Bush In The Field

 A small painting done in the field off of Sloan Road in Williamstown, MA.  8x10 inches, oil on panel.

In The Suburbs

While in the suburbs, I had an hour or so.  I wandered around the front yard, and then the back yard, before I set up in the front yard.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.

The Bush And The Mountain

The cow pasture off of Sloan Road in Williamstown. MA beckoned again.  Of course I selected a difficult landscape subject.  The first drawing is my thumbnail sketch.  Then the painting which was a struggle.  I finished by making another larger drawing in case I want to work on the painting again.  The mountain in the background is Greylock.

Cows

Back in the pasture yesterday afternoon, I painted the same bush by the stream but from a different location.  Some of the cows came around behind me to look at my painting.  Here's a photo of one of them crossing the stream afterwards.  The bush is to the right of the easel.  I had my paint box set up looking away from the bush to keep the sun off the painting.  The cows had nothing to say.  I'm glad they left, however, because twice they set themselves up in the stream exactly at this bush, even eating parts of it.  There are hazards painting in a cow pasture, but this painting turned out well.

Oil Sketches

Two oil sketches: the bush on a rainy day, and a path on the edge of a field at Field Farm on a bright day. It's hard to figure out right now if these are junk, or not, but they need to be done to get from one point to another. At least they inform me how a painting's beginning influences how it ends.

I came across another intriguing painter yesterday: E.M Saniga. His paintings are low key and haunting. He is situated not far from me, and has a computer technology background, another similarity. There's a fascinating interview with Saniga at the Jerusalem Studio School site. Check it out.

Drawing on Reserves

This weekend I spent the time looking out the window, since it was rainy, cloudy and cold. The only thing to see outside the window is the bush. Here it is in pencil. I will have more later, in paint, I hope. I have been using a soft pencil, instead of charcoal, for the last week, trying to stay painterly as much as possible. The pencil and sketchbook is not as messy, just a quick, and easy to carry around.

Buying Time

This weekend in between family events and rain, I spent several hours outside drawing. I think I was trying to make the impossible drawing, either of the bush or the tree. The possible drawing becomes the impossible drawing, when I don't know when to stop, and do another instead of plodding on. Buying time is a reference to not having time to paint this weekend. If I could buy time, I couldn't afford to buy much.

In the midst of writing this "remark" I heard some banging on the back glass door. I found a baby, a large baby pileated woodpecker in the back yard. I opened the fence door, so it could get out, since it doesn't appear to be able to fly. I don't know how it got here. I haven't noticed a large nest in the trees, though my google search seems to indicate that the nest is a hole in a tree. My cats are staring out the back door at it.

Modest Weekend

Only a small corn field without corn, and a bush without leaves this weekend.

Sheep Hill

I am done with the bush for a while. Two more to get it out of my system. They are like self-portraits.

I revised the Sheep Hill drawing, and did an 11x14 pastel today.

Portrait of a Backyard Bush

This bush is like a fabulous sculpture. Any side at any time, even at night, displays interesting characteristics.

Three Oils and a Bush

Out in the brilliant sun I stood before my easel to make the three small 8x10 oil sketches of the bush, the shed, and the field behind the shed. I also made another black and white bush later in the day.

I have been reading the excellent book Painter's Guide to Color by Stephen Quiller. One idea that he proposes is to make black and white drawings of your subject, and then paint from the drawing, using a color schema, which will allow you to be more expressive and not tied to what's in front of you or a digital image. Of course, his book is all about color schemas, which make for better pictures.

Bush and Shed

These three I did outside today. The bush is not quite as ominous in color, though it is still quite vigorous. The drawings may be like a bank account: overdrawn, but one learns with every effort. This shed reminds me of old age. I was surprised to see that a storm window has been placed in the window opening on the other side (not visible), presumably a little upkeep to hold off the rain. Somebody still cares about the old shed. I plan on doing more with the shed tomorrow, to see if I learned anything today. The weather is supposed to be better than today's heavy overcast with only momentary appearances of the sun.