Golden Gowanus

One doesn't usually associate the Gowanus Canal, seen here from the Carroll Street bridge in Brooklyn, with the Venetian paintings of Turner, but the golden glow on the buildings and the water from the late afternoon winter sun does it for me.  Unfortunately the only boat in the canal is a sunken wreck on the left, not a gondola, while parked buses line up on the right.   6x8 oil on panel.

Earlier This Year

A 9x12 oil on panel painting that I did earlier this year at the Paint Factory in Gloucester, MA.

The Late Afternoon Sun

A composition that I have used previously: a curtailed, blocked view of a street corner that suggests more space around the corner.   The cars always seem to have distinct personalities, more so since they are larger than just the cyphers that we would use to indicate people.  Of course, this would be a dull view without the late afternoon sun.  In the city a site can change dramatically from hour to hour, day to day, season to season, year to year.  The actual site is the corner of St. Marks and Classon Avenue in Brooklyn. 6x8 oil on panel.

It Accumulates

A prominent artist recently offered a dozen or so paintings at discounted prices because he wanted to clean out his studio in preparation for the new year.   Isn't this the ideal for a painter:  very few or no paintings left, so that you have to make more?   The reality for most artists is having tons of artwork all over the place.  Artists don't stop making it, but if you're moving it at a slower rate, it accumulates.

This small Brooklyn is different than the previous ones because it doesn't pull your vision into the far recesses.  The wall cuts it off.  This muddy parking lot is found on Dean Street near Grand Avenue. 6x8 oil on panel.

Not Sure

Why did I make this small Brooklyn?  The splash of sunlight across the sidewalk, most of which is absorbed by the car.  The jumble of stuff that I can only suggest with another jumble of paint.  The wonderment that just looking down a sidewalk can make happen.  Applying paint to make something that looks like something.   Not sure.  6x8 oil on panel.

Small Bee Hill

It's not a small Brooklyn painting, but at least it's a small painting: a view down Bee Hill Road in Williamstown, MA.  5x7 oil on panel.

Painting Brooklyns and Delacroix

Painting can be an obsession.  Did you ever notice that painters paint … all the time?  Painting small Brooklyns is my latest painting obsession.  This is a view on Franklin Avenue towards Atlantic Avenue.  This is a busy intersection in terms of foot-traffic because there's a subway station across the street where you can get the train to Manhattan.  I took it recently to see the Delacroix show at the Met.  

Here's a quote from Delacroix's Journal for May 5, 1852 (Walter Pach translation):

"One should lay in one's picture so that it [h]as the look of representing the scene on a gray day, without sun, without clear-cut shadows.  Speaking radically, there are neither lights nor shades.  There is a color mass for each object, having different reflections on all sides.  Let us suppose that, in this scene, in the open air and under gray light, a ray from the sun suddenly illumines the objects: you will have lights and shades as they are understood, but they are pure accidents.  The deeper truth of this, singular as it may seem, contains the whole comprehension of color in painting.  How strange it is that this truth has been understood by only a very small number of great painters, even among those who are regarded as colorists."

If I understand this correctly (which I may not), I am reminded of the oft-heard phrase: paint shapes of color, not things.  The things, even "lights and shades,"  will take care of themselves. My French original identifies this passage as defining the "doctrine of impressionism."

6x8 oil on panel.  

A Grand Avenue

What a grand avenue Grand Avenue is, here near Prospect Place.  Actually it's quite typical of streets in Brooklyn, but a late afternoon sun makes any street a wonderful place.   I was amused that the new rectangle of sidewalk, at the bottom of the painting, doesn't match the sections that have been there much longer, like a new patch on an old pair of dungarees.  6x8 oil on panel.

Upraised Arms

Taking a break from Brooklyn for a day: here's a small painting of a tree that I pass frequently on my walks on a country road.   Half of the tree has been sheared away to accommodate the power lines, which explains its upraised-arms appearance.  5x7 oil on panel.

Shortchanged in Brooklyn

The corner of Bergen Street and Washington Avenue has a beautiful building on the corner.  When seen from the front, it's not obvious that it's triangular-shaped.  Here's the back view showing how the building got shortchanged by being on a corner where the streets aren't perpendicular to each other.  The late afternoon December sun loves that empty surface.  6x8 oil on panel.

