Portrait of a Super Hero

This is a detail of a painting I have been working on a for a while.  I think I am getting close to the finish line.  I still need to refine some color relationships and tone down the background.  I love these superhero poses.  Children have such active imaginations at this age.  Too bad it doesn't last forever!

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.

Intertwined

"Intertwined", oil on linen panel, 9 x 12

The Bonnet House in South Florida has beautiful Melaleuca trees lining the drive to the main house of an old 1940s estate.  It is a beautiful spot to paint.  This was done in three sessions over a week or so.  Sorry for the poor photo - iPhone!

Moonlight Nights

"Moonlight Nights", 18 x 24, Oil on Panel

This painting is still a work in progress but it is mostly done and I have put it away until I can look at it with fresh eyes.  There is a group of really fine artists who post their work on Instagram and occasionally there is a "challenge" of some sort.  This was done for "the poetry of place" challenge which was started by Donald Jurney and has continued on for the past few weeks.  A poem is posted every Friday and the participating artists design and execute and a painting based on that poem.  This weeks poem is from Bernard Howe:

The clear sky seems to glow,

with the moon so big and bright.

Lighting up our hill sides,

with an iridescence light.

The shadows hide amongst the trees,

whilst I listen to the gentle breeze.

A night time opera in front of me,

a magical moment under a grand marquee. - Bernard Howe from "Moonlight Nights"

Happy November

"Rain on the Horizon", 6 x 6 , oil on panel

Wow!  I didn't realize I had been absent so long!  I have been working daily and posting pieces as they are finished on Instagram where there is a great community of like minded artists who do some incredible work.  (You can follow along on instagram at www.instagram.com/eden.compton if you are interested.)  It is tiny painting season again and I have lots of little works in progress for the holidays.  Some will be available at Sorelle Gallery in Albany and some will be available at a new online gallery called Spa City Fine Arts.  I will do a post on Spa City Fine Arts tomorrow.  Hope everyone is enjoying the Fall which seems to be turning prematurely to winter already.

Lingering Mist

Study for "Lingering Mist", 8 x 8, oil on panel
Click Here to Bid at Daily Paintworks


This started as a plein air piece done in the middle of a summer day.  I decided it needed a little more mood and changed the time of day to early morning.  I like it much better.  I am going to start putting some of my studies on the Daily Paintworks auction page - starting with this one!  I will also be selling some of my smaller studies and paintings through an online gallery this Fall.  Stay tuned for details!

Twilight at the Lake in Cape Cod

"Twilight at the Lake", 11 x 14, plein air on panel

This photo is picking up strange accents but it was taken with an iPhone so that's about it.   I think the contrast and the purples are over emphasized.  This was a painting started on location at a lake near Dennis on Cape Cod.  It was the end of a beautiful day on the Cape.  I was initially taken with the shape of the trees against the water.  I did a lot of work in the studio on this.  Maybe too much.  I will leave it for a while and look at it with fresh eyes in a couple of weeks.

Humid Day in Newport

"Humid Day in Newport", 8 x 10, oil on panel

It's been a long time since I have posted here but I have actually been working!  As I have mentioned here before I am working in an indirect manner which takes much longer than painting all prima (in one sitting).  I am also still trying to paint without photo references for at least three months to see if I can improve my memory skills.  This painting was started on site and finished over a few days in the studio from memory.  To make things even more challenging, I am using a new palette which I am still trying to get a handle on.  It is based on Donald Jurney's palette.  He is a New England based painter who does stunning work mostly from his imagination.  He does paint a lot plein air and his drawings are exquisite.  I had the opportunity to meet him in Ogunquit a few weeks ago and I hope to be able to take another workshop with him sometime.  You can see some of his work here.  The palette is unique in that there is no cadmium yellow or red which makes for a softer and more natural color harmony.  He also uses premixed greens which I have never used before.  I'm working on it.  I have a few more pieces in the works.

Foggy Afternoon

Study for Foggy Afternoon, oil on panel, 6 x 8

This little study started as an exercise in atmospheric tonalism.  There are two key ways to create atmosphere:  close values and low chroma color.  I picked one color (green) to use as my jumping off point for all the values and masses in the painting.  All the colors are mixed off of the one green puddle of color.  I was careful to keep the values separate but close.  I like the brushwork in this study.  I also like the underpainting showing through in the foreground as it adds a little sparkle and interest.  After spending the last several months painting in an indirect manner (lots of glazing and waiting) it was liberating to start and finish a study in one sitting.  I used a larger pastel painting of this scene from a few years ago as my guide to composing the sketch.  I may take it a bit further and create a new composition for a larger oil.  

Essex January Invitational

"LobsterFellas", 8 x 10, oil on panel

Two of my lobster guy paintings have been accepted by Art Essex Gallery in beautiful Essex, Connecticut.  This is a national show and will be covered by Art Collector magazine.  The show opens January 15th and runs through February 15th.  There is a reception on the 17th which I will have to miss since I will be on my way to the Caribbean.  But you should go!!

Rain on Phila Street

"Rain on Phila Street", 5 x 7, oil on panel

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!  We are digging out from over a foot of snow in Saratoga Springs.  I just returned from the Caribbean last week.  It's quite an adjustment to go from 87 degrees to 0 in one week!  This is another rainy day study of Saratoga.  I guess it's time to move to snow scenes.  I have plenty of source material outside.

Rainscapes

"Study for Rainy Afternoon NYC", 5 x 7, oil on panel

Rain has been a motif that I constantly revisit.  I love rainy cityscapes.   There are so many surface variations on a rainy day:  wet concrete, reflections from cars and buildings, misty atmosphere, the list goes on.  The key challenge in creating a rainy day scene is to get the values correct which are usually compressed on the lower end of the value scale.   I have spent quite a few hours in the rain sketching wet streets!  I am currently working on the 18 x 24 version of this painting.  I will post more rainscapes as they appear.