Rising Mist

"Rising Mist", 8 x 10, pastel on sanded paper (currently available at Mimosa Gallery through 6/30)

The last few weeks have been spent experimenting with an indirect painting technique which is opposite of the way I usually work in oil.  It involves a lot of pre-planning and patience.  The way that Deborah Paris teaches this technique is to develop a very thorough and detailed underpainting in a transparent color and then add layers of glazes, velaturas and opaque paint passages at the end.  It takes a LONG time and it requires your concept be completely thought out prior to even starting the painting.  I need to experiment with it more as I don't feel I have anything worth posting yet.   I have come to the conclusion, however, that what I really want is for my oils to look like my pastels.  So I am going to experiment with trying to marry the indirect method with my pastel technique.  We'll see what happens.   I'll keep you posted . . .

Late Afternoon in Lubec

"Late Afternoon Lubec", oil on panel, 8 x 10

This was the view from the backyard of a house I rented in Lubec Maine a few summers ago.  I painted this study mainly from memory and pencil sketches.  My photo reference was quite dark and blurry so I  used it solely as a starting point.  I am trying to do more complete drawings and studies in pencil, pen or charcoal on location so that I can use as them as references instead of photos.  Drawing takes much longer than painting and really requires you to focus on what aspect of the scene you want to capture.  I think you end up retaining more visual memory of a location because it takes so much more time and concentration to render something in pencil and paper than with a brush and paint.