But On Sidewalks.

When I walk through the American Museum of Natural History and see all the totem poles, I realize that I have only the vaguest idea of what they mean.  When I walk on Washington Avenue in Brooklyn, I know what most of those man-made vertical things placed on or coming out of the ground mean, but that doesn't make them any less amazing.  Some flash, others spout water, a few move, and a few more just sit there.  Most are colorful with unusual shapes.  You are not going to encounter them in the woods but on sidewalks.   Washington Avenue at Dean Street.  6x8 oil on panel.

Totem Poles

In the city of Brooklyn, one doesn't have to look far for fascinating views.  The buildings, which aren't too high, cast shadows and thereby accentuate the light.  The streets are full of totem poles, full of signification, which some people pay attention to, while others do not.  The same corner will appear drastically different depending upon the time of day and the extent of sunlight.   This painting represents Classon Avenue at Bergen Street.  6x8 oil on panel.

Sunlight on Bergen Street

A 6x8 oil on panel painting of sunlight on Bergen Street, between Classon and Franklin Avenues, in Brooklyn.  

A Tenth of Third Avenue

This is the tenth small Brooklyn painting.  I'm not sure how many I will paint, but they provide an opportunity to try things I might shy away from on a larger scale.  The view is Third Avenue under construction.  6x8 oil on panel.

Surreal Brooklyn Sidewalk

This painting is atypical of Brooklyn, showing unusual lighting conditions on Grand Avenue.  The location, near Bergen Street, has several auto repair shops with colorful exteriors.  I was struck by the contrast between the sky and the building exteriors, whose brightness was exaggerated by the sunlight, creating a surreal view, reminding me of a De Chirico cityscape, especially with the shadow of the car on the sidewalk.    6x8 oil on panel.

A Typical Brooklyn View

From a short essay by Astrid Reuter in the Cezanne "Metamorphoses" catalog on his use of watercolor:  "The perception of the object rather than the object itself... became the real subject of the representation."  Actually it's really the growing awareness that perception is the dominating factor.  

The painting represents a typical Brooklyn view (Classon Avenue near St. Marks Avenue).  6x8 oil on panel.

Dean Street And Copying Rubens

Recently I've been reading a catalog on a Cezanne exhibition in Karlsruhe, Germany called "Metamorphoses," which explores how Cezanne overlapped the different genres of still life, landscape and figure painting.  One essay by Alexander Eiling points out that Cezanne, late in his life, advised the painter Charles Camoin "to make copies of Veronese or Rubens in the Louvre as if he were making them from nature."  This idea of copying Old Masters as if copying from nature goes back at least to an early 18th century book on painting, and was not invented by Cezanne.  Eiling goes on to write: "Cezanne's intense exploration of the practice of copying thus aimed not so much at reproduction as at transformation.  The copied artworks became superordinate providers of structure within which he could articulate his perceptions of nature.  The copy thus served Cezanne as a starting point..."  I'll just leave that thought there for you to ponder.

This small painting depicts a view of the shuttle bridge over Dean Street near Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn.  The cars, bridge, buildings etc. all become abstract shapes, especially when the painting is seen from a distance so that one cannot make out what it is right away.  6x8 oil on panel.

Hiding The Change

Bond Street near the Gowanus Canal facing south usually presents sharp contrasts in light late in the day.  It's a place I love to visit, though, as the orange barriers indicate, it's changing so fast, it's starting to lose its appeal. The light and dark contrasts however hide this change.  6x8 oil on panel.

Even A Small Painting

Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn is a fascinating street: not too many pedestrians, except those who cross it at intersections, and lotsa cars, moving quickly.  I always get the impression that the drivers hate to stop at the red lights.  The broad streets in Brooklyn always offer plenty of sky to fill even a small painting.  6x8 oil on panel.

Under and Very Large

Under the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn is Hamilton Avenue, here seen headed in the southeastern direction.  I seem to find myself making small Brooklyns.  In this case a small painting of a very large structure.  6x8 oil on panel.

Plaza Island

Flatbush Avenue runs through (on the dotted line) Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Several other streets also approach or circle the plaza.  Fortunately, after one dodges the traffic, you can walk around and through the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch.  Then you have to dodge the traffic again to get off the plaza island.  6x8 oil on panel.

