After the equinox...

I spent the day painting, and it’s really starting to feel like fall in Maine. There was actually a coat of frost on my windshield this morning. When the weather cools off here, we get incredibly crisp, clear sunny days. Today was one of those days. The sun always feels low in the sky and the leaves start turning to warmer colors. We aren’t in the days of full color yet, but there are some nice oranges and reds starting to show up.

The painting in this post is from a few weeks ago, but I like this one because it reminds me of fall. I think that’s because it’s a scene of the Maine that’s left behind when the tourists leave for the winter. The Maine where people use their front yard for a workshop, and have piles of lumber and stones out front while they fix up the house. Where a house has the patina of looking used and lived in, and a stoic New England character.

At this point I’ve eaten almost all of the veggies that I’m going to get from my garden and I’m getting ready to prepare my house for the snow and wind. The last rush of the year is when my painting season is slowing down and I finally have time to work on my house, with only a few weeks before it’s too cold to do anything outside.  I’m still trying to squeeze some painting in, and thinking of ideas for studio paintings this winter.

I also want to mention that I’m getting a new easel for my plein air work. I love the one I have, but I wanted a slightly smaller one for travelling. I’m heading to Mexico for a painting trip and want something just slightly smaller to get into luggage. The easel I use is called an Easyl, made by artwork essentials. I usually use their mid-size one, but I’m getting a “lite,” the smaller size, for this trip. It’s so fun getting new equipment! If you are thinking of trying a new easel, check out this company:

http://www.artworkessentials.com/

Rockland Workshop...

This painting was done in South Thomaston, and it’s a place I’ve painted before, but not on a day with such vibrant color. I did a similar scene on a grey day in early spring, when all of the grass was still brown and the trees bare. When I happened upon the scene again, I was excited by how different everything could look. This painting is a 12×16″ oil on canvas.

I’ve been slow about posting new entries, mostly because I’ve been running around the last few weeks. Last week I was teaching a 5 day workshop in Rockland, ME. The week before I was traveling through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada checking out a new place, and getting a little bit of painting done. I have a few new paintings from that trip, which I’ll try to get up here soon.

The workshop was my first 5 day class, and it was great. We got lucky with the weather, spending most of our days painting on site. We only got chased inside one morning, and the sun came back out quickly. Everything went pretty smoothly, and I had a great group. They were funny and all very laid back and fun to work with. I was careful to pace myself for the week, so I wouldn’t crash half way through, and I did a pretty good job. The focus I need to give everyone the help they need is just exhausting. But overall I was really happy with how everyone did. I started with b+w value studies the first day. Then temperature studies the next morning, and a limited palette that afternoon. All week I stressed the value of getting a really good structure into the painting in the very early stages. That meant alot of talk about comparing values, and color temperature, and observed colors, and composition, and a fair amount about paint handling. In these workshops I’m trying to help people improve their plein air paintings, but I feel like the techniqes we focus on the most hold true in how I approach everything I paint. So I hope my students bring alot of these ideas home and incorporate them wherever they might fit.