Older Brother

 A portrait of my happy-go-lucky older brother.  12x9 inches, oil on linen.

Painting The Object

So I spent the day examining the same old object with different lighting.  Barnard Dustan advises in his book on painting portraits to place the mirror and the canvas close to each other so that one has to move the object's eyes as little as possible going from one to the other. 16x12 inches, oil on panel.

From Within The Rocks

Ogunquit viewed from within the rocks after descending from the Marginal Way.  9x12 inches, oil on linen. 

Studying An Object

In his book on painting portraits, Bernard Dustan tells us not to worry about getting a likeness in a self-portrait.  "...[V]ery few self-portraits are good likenesses..."   "It doesn't matter whether you like your own face or not - you are simply an object to study."  Here I am studying an object.  12x12 inches, oil on panel.

Portraits

I'm going to pretend that this is somebody else's portrait.  Earlier this year, pre-Covid, I started to paint portraits.  The deal was: I paint your portrait and you keep the painting.  But I had to give it up until better times return.  12x12 inches, oil on panel.

Painting Blind In A Mirror

Imagine having this critic looking at all my paintings.  Actually I took off my glasses to paint it, so I was somewhat painting blind.  I'll probably keep working on this one.  14x11 inches, oil on panel.

I just finished reading Betty Edwards's new book, Drawing On The Dominant Eye.  Interesting book, but surprisingly she confuses a self-portrait done in a mirror from a portrait done by an artist looking at a sitter.  My dominant eye is my right eye, but in a mirror my right eye becomes my left eye, as you can see here.  It's more obvious in a self-portrait if the artist includes his arm and hand holding the brush.  A right-handed artist then becomes a left-handed artist.  If someone were to paint my portrait, then my right eye would appear as my right eye, and my right arm would still be my right arm.  Go look in a mirror and raise your right arm.  It will look like you are lifting your left arm.

Remnants and Vestiges

A perimeter tree at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA. with vestiges of the pasture, rotting posts and barbed wire ingrown into tree trunks.  Remnants of ancient farming can be found everywhere in the woods and at edges of fields.  8x10 inches, oil on panel.

Late Day Rock

 A large rock formation, with late day sun, on the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Ogunquit

Ogunquit, Maine. 9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Barrenness

For a while I toyed with the idea of adding a figure, a surfer, to this painting, but decided against it.  I like its barrenness and abstraction.  It is another view from the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Raw And Unstable

Sometimes the shoreline rocks seem raw and unstable, especially if you scramble over them in winter.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Waiting

This painting I had already started before wandering to the craggy shoreline, so I decided to "complete" it.  It's a view of Eastern Parkway at Underhill Avenue in Brooklyn from a few years ago.  12x24 inches, oil on panel.

Craggy Shoreline

My painting has wandered from figures in urban settings to the craggy shoreline of my mind. 9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Pushing and Sinking

So I pushed this painting further along yesterday and today.  I remember standing on this rocky, hard surface without realizing how unstable it appears in retrospect.  If I push any more, I'll be knee-deep in the water. 

Equivocal Edges

A shoreline at Acadia National Park where the rocks dissolve.  The difficulty of distinguishing between water and sky is repeated at the edge of the shore where rocks and water merge.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

Schoodic Point

In this painting I've placed the single figure, not in an urban setting, but at the edge of the sea.  Actually it's Schoodic Point in Acadia National Park.  The sun, out of view, is going down on the right. 12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Corot in Brooklyn

As I painted this scene, I thought of a Corot painting with a peasant walking on a path towards the village with a stream on one side, and maybe a wagon or two.  However, it's a view of Bergen Street approaching Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.  

A Tree In A Backyard

A recently completed commission, a painting of a memorial tree in a backyard.  Earlier this month I posted the preparatory drawing.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Long Ago Moment

A painting of Dean Street approaching Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn from a long ago moment.  12 x 24 inches, oil on panel.  

Goya, Brooklyn, And The Paintbrush

The corner of St. Marks and Classon Avenues in Brooklyn. 

I came across this quote, reputedly from the painter Goya: "My eye never perceives features or details. I don't count the hairs of the beard of the man who passes [my way], and the buttonholes of his suit do not stop my eye.  My paintbrush should not see better than I do."  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Enchanted

A dreamy view of enchanted section of Eagle Street in North Adams, MA.  16x20 inches, oil on panel.

The Smiling Man

This Brooklyn painting is an instance of a street corner (Grand Avenue and Prospect Place) done from an old digital reference.  Of course, I was attracted by the smiling man.  However, he existed for only a short period.  Google Street View reveals that he was soon covered over with a flood of graffiti, though vestiges of his stick figure survived for a while until the wall was cleaned again and again, only to be graffitied again.  This red wall has been a constantly changing tableau, but I'm glad to have witnessed the smiling man.  12x24 inches, oil on panel.

