The Hopper and Learning To Paint

By chance, I discovered that one of my favorite painters, Bernard Dunstan, had written some of those 'how-to" Watson-Guptill books.  Here's an excerpt from the book "Learning to Paint":

"It isn't until we start painting that we find out how little we have seen before...

The painter, perhaps, is almost the only person in our very specialized society who uses his eyes really objectively and without blinkers.  He is able to accept without choice or preference all the visual stimuli that come to him.

This type of looking is one of the justifications for drawing and painting in a figurative way, however bad the results may be.  At least the painter uses his eyes in a way that they can seldom be used in everyday life: at full stretch, accepting and examining a totality of experience.  This visual experience can be an important extension of the human consciousness, one that requires a certain humility on the part of the artist--an absorption in the character and reality of the subject, rather than merely in the production of an acceptable end-product, the picture."

Today's painting is a 9x12 oil on panel that I did yesterday morning at Haley Farm at the end of Hopper Road in Williamstown, MA.  It's a hot, steaming view of the Hopper.

Affinities

This painting I did earlier this year.  It's 12x16 oil on panel.  It's not a landscape, obviously, but a reclining figure has affinities to a landscape.

Chesterwood

This small, intense painting I did last week at Chesterwood, the home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French, where I've been teaching a few students plein air painting for IS183, the art school in Stockbridge, MA.  The painting is 9x12, oil on panel.

Farther Back and Higher Up

This Saturday I visited the Manchester Vermont backyard while the sky was full of dramatic clouds, slightly overlapping the mountain edges, and putting the whole range in shadow.  The view is farther back than the previous paintings.  This painting is a 14x18 oil on canvas.

Midday in Provence

Another quiet street in St. Maximin la Ste. Baume in Provence, France, at midday when the sun is high. 9x12 oil on canvas.

A Road in Provence

A road through a town in Provence. 9x12 oil on panel.  Provence for me is a province of the mind, the sun shining, ancient buildings, deep shadows, brilliant sky, a timeless stage.

A Street in Provence

The main street in St. Maximin la Ste. Baume in Provence, France.  9x12 oil on canvas.

Old Street

A 9x12 oil on canvas painting that I reworked slightly.  It depicts an old street in St. Maximim la Ste Baume in Provence.

Pondering

The other painting that I did at the base of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA last Friday, a view of the pond, a 9x12 oil on panel.  The pond is not very large, but standing at it's edge for a while, one sees (and hears) that it is full of life, things that keep breaking the water surface, besides the breeze.

Cloud-Like and Tree-Shaped

Painting in the Manchester, VT backyard again on Saturday, I shifted my view to include more of the large mountain and the vibrant sky above.   The treetops are cloud-like and the clouds are tree-shaped.  12x16 oil on panel.

The Slant of the Hill

This is the second of the two paintings that I made on Friday at the bottom of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  You can see that the clouds are beginning to form, which motivated me to move uphill.   The slant of the hill offers wonderful angles to make interesting compositions.  I love the word 'slant', as in the 'slant of light' from Emily Dickinson.

No End in Sight

Though I started the day painting at the bottom of Sheep Hill, in Williamstown, MA, when the clouds started to form, I moved to the top.  Here are two 8x10 oil on panel cloud studies.  We call them 'studies' to reflect their informal nature, and suggest we might learn something eventually, but there's no end in sight to studying clouds.

Better Late Than Early

An 8x10 cloud painting from a couple days ago at Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I tried to paint quickly, without thinking too much.  Afterwards, when I started thinking again, I discovered that even better clouds happen later in the day when I wasn't able to be out there.

Clouds All Day

The weather forecast threatened, but the rain stayed away.  However, there were great clouds forming all day long.  I did six small paintings, including the one here, an 11x14 oil on panel.  All were done at the top of Sheep Hill in Williamstown, MA.  I've included a photo of where I was set up in the morning.

Overlooking

Last week I went to the Fitch Overlook again (I had incorrectly called it the Fitch View earlier) on Notch Road near the top of Mount Greylock.  I prefer the word 'overlook' since it's one of those rare words that means what it means and also its opposite as well.  I overlooked the word overlook when I was overlooking the overlook, which I didn't overlook.  I'd like to go back there as soon as the weather improves.  This painting is 12x16 oil on panel.