Two from the summer

It’s studio clean up day for me, which always involves looking through piles of filled sketchbooks (it’s a form of procrastination, no doubt). It’s sort of a review of the year too, and also a way to find if there are any unused pages I can fill. Sometimes I also find sketches I haven’t scanned, like these two from Rockport, Mass. It’s funny, the things that come back to you when you look at the sketches. With these, it was the wind. I painted the first one (with all the boats) on the cold side of Tuna Wharf. It’s the side that faces the open water, just at the start of the channel where the fishing boats go out to sea. I seem to always choose the worst time to paint there, at the end of the day when the wind picks up. I can see from the shaky squiggles that I made on the page that I was really cold. My brush strokes are messy and not very precise.

fromtunawharf_coldside

The second sketch is done from the protected side of Tuna Wharf, sitting in the sun, at the end of the day. When I look at this one, I can feel reflected heat from the wall behind me, and the more confident lines in the sketch are revealing — this was certainly a more comfortable place to draw from.

Ok, back to the big clean up.

fromtunawharf_warmside


10 Comments on “Two from the summer”

  1. carolyn cochran says:

    Shari, your art journey is always inspiring and