November Drawings- Moving Hands

A couple November drawings, both 9x12 inches.  While I was drawing, the shadows moved like the hands of a clock.  My hands had a hard time keeping up.

 

A Sketch

 A charcoal sketch of a small tree in a backyard. 9x12 inches.

Eagle Street

 A view of Eagle Street in North Adams, MA.  16x20 inches, oil on panel.

Flatbush Avenue

 

Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn.  12 x 16 inches, oil on panel.

Fulton And Franklin

 The corner of Fulton Street and Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn, NY.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Dean Street Sidewalk

A morning view of Dean Street as it approaches Classon Avenue in Brooklyn.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Figures in Brooklyn

The next stage of the Brooklyn painting of Dean Street.  I may stop here (for now).  I generally avoid figures, but I'm doing a series with figures.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Currently On The Easel

This is the painting currently on my easel.  This is the second stage from today.  I started it yesterday.  It's a view down Dean Street near Classon Avenue in Brooklyn.  12x16 inches, oil on panel.

Brooklyn Piranesi

Hamilton Avenue near Centre Street, under the Gowanus Expressway, in Brooklyn. 12 x 12 inches, oil on panel.

Changing Shadows

The farmhouse on Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA which I've painted at least a couple dozen times from much higher up at the top of the road looking across the valley towards Mount Greylock and The Hopper.  I love its changing shadows as the sun moves across the sky.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

Structures

This year when I've visited Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA to paint, I've confined myself to pastures and hay fields.  Lately I've wanted to include structures in my paintings, so I set up on the side of Sloan Road yesterday where I can see this farm house and its driveway.  The tree was nice too.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

What To Do

Here is a slight charcoal drawing, perhaps, that I did prior to the painting I posted yesterday.  It was important for me to determine how to compose the painting as well as suggest the energy of the parts making up the whole of it.  9x12 inches.

Appearing Larger

With the corn stalks gone, the mountain appears larger.  It's Mount Prospect, which hides the taller Mount Greylock behind it.  The Appalachian Trail goes up to the top of Mount Prospect, where there's a clearing from which you can see most of Williamstown, MA,  but not this spot where I was standing with my easel. 10 x 20 inches, oil on panel.

I Went Drawing

Yesterday before I went painting, I went drawing, walking along the dirt road near where I live.  9x12 inches, charcoal pencil on paper.

Building Scape

The preliminary drawing that I made before starting the last-posted painting of the Park-McCullough Mansion in North Bennington, VT.  9x12 inches, charcoal on paper.

Painting On The Grounds

On a day with a clear sky I painted on the grounds of the Park-McCullough Mansion in North Bennington.  There's something calming about this place.  I'm not sure what it is.  Maybe it's because I want it so much.  9x12 inches, oil on panel. 

Nothing To See Here

 The Marshall Street underpass in North Adams, MA.  12 x 24 inches, oil on panel.

Looking West

Yesterday it was sunny, cloudy, and windy, over and over again.  So I went on a walk with my sketchpad.  This is a view down Blair Road in Williamstown, MA. looking west towards the Taconic Mountains in New York State. 9x12 inches, charcoal on paper.  

Liquid And Fluctuating

Here I used a wider format to capture the sky and mountains and mowed corn field off of Luce Road in Williamstown, MA yesterday.  The view looks north into Vermont.  Everything had a kind of liquid, fluctuating aspect.  10 x 20 inches, oil on panel.

Spurts of Light

My first works at a new venue, the Park-McCullough Mansion is North Bennington, VT.  The sun was in more than it was out, so I had to work in spurts to catch the light.  Both 9x12 inches.

Little Red Riding Hood

A few years ago, I saw Little Red Riding Hood standing at a column next to Center Street in North Adams, MA.  12x24 inches, oil on panel.

Paint Fast

A couple days ago I visited my favorite shed in the late afternoon.  I had to paint very fast. 8x10 inches, oil on panel.

September At The Water's Edge

 A painting I did last week at Mauserts Pond at the water's edge.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

Center Street Sentinel

A painting, just completed, of a series I'm doing of North Adams, MA.  This one is a view from the past.  16 x 20 inches, oil on panel.

A Lot Of Water Or Maybe Not

This morning, before the rain, I went back to Mt. Hope Park and the Green River, where I painted earlier this year in May and June.  Even though the river has been low all year, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.  The painting is 8x10 inches.  The drawing is slightly larger.