Small Morning in Brooklyn

An early morning view of the corner of St. Marks and Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn from the wide sidewalk on the south side of the street.  This is another small painting: 6x8 oil on panel.

A Small Brooklyn

A small Brooklyn, depicting the corner of Franklin Avenue and Prospect Place.  Interestingly, there's a Taco truck at the corner.  This a late afternoon view.  8x6 oil on panel.

A Different Light

This time I kept the same position but put the lamp behind me for a different light source.   8x6 oil on panel.

What Next

Every now and then, when I'm not sure what to do next, I'll do a self-portrait.  This guy certainly looks like he doesn't know what's coming next.  I've often wondered about the self-portraits of Cezanne and Rembrandt.  It's not like they were doing them because there was a demand, unless the demand was a personal thing.  I can just imagine Madame Cezanne's reaction to seeing him working on a self-portrait.  8x6 oil on panel.

Fowey

The port town of Fowey (pronounced Foy) is on the coast of south Cornwall at the River Fowey.  The River Fowey is subject to tides, and this boat is sitting up river in the mud at low tide on a cloudy day (most days in Cornwall seemed cloudy).   6x8 oil on panel.

Wells, A Memory

Wells, Somerset, England.  The granular, abstract approach in the painting captures the impreciseness of  my memory.  9x12 oil on panel.

Polperro Two

The inner harbor of Polperro, a small fishing village in southern Cornwell, is well stocked with parked boats.  I read that this place was once a smugglers' capital, but now mainly attracts tourists.  When I was there, it was not very sunny, unfortunately, but at least the tide was in.  9x12 oil on panel.

Padstow

Padstow is an old harbor town on the north coast of Cornwall.  9x12 oil on panel.

Polperro

A souvenir of the ancient fishing village of Polperro in Cornwall.  These boats are in the inner harbor, protected by a large wall with a gate.  The buildings were whitewashed in the 20th century since all the 19th century photos in the local museum show them without the white.  9x12 oil on panel.

Flatbush Barrels

The eighth Flatbush painting: a rare moment when the sidewalk was empty of people, though it is populated by traffic control barrels.  To figure out what they are called, I found a website called Crowd Control Warehouse.  Sounds ominous.   They are colorful.

Flatbush Cyclists

This is the seventh 12x12 oil on panel painting in the Flatbush series.  I think I'll do one more and move on to other things, or other sizes.  I used to be a serious cyclist years ago.  I would not want to ride a bicycle anywhere near Flatbush Avenue today.  It's tough enough being a pedestrian.

Abstraction on Flatbush Avenue

What appeals to me about this view of Flatbush Avenue is how the sky in the middle background unites with the tee shirt in the middle foreground to form a u-shape.  One could say the same thing about the two u-shapes on either side as well, though the middle one is more distinct and the distances between the sky and tee shirt much larger.  It's this kind of relationship that a painter can make which is nearly impossible to see outside of a painting.

I've been reading a lot about the painter Delacroix lately.  The exhibition at the Met has spurred me on, though I've always had an interest in Delacroix since reading his journal years ago.  I like Delacroix because he used color and composition in a formal, abstract way even though his paintings are all about stories, whether myths, battles, Shakespeare, etc.  His formal methods are seemingly hidden, and simultaneously right there for all to see.

The painting is 12x12 oil on panel.

Flatbush Revelation

These Flatbush Avenue paintings have become revelatory for me as I work on them loosely and comfortably.  The experience of walking in the city is always one of sharp contrasts, simultaneous attractions, and distractions.  Everywhere you look there's too much.  Turning that experience into paint is what I'm trying to do.  This one is also 12x12 oil on panel.  I'm running out of square panels.

Flatbush Afternoon

Flatbush Avenue. Late afternoon.  12x12 oil on panel.

Flatbush River

Flatbush Avenue appears as wide as a river at the corner of Sterling Place.  Even when I would drive across it, I wondered if the light would stay green long enough to make it over, never mind trying to make it across on foot.  The pedestrian stripes are testimony to the frequent diggings, resurfacings, and repaintings that urban surfaces undergo, like a painter's canvas.  12x12 oil on panel.

