This is a view of the Hancock Grocery in late afternoon. This is another recent painting that I used sketches to help compose. Below is a page from my sketchbook where I was playing around with two possible painting ideas. The one on the bottom is the plan for this painting. There were a few things I was drawn to in the scene. One is the warm light on the scene and the interesting colors I could play around with in the light and shadow, and another was the geometry of the building and the spaces framed around it. I also think that text can add an interesting element to a painting. Here it makes for a nice combination of “ice” and “pepsi”, and the colors around each sign feel like a good match for the meaning of the text. I especially like the warm, sunlit whites around the ice sign.

Today I had a few minute to read int eh afternoon, and finished up Hensche on Painting. It ‘s a pretty good book. I think I enjoy Robert Henri’s Art Spirit and  Hawthorne on Painting a bit more, but they are all valuable books in a similar way. (sidebar; Robert Hanri taught Charles Hawthorne, who taught Henry Hensche, who taught most of the artists on Cape Cod.) I found a few good quotes in here and as soon as I read them I thought of sharing them with you.

“If you are looking for painting techniques you will not get them from me. Techniques give you a predetermined solution to your problem. In the end, there can only be visual analysis. Without visual analysis you will experience no growth. You will return to the pat solutions that some teacher gave you and you will revert to mere picture making.”

“Art can make life beautiful. Believe me, it is worth the effort to achieve the highest level of seeing that you are capable of achieving.”

This is a 24×24″ painting that I did recently. A few months ago I posted a plein air sketch that included some of these elements (the truck and fence in the top left quadrant of this scene.) I also had some reference photos to work from and did a little sketching. Below is the sketch that helped me figure out this composition. In the photos the background info was further in the distance and harder to read. I also I really like seeing the orange barrels so prominent in the foreground in the photos, but I had to do some drawing to figure out how I wanted to organize the shapes and colors in the picture plane, and the objects in space.

What I really like about the scene, and the reason I wanted to paint it, was to play around with the incredibly intense colors and the ways the warm and cool light effects can work around that. A scene like this is tricky for me to figure out, because I have to see if I can make a certain set of objects, and a balance between these objects fit into a rectangular composition. This one fit pretty well onto a square format, and gave me room to have some busy sections that balanced off of larger quiet sections.

If you have read this far into this blog entry you are interested enough in painting minutiae, that you should either consider taking a workshop yourself, or go ahead and help spread the word among your friends about my upcoming workshops and exhibits.

A friend of mine, Barbara Stroud, has posted an announcement for my workshop on her own blog. She has a fun blog that often talks about her favorite artists, and has a very nice post about my work and this class coming up. You should check it out if you have the time.

Audrey gets worse at posing for drawings every day, but I still keep trying every once in a while. Here are a few recent drawings.

Today I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Start the Week from the BBC, and heard an interesting interview with David Hockney. I have to admit that I don’t love Hockney’s paintings, but the interview was decent. Hockney talked about his interest in painting the landscape from life, and working on some very large work. Even with an artist whose work I don’t necessarily love, I enjoy hearing someone talk about their process and inspirations. For such a  contemporary artist, Hockney sounded an awful lot like most of the plein air painters I know. He was fascinated by painting  the changing light and seasons, and observing the wonders of nature. It was as simple as that. I also liked a Chinese proverb he referenced that basically said that art cannot be made without using the hand, eyes and heart. A simple idea, but nicely put.

My paintings will be in a few shows coming up this spring, from Maine to South Carolina.

Thomas Moser in Freeport, Maine has a group show opening February 15th. The show will include the work of Eric Hopkins and James Mullins, along with my own. I will have a large selection of paintings on display here, so if you are heading through Freeport it would be worth a visit.

Greenhut Gallery in Portland, ME has a biennial exhibition of works about Portland. I am very excited to  be invited to participate in this show. I will be showing a nocturne of the Portland waterfront. The opening reception is March 1st, 5-7pm, and it will be up until April 28th.

Smith Killian Fine Art in Charleston, SC also has a group show coming up that opens April 6. I will have a few paintings in the show and look forward to going down to Charleston for the opening. I’m also teaching a workshop through the gallery that weekend.If you live in the area I would love your support at the opening, and in spreading word of the show.

