Precipitously

What I love about this section of Sloan Road is that it seems to drop off precipitously right into the Hopper with nothing in between.  The sky by the way is straight watercolor.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on multimedia paper.

Local Phenomenon

Here's a local phenomenon, Bee Hill Road, which climbs up Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA. I've painted it several times.  Each time I have a hard time believing how steep it is.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on multimedia paper.

Plopped Down

Mount Greylock is visible head on at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA, as if it had been plopped down right into a large flat landscape.  The snow brings out the decorative markings that cover the "flat" landscape.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on multimedia paper.

The Gully Shadow

Here's the larger painting of the view from the driveway towards the maintenance garage at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA.  The gully shadow seems alive, drawing you in.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Shadow Splotch

 A view from the driveway at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA, looking towards the maintenance garage.  This one I think I'll make into a larger painting.  I like the shadow splotch in the stream gully and the sunlit building wall framed by tree trunks.  6x8 inches, gouache and watercolor on multimedia paper.

An Entrance

An entrance to a wooded area at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA.  My focus is the way light and snow interact.  I have a lot to learn.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

Out Of My System

Here's one with two guardrails, and the Hopper, as seen from Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA.  Mount Greylock is hidden behind the pine tree.  I've been thinking of making a larger one of this, but maybe now I have it out of my system.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

Gouache Challenge

This is a view from the road of the ravine a little further down from the guardrail on Stratton Road in Williamstown, MA.  While not as exciting as a guardrail, the looking toward the light source, known as contre-jour, does spice it up, and offered another gouache challenge.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

Guardrail Gouache

This guardrail separates the warm and cool colors and keeps people and cars from falling into a ravine off of the dirt section of Stratton Road in Williamstown, MA.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

Motif

There's a cut out at the top of the hill that mimics the distant Hopper below Mount Greylock and becomes a motif form from this location at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA, especially visible with snow on the ground.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

The Middle

One advantage of gouache is trying something one might shy away from in oil, such as a composition with an "empty" middle, except here the middle is the point.  This is a view of the backside approach to Mauserts Pond.  6x8 inches, charcoal pencil and gouache on multimedia paper.

Frozen Guazzo

A snow path next to the pond at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA.  I've read that gouache is easy to use and hard to master!  The word gouache comes from the Italian guazzo, which means puddle.  This painting represents frozen guazzo.    6x8 inches, charcoal pencil and gouache on multimedia paper.

Scumble Bumble

Of course, I have to try something not natural to gouache, such as scumbling and blending.  In the case of gouache, the medium maybe the message, in terms of its inherent demand for flatness and side-by-side brushstrokes.  The view is north into Vermont from Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

Or Maybe Not

The main barn at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA can be viewed as geometry in nature. This might make an interesting larger painting, or maybe not.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

The Snowy Path

The snowy path on the backside of the pond at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA. 6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper. 

Mountain Ranges

Despite this painting, a view from Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA, having two or three mountain ranges, the permanent one is in the background with Mount Greylock. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

An Illusion

Greylock does loom this large above the landscape, or at least seems to, like the moon is larger when near the horizon.  What?  An illusion?  A painting is an illusion.  This one represents Mount Greylock as seen from Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA. 18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

The Placid Barn And The Hysterical Tree

This looks like the larger painting completed a couple days ago, but this view dates to today's appearance of the placid barn and the hysterical tree after yesterday's snow. So, it might be a study for another painting.  6x8 inches, gouache on multimedia paper.

Studio Still Life

A studio still life.  Gouache on paper, 6x8 inches.

Tunnel City Exhibition

Last night I installed a few paintings at Tunnel City on Spring Street in Williamstown, MA. I hope you get a chance to visit and see them.

Over The Barn And Through The Tree

A view of wintry Greylock and the Hopper over the barn and through its neighboring tree on Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.

Smitten

This is my very first gouache painting completed a few minutes ago.  I'm smitten.  I used just three colors: yellow ochre, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue, with white.  6 1/2 x 8 inches, gouache on mixed media paper.

Right Into The Hopper

Mount Greylock from Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA. One can look right into The Hopper from here.  18x24 inches, oil on linen canvas.  

Formula For Drawing

Who says you can't draw by using a formula?  Mine consists of six easy steps anyone can do: 1. Have pencil and sketchpad. 2. If indoors, sit in random chair. 3. Make sure pencil is sharp.  4. If not, sharpen pencil. 5. Look up.  6. Start to draw what you see.  Repeat steps 3 and 4 as required.  9x12 inches, pencil on paper.  

What I Could See

On the Internet, if you don't post, you don't exist.  So, to start 2022, here's a studio still life drawing from today. I didn't set it up.  I just selected a portion of what I could see on the table.  9x12 inches, pencil on paper.