Fall Color at the Hopper

The sun wasn't as strong this afternoon as yesterday, but there's still plenty of color in the trees at Haley Farm before the Hopper.  Here is a 12x16 oil on panel of some trees fronting the Hopper and Mount Greylock that I painted from a position in the middle of the hay field.

Hopper Glow

At Haley Farm situated before the Hopper the trees still have some color despite the recent rains and wind.  The mountains must provide some protection.  The late afternoon sun rakes across the pasture illuminating the trees that line the path leading to the hiking trails and the Hopper.  This painting is a 12x16 oil on panel that I did on site yesterday.

Rocky Cliffs

A 12x16 oil on panel of a view from the rocky cliffs at Raven's Nest in Schoodic Peninsula, the last of the four paintings done there in one day that I have not posted until now.  Across the water is Bar Harbor.

Steering at the Mountain

Tuesday afternoon I went to Sloan Road to paint the view down the hill and the distant Hopper.  I tried something different by not including the mountain edges or the sky.  Something else that was different also happened: the traffic on the road increased significantly for a minute as two farmers led a group of steers up the road.  For a moment I was surrounded.  You can see the edge of my panel at the lower right of the photo.  Getting back to the painting, a 9x12 oil on panel, I sometimes see mountains as clouds, and at other times, clouds as mountains.  In this case, the diagonal shadow of the Hopper valley at the upper left of the painting is clearly visible, and not acting like a cloud.

October Tree

Though I do have other Schoodic Peninsula paintings, which I'll continue to post, the weather was favorable on Monday to paint what remains of Fall color.  This tree, on a 9x12 oil on panel, I found at the Chenail farm on Luce Road.  After today's rain, probably little of the color, or leaves, will be left.

Foggy and Done

This is the last painting, a 9x12 oil on panel of Schoodic Point, that I did on the rainy Tuesday, when the rain really had stopped.  It was still foggy, and getting dark, but I managed to "complete" the painting.

Interrupted

On that rainy Tuesday a couple weeks ago at Schoodic Point, there was a moment in the afternoon when the rain stopped, and I thought it might be over.  I started a 9x12 oil on panel, but then it began to rain hard again.  So I quickly disassembled everything and left the painting as is.

On the Edge of the Sea

Another 12x16 oil on panel done at Raven's Nest while looking down into the sea at Schoodic Peninsula.

Another Jordan Pond

This is a 12x16 oil on panel of Jordan Pond from last Thursday morning.  It was done before lunch and popovers.

Up in the Air

The weather back home hasn't helped my withdrawal symptoms from last week's experience of painting outside every day.  I've only been able to putter around in the studio.  This 12x9 oil on panel is another view of Raven's Nest at Schoodic Peninsula late in the afternoon from last Monday.  

Jordan Pond

A 12x16 painting of Jordan Pond from last Thursday afternoon at Acadia National Park after lunch and popovers.

Late Afternoon Cadillac

This is a view from the top of Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park looking north at the entrance to one of the hiking trails, done last Wednesday late in the day.  The painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.

An Aerie Feeling

On Monday last week John MacDonald and I painted at Raven's Nest, a site on Schoodic Peninsula that is still on Google maps, but whose physical location sign was removed by park officials, we were told, because of the dangerous cliffs.  Nevertheless at least twenty people visited this location while we were there (it was a holiday).  Most seem to have been there before from what they told us.  The above is a 12x16 oil on panel showing the left side of the "nest'.

Fog and Rain

Last Tuesday in Acadia National Park at Schoodic Point it rained.  I did this 12x16 oil on panel in between rain drops, but I couldn't escape the fog.  I was on the east side of Schoodic Point facing south.

The Ocean Moves

This 12x16 oil on panel I did on Wednesday just south of Thunder Hole at Acadia National Park.  The light changes, but not as often as the surface of the sea.  I was just trying to capture a suggestion of what I was looking at.

Plein Air on Schoodic Point

This past week I was fortunate to participate in Plein Air Magazine's Fall Color Week at Acadia National Park.  The above 12x16 painting I did on the first day at Schoodic Point.  The photo shows the site and the painting on my easel.  In the background is painter John MacDonald.

Reflecting

This painting is an 11x14 oil on panel done this afternoon at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA.  I wanted to paint the dead pine tree, and all the stuff around it came along for the ride.

Stone Drawing

This 8x10 pen and ink drawing is mainly pen and ink, but with a few touches of pastel.  It shows the back of the stone farm on Corker Lane in Cumbria near the entrance to the path across the Bethecar Moor.

Cumbria Pastel

This is the first of three items I am posting tonight, since I won't have time tomorrow: an 8x10 pastel of a view down a stone wall on the Bethecar Moor in Cumbria.

October Sloan Road

Yesterday afternoon I stood near the rain ditch on Sloan Road to paint this view as quickly as possible on an 11x14 panel.  The mountain at the top left is Greylock.  The barn belongs to Ridgeview Farm in Williamstown, MA.

Village Street

A view down a street towards the water in the seacoast village of Ravenglass in Cumbria: 8x10 pen and ink with pastel and charcoal.

Late Afternoon

The series of drawings that I've started are souvenirs of a trip to Cumbria.  This 11x14 oil on panel is my first plein air painting since returning.  It shows the pond at Field Farm in Williamstown late yesterday afternoon.  The field I was in has been cut recently allowing access to a new view point.

Finsthwaite

This 8x10 drawing shows a street in Finsthwaite in Cumbria on a sunny morning.  The fences are all made out of stone, and so are the houses.

Walls of Stone

In Cumbria there are stone walls everywhere, most 200 to 300 years old.  The walls in this drawing line the road from the Eskdale corn mill to the Brook House Inn in village of Boot, Eskdale.

Stone Farm

Another 8x10 pen and ink drawing with pastel and charcoal, this time of a farm on Corker Lane somewhere in the Rusland Valley in Cumbria.   Behind the stone barn on the left is a path leading across the Bethecar Moor.

At Low Tide

This is an 8x10 pen and ink drawing with some added pastel of a boat at low tide in the town of Ravenglass, located on the west coast of Cumbria in the Lake District.

Easing

After being away from posting for a couple weeks, I'm easing my way back with this Brooklyn oil sketch done on site in August.  More current work to follow.