Thickly Packed Flatbush Avenue

Walking on Flatbush Avenue in the direction of downtown Brooklyn reveals a whole new skyline if you haven't been here recently.  The buildings are as thickly packed as the people on the sidewalk.   I visited downtown last week.  The new construction is everywhere, inhuman in scale.  There are still some venerable, smaller buildings left, but for how long?  12x12 oil on panel.

Flatbush

The name "Flatbush" comes from the Dutch meaning a 'wooded plain', according to Wikipedia.  So it's nice to see a tree on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.  Actually, there are a number of trees along Flatbush Avenue, even though now it's essentially a hard-surfaced, heavily built-up, travelled and populated place.  I was trying to achieve a dense, textured surface in this painting.  It may become part of a series.  12x12 oil on panel.

Maybe I Did It.

This is the last of the three paintings I did last Friday when the late afternoon sun was shining at the top of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I worked quickly and maybe I exaggerated it a bit since I got carried away by how amazing it was.  8x10 oil on panel.

By the way, while trying to figure out why nobody seemed to be reacting in any way to my posts on my personal FB page, I found that for the last two months my posts were only visible to me and one other person.  How that change occurred is a mystery to me.  I do have double authentication in place.  Maybe I did it.

One Can't See It

The late afternoon sun is responsible for my interest in this view of the path and bushes at the top of Sheep Hill.  One can't see it, but the path abruptly turns left and downhill instead of heading directly for the row of trees, even though that's how it appears.  9x12 oil on panel.

Grateful I Am.

Spending one's afternoon painting at the top of a high hill in the warm fall sunshine is pleasant.  Again I was looking last Friday at Mount Greylock and the Hopper from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA, a view whose offerings I can never exhaust.  Grateful I am.  9x12 oil on panel.

Under the Gowanus

This is a large 36 x 48 inch painting that I've been working on for the last couple of weeks showing the area under the Gowanus Expressway at Third Avenue and 20th Street in Brooklyn.  I did a small 9x12 painting of this scene a couple years ago.  It's strange seeing the postage stamp photo of the large painting in this post since it doesn't convey how much the larger painting makes you feel as if you were under the road, hearing all the cars and trucks moving loudly overhead.  The postage stamp photo makes the painting seem more representational than it really is.  When you stand close up to it, it's a bit eerie and abstract.  At least that's my take.

Hard To See It

As I pondered the sky and mountains yesterday from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA, with a new panel on my easel, I happened to look at the trees behind me.  The late afternoon sun was trying to penetrate the density of trunks and limbs.  I just started to paint, trying to make sense of what I was looking at, even though it was hard to see it.  8x10 oil on panel.

Clouds and Clouds

The first painting that I did this afternoon at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  The cloud shadows on the mountains reflect the clouds and the mountains become clouds.  This 8x10 oil on panel was done quickly to capture the quickly changing conditions.

Unpopular

Figure drawings don't seem to be very popular nowadays, but making them is an important aspect of being an artist.  This drawing, approximately 17 x 11 inches, pencil on paper, I did last week.  There's a mirror behind the model, which reflects the model and another artist working at an easel.

Changing Fast

A second plein air painting from Friday when the weather was so beautiful.  There's a timelessness about such a view, but you know as you are painting it that it's changing fast, and will not last.  The view is of the hill behind the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.  9x12 oil on panel.

One Beautiful Day

The weather has gone back to its cloudy self today, but you can tell from this painting, done yesterday, that there was one beautiful day (finally) to paint this week on the hill behind the Clark Art Institute.  Actually this time our plein air group painted at the base of the hill.  9x12 oil on panel.

Now And Then

It threatened to rain several times, but the sun also appeared briefly now and then, so I tried to capture one of those now-and-thens in this painting of trees at the top of the hill behind the Clark Art Institute.  8x10 oil on panel.

Looking For Better Weather

A Clark hill painting done yesterday, under an overcast sky, while working with the students in the IS183 plein air workshop at the Clark Art Institue in Williamstown, MA.  Hopefully the weather will improve today.   8x10 oil on panel.

St. Ives

St. Ives, Cornwall.  12x16 oil on panel.