I have been promoting a few shows and workshops lately, and I just wanted to mention them again. My 5-day class in September is getting filled up and many of the classes have had a good initial response. These classes will all focus on the fundamentals of painting through painting the landscape on site. I will post a little more info on some of the classes in the coming weeks, but for the basic info:

April 6-7
Smith Killian Fine Art
843 853 0708
Charleston, SC

May 5-6
River Arts
207 563 1507
Damariscotta, Maine

May 19-20
Farnsworth Art Museum
207 596 6457
Rockland. ME

August 13-17
Farnsworth Art Museum
Workshop retreat at Nebo Lodge
207 596 6457
North Haven, Maine

September 10-14
Coastal Maine Art Workshops
207 594 4813
Rockland, Maine

October 6-8
Haystack Mountain School
207 348 2306
Deer Isle
Part of their Open Door Workshop weekend.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these classes feel free to contact me or the host organization. All registrations will be handled by the organization planning the workshop.

“The function of human beings is to wonder at the universe, because without us here all of that balance, and beauty, and logic would be going to waste. “ Lawrence Weschler during an interview on the podcast Boomerang.

Here is another figure study, This was also a quick one, 25 minutes.

I heard another great quote when I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the Slate Political Gabfest. John Dickerson read a quote from Kottke.org about what it is like to deeply understand advanced mathematics.

You are comfortable with feeling like you have no deep understanding of the problem you are studying. Indeed, when you do have a deep understanding, you have solved the problem and it is time to do something else. This makes the total time you spend in life reveling in your mastery of something quite brief. One of the main skills of research scientists of any type is knowing how to work comfortably and productively in a state of confusion.

This fits the life of any person constantly trying to advance their understanding of any field. I love it.

I also want to mention that I just looked through the site here and noticed a few pending comments on older posts. Somehow I missed them, so they were not approved before today. I apologize if any of you felt like I was ignoring you. Not surprisingly these comments date back to around the time of the birth of my daughter, when I let a lot of things slip away for a bit. But that is no excuse. I welcome your comments and hope you know that they are all appreciated.

And since the cookie debate on the poll question has lasted longer than intended, I will move on to a new one. Final tally; 73 votes, 40 for walnuts in chocolate chip cookies, 33 against. So make sure you remember to add the walnuts! For the new question I want to know whether or not you enjoy abstract painting. Abstract painting is a vague term, and there is really a sliding scale from photo-realism to complete non-representational art. But overall, do you find it rewarding to look at abstract paintings, whatever that term means to you?

I had a great day on Sunday. My wife and baby were away from the house, so I settled down into the studio for a full day of painting. It takes a while to settle into the studio, but once I do it feels great. It’s also totally exhausting. And I love it. I’ve been working on several studio paintings that finally feel like they are starting to come together a bit.

Another quote from Ranier Maria Rilke:

“Reflect on the world that you carry within yourself. And name this thinking what you wish… Just be sure that you observe carefully what wells up within you and place that above everything that you notice around you. Your innermost happening is worth all your love.

This is a study from a figure drawing group. I did some drawing during the shortest poses and when we got up to 15 minutes I decided to try out some oil sketches. This was done in 15 minutes and as an attempt to get the basic shapes and color. It’s a great challenge to try to do some very fast paintings and force myself to prioritize my decisions and respond quickly. The model was great. He had some fun props and creative poses.

While away for the holidays I ran across a book I haven’t read in years, Ranier Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. Reading through it again has been fun. I am definitely getting more from it than I remember getting last time. It is really great guidance for anyone leading a creative life. A quote from the first letter:

“Write about your sorrows, your wishes, your passing thoughts, your belief in anything beautiful. Describe all that with fervent, quiet, and humble sincerity. In order to express yourself, use things in your surroundings, the scenes of your dreams, and the subjects of your memory. If your everyday life appears to be unworthy subject matter, do not complain to life. Complain to yourself. Lament that you are not poet enough to call up its wealth. For the creative artist nothing is insignificant or unimportant… Your aloneness will expand and will become your home, greeting you like the quiet dawn. Outer tumult will pass it by from afar.”

Elizabeth and I did a drive up to Acadia this fall and I took lots of reference photos. One thing I want to play around with is using daytime photos to paint a moonlit nocturne. This was my first attempt to simplify the color scheme down to night hues, but I think I made it too simple and too much in the blue range, so I have been playing around with a few other attempts before doing a slightly larger version. But even if it may be a bit too monochromatic, I do like the feeling of moonlight on the water, so that is something I can work with.

I am glad to see that cookies with walnuts are winning the vote right now. This poll question has caused some heated debate among my friends. I will probably leave it up until the new year so feel free to encourage your friends to weigh in.

I have not been doing a ton of baby drawings lately, but I thought these pages from my sketchbook were decent, and would make a fun holiday post. She is a very fidgety model and I have to spend a lot of effort trying to keep her entertained with a stuffed animal in one hand as I draw with the other. Tricky business, but it makes for some fun, quick sketches.  Have a great time celebrating your holiday(s) of choice! See you in the new year.