Scouting

Today, I went scouting for a place to paint, and drew instead.  The first drawing (all are 9x12 and charcoal pencil) is at the bottom, from a location at the top of Luce Road.  I posted a drawing from there a few days ago.  The second drawing is from Field Farm.  The third and fourth drawings were done at the end of Hopper Road, where there's an old barn and an ancient and beautiful red and yellow truck decaying into the ground.    So I think I will paint at the end of Hopper Road.

Threefer

The top 9x12 oil on canvas I did this morning at Sweet Brook Farm.  The middle 9x12 oil on canvas I did at a spot to the right last Saturday at Sweet Brook Farm.  And, alas, I felt I had to revise just a bit the "Near Five Corners" 9x12 oil on canvas that I did earlier this week.

Painting outside can be a pain.  I had to take off my apron and my shirt at one point today to get rid of some stinging bug that was caught between the fabric and my back skin.  But suffering for art, it's ok.

The weather has been so glorious for the last week or so that I feel like I've discovered clouds for the first time.  Usually they bring rain.  I did some other work outside today, which hopefully will bear fruit in the next few days.

Greylock and Hopper from Sweet Brook

A 12x12 oil painting that I started a while back and completed recently, but haven't posted until now.  You can clearly see why Greylock, on the right, used to be called Saddleback.  The view is from the field at Sweet Brook Farm.  No,  I didn't get out today.  Maybe tomorrow.

Near Five Corners on Wednesday

The sky was threatening, and the light was hazy, and I did exaggerate the incline of the mountains in the background, but that's how they appeared to me.  When I get back there later this week, hopefully it will be sunnier, and everything will of course look different.  Even the mountains will be less steep.

Drawing on Tuesday

This morning I arrived at a wonderful place to paint, just as the wind picked up and the dark clouds moved in.  So I moved on.  Later in the day I did this drawing while walking up Luce Road above the farm.  I will try again tomorrow morning early, since there are showers moving in later in the day.   The great painter Charles Sovek said that painting wasn't a performance sport, and I agree with him.  But the other day when the wind blew my painting into my palette, I decided to let chance have some say in the outcome.  You wouldn't see it, unless I pointed it out.  I did some scraping and wiping (and whining), which sounds like the behavior of a bad dog.

Painting on Monday

Today I spent the morning and the afternoon outside painting.  Top is 9x12 oil at Sheep Hill, and bottom is 9x12 oil at top of Stratton Road.  Bright, intense, and green.

Sunday Morning

Early this morning I visited the Rosenburg Center at Hopkins Forest where I painted the above 9x12 oil landscape.

Paint Tubes in a Cardboard Box

A 9x12 charcoal and pastel drawing of a cardboard box with paint tubes in the studio.  This time it's sitting on the floor.

Even a Kitchen Sink

The studio has a kitchen counter and sink.  The above objects are depicted as found.  The scissors may seem like a quote (they are), but that's where and how I found them.  The above is an 11x14 charcoal and pastel drawing on gessoed paper.  Tomorrow's drawing, if I can pull it off, will be even more interesting.  

Studio Table 20

A 12x9 charcoal and pastel drawing on gessoed paper of a table in the studio from this morning.  This is close to what I am trying to accomplish.  Maybe a little looser, a little more variableness in the forms. At least they are fun to do.

Baby Al

Baby Al, born yesterday, probably has a real name by now.  I did the bottom drawing earlier today in preparation for a painting, but then realized that the image doesn't give any idea that the newborn is only about three feet high.  So I did the 11x14 oil painting above, where the baby is surrounded by adults.  If you go to the Facebook page for the Sweet Brook Farm in Williamstown, MA, you can see a short video of the birth.  Pretty amazing.

Entrance

These two drawings may not look impressive, but I wanted to see what they would look like.  The sun has to be shining, and it has to be mid-morning to see this effect.  The doorway is the entrance to the studio.  Both are 12x9 on gessoed paper.

Drawing, Drawing, Drawing, Gone

There's only this one drawing that I did earlier today, a 14x11 charcoal and pastel on gessoed paper.   I wanted to put the weight at the bottom.  Again, a still life as found in the studio, arranged unconsciously by Thor Wickstrom.  You could call it an 'act of Thor'.  I like the artificial atmosphere of an art studio.  Of course, doing studio interiors and studio still lifes has a long tradition.  But the artificiality is the same as the artificiality of art work itself.  But is there much real life without artificiality.   And vice versa.   You will notice that the drawing is of the same table as the yesterday's drawing, but from a different angle.  Old skull is still there.

Haley House

A 9x12 oil on canvas of Haley House, otherwise known as 23 Dartmouth, at the corner of Dartmouth and Montgomery in Boston's South End.  I spent much time in this building many years ago.

Studio Table 18

This is obviously a 'serious' drawing, but also just another studio table drawing.  I drew just what I found: no setup, nothing moved, etc.  I did select the view.  I also discovered an interesting way to proceed:  I was doing a prep drawing intended for painting in oil on gessoed paper, but the way the charcoal went on the gessoed paper was so nice, I decided to just make the drawing.  I plan on doing more studio tables with just charcoal on gessoed paper.  I did 'fix' it.