charcoal, and water added.  The location is Nostrand Avenue and Pacific Street in Brooklyn where there's a laundromat on the corner.

Drawing With Love

The thirty-seventh pen and ink drawing, an 8x10 with pastel and charcoal, depicts the corner of Bergen and Washington Avenue in Brooklyn.

The following quote is from the book To Paint Is To Love Again by Henry Miller:  "To paint is to love again.  It's only when we look with eyes of love that we see as the painter sees.  His is a love, moreover, that is without possessiveness.   What the painter sees he is duty bound to share.  Usually he makes us see and feel what ordinarily we ignore or are immune to."  I've attached the quote to a drawing, but the same principle applies.

Another from the Hopper

Another 24x24 oil on canvas painting of the Hopper and Greylock from Sloan Road that I completed last week.  The setting is early winter without snow on the ground except at the top of Greylock, late in the afternoon with the slanting sun light illuminating everything.  There are so many variations visible from this one location.  The variations translate into different and interesting compositions, with the elements of the variations setting up relationships more noticeable in the paintings than when at the site. I'll continue with the Brooklyn drawings tomorrow.

Six Times Six

This 8x10 pen and ink drawing, with charcoal and pastel, shows the corner of Lincoln Place and Bedford Avenue near Eastern Parkway.  The BP station is now closed and surrounded by a plywood fence.  It's number 36 in the series.

Thirty Five is a Garage Door

What you see for the thirty-fifth pen and ink drawing is the corner of Lincoln Place and Underhill Avenue near Eastern Parkway and the Brooklyn Museum.  The garage door has a nice personal touch to it, though the graffiti was probably not done by the owner.

Good Excuse

It would please me no end if you noticed that I did not post a Brooklyn pen and ink drawing yesterday.  In any case,  here is the next drawing, number 34 in the series, from the corner of Classon and St. Marks, in Brooklyn.  What I was trying to capture is fairly obvious, but the way the black ink of the car works against the softer charcoal of the shadow of the building is quite nice and unexpected.

I do have a good excuse for not posting a Brooklyn drawing yesterday.  I was in Brooklyn.