Misty Newport

"Misty Newport", oil on panel, 6 x 8


I realized there are quite a few studies from last several months that I neglected to post on my blog.  So, you will see them now!  This is a little plein air done in Newport last summer.   I like that combination of deep summer green shrouded in mist.  That is the tony private school St. Georges in the distance mist.  Click on the button above to go to the Daily Paintworks site for purchase/auction.

Cool Morning

Study for "A Cool Morning", 9 x 12, oil on linen panel

This is a plein air piece started in Newport a couple of weeks ago.  I did not spend enough time working out the composition before I started so I have struggled with it for the past week or so.  My main area of concern was the bottom right corner.  I had to make up the rocks and tree there so that the composition was more than just three horizontal bands.  I think I will let it sit for a while.  Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend!


Revised painting as of 9/3:  I had to move that big boulder in the right hand corner.  It was heavy ; )

September at the Beach

"September at the Beach," 6 x 8 oil on linen panel

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post!  We've been traveling between Newport RI and Saratoga Springs NY so it's been busy.  The weather has been beautiful in both places and it is really starting to look and feel like Fall.  It's actually perfect plein air weather.  I like the brushwork in this little study.  I was trying to apply the paint in the same manner as my pastels which tend to be much looser than my oils.  It's something I am really trying to work on.

End of Summer

"End of Summer", 6 x 8, oil on linen panel

We are taking care of boat things in a marina north of Newport RI.  There are a lot of boats hauled out awaiting their repairs or just hanging out for a while which makes for great plein air subject matter.  This old fishing trawler caught my eye right away.  I think it's one of the "hanging out" boats:  it's been sitting there a while.  The colors in this painting are a light brighter than my usual palette.  I grabbed my paint bag not realizing I had taken several tubes of paint out a few days ago.  I was left with cad yellow, yellow ochre, quinacridone red, transparent red oxide and prussian blue.  I rarely use prussian blue. It is a very strong pigment and can take over the entire palette if not used carefully.   I kind of like the pure color in this but I would like to do another version with my more complete palette to grey it down a bit. I'll post a second version if I get to it in the next day or so.

More Lobsterfellas

"Lobsters on the Dock", oil on panel, 6 x 6

I finally got a little painting time in today.  I have so many great sketches and references of all the lobster boats I've seen in the last few weeks.  I've spent quite a few afternoons at the Newport Shipyards where all the lobster and fishing boats are docked.  The overwhelming smell barely even bothers me any more!  This guy caught my eye with the bright yellow overalls against the dark hull of his boat.  Hopefully I'll have more to post tomorrow.

The Value of Sketching

Newport RI - 4th of July at dusk

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  I am back in Newport RI for the summer.  I love it here:  the boats, the light, the breeze.  I love it all.  I am eager to get out and paint and it looks like today will be a nice day for it.

In the meantime, I wanted to post a couple of pages from my old sketchbooks because I have been devoting a lot of time to sketching lately.   Sketchbooks are a great place to work out ideas, try different compositions and practice your value skills.  Sketching forces you to think in terms of value.  You can achieve the entire value range with a 6B pencil and an eraser.  I often sketch when I don't feel like painting or when the weather is too bad to go outside.  You can sketch from your reference photos or just sketch whatever is in front of you.  It's a great exercise to try to make a composition out of something simple or ordinary like a chair or a table with flowers.  The images here are a couple of sketches from an old sketchbook.  The sketch above was from a photo I took of our neighbor's little girl several years ago and the ones below are of simple scenes in and around the house.