classwork

                             8x11

.                              8x10

Took an online class with Richard Scott, my third, and I really recommend his classes.

Richard studies John Singer Sargent's paintings and passes on his observations to students--which is great.

And after the class you have access to the video for two months.

I hope to try these again!

studio tour

I'll be participating in a studio tour in early October. Thinking of using the tour to thin out my flat files by putting out a basket of older paintings at low prices. Maybe a buy one, get one half price. People love that.🙂

plein air

Morning sketching session at an old schoolhouse near my home.

Continue to struggle with tree shadows cast on grass.

plein air

In order, yesterday's 1.5 hour plein air sketching.

I'm trying to be more exploratory and more experimental in my plein air practice: spend a proscribed amount of time and sketch what's in front of me.

Here I used Micron pen, Tombow marker, watercolor and watercolor pencils.

fla

                               11x15

Looking at this photo, I think this isn't quite done. But it's my first try at a photo I took last winter in Gulfport, Fla.

Definitely going to paint it again, hopefully.

maine

                              8x8

Going to Maine in about two weeks with my friend Gina to paint for a week.

I want to try to practice simplifying and getting dark darks before we go.

morning sketching

Second morning sketch session this week.

The idea is get out early, go somewhere close by, draw what we can in about 1.5 hours.

sketching

Out for a short sketching session in Cape May Point yesterday afternoon. Been a while since I attempted to draw architecture 

nasturtium

My nasturtium finally bloomed! I'm especially pleased because I grew these from seed: I usually don't have much luck with seeds. Next year I'll be planting a lot more!

This is supposed to be a hot press paper, but it's not really very smooth and the wet paint didn't flow and mingle as I expected to.

tuneup

My friend Gina and I will be going to ME for a week in mid September, and we hope to make the most of it and paint every day.

So, to get tuned up, from now till we leave twice a week we're going out in the a.m. for 1 to 1.5 hours, close to home, to practice looking and sketching, just to see what we can do.

This morning was day one and we got lucky: beautiful morning with phenomenal skies and lots of birds: terns, skimmers, sanderlings, black back gulls, ospreys, and a bald eagle.

I was planning to just draw but felt I needed to add color. I was painting in my Moleskine sketchbook, which is limiting on a way I can deal with, using a waterbrush-- maybe I need to try again but I'm not keen on the waterbrush.

uff da

                               10x12

The exception that proves the rule: a painting I did in a Shari Blaukopf class that I'm not happy with. I hasten to add that the fault is entirely mine, of course: Shari's painting of this scene is gorgeous!

The main problem is my carelessness in the drawing: not happy with the stack of water shapes.

There was a town on the horizon but I wasn't interested in it, so I fudged it ... Badly. Should have just left it out entirely.

Biggest problem was I wasn't able to mix the range of colors, especially greens, with this triad--yellow ochre, cadmium red, cerulean-- as Shari was. I should work on that.

oceanscapes

Columbus Day weekend for the past two years I've been participating, with my friend Gina, in an artists' studio tour. It's a great--my only!--opportunity to sell some paintings, and a lot of nice people offer you a lot of encouragement. Which makes up for having to be on hand 10-6 for two days!

In addition to my usual offerings, this year I have a lot of sloppy oceanscapes I may put in a bargain bin. After some touching up or cropping ...

plein air

My friend Gina and I got to meet up yesterday with a friend we made at Susan Abbott's Vermont retreat last year. Jill was vacationing nearby and we got together for lunch and about 2 hours of sketching.

We sought out places with shade and wound up in a little pocket park, Wilbraham Park, in West Cape May, then at Cape May Point State Park.

Wonderful to see Jill and to get out for a little sketching. Hope we can make a tradition of it!

play

 Some more playing around inspired by Birgit O'Connor's classes.

I could probably take these all further, but I was just enjoying watching the colors blend and trying to keep edges soft.

classwork

                                9x12

Painting this in an online class, Luminous Watercolors, with Shari Blaukopf.

There are a couple of teachers with whom I paint things I wouldn't think I could paint; Shari is one of them.

We used a triad of raw sienna, alizarin crimson and Prussian blue.

waterscapes

                              6x6

Lazy day here puttering around, did these little exercises from a Birgit O'Connor class on waves.

.                        12x16 sheet

still life

in reverse order, a still life setup I painted yesterday with my friend Gina. We try to get out to paint plein air once a week, but have only been twice all summer! It's been too hot, too windy, or raining ... Same reasons I've only been kayaking four times. Weather looks like it will be good this week though.🤞

clouds

                              7x11

Playing around on some scraps of paper.

classwork

                            11x15

after JS Sargent, Corfu: Lights and Shadows, 1909

Another deceptively simple Sargent. I can see right away my copy is too much shadows and not enough lights.

But it is a fun way to practice more gestural brushwork.

I painted along with a recording of a live online class with Richard Scott called Sargent's Secrets.

Going to try to sort these out. 😯

overdue homework

                              9x11

A while ago, last year?, in an online class I took with Richard Scott, painting this scene was our homework.

I really wish I had done it more promptly because I forgot the process I was supposed to follow.

I think Richard chose this reference because it's J.S. Sargent-ish. And so I just tried to paint it in Sargent-ish colors.

Today's 10 minute painting:

10 minutes

                            14x17

Had some trees trimmed last month and found this branch from my pear tree on the ground yesterday. It's quite beautiful: I hope to make time to do a detailed drawing of it.

But in the meantime 10 minutes will have to suffice.

10 minutes

                            10x12

From a photo I took in VT of a couple of, idk, are they donkeys? Not mules?

Anyway, painting so fast I didn't notice they each have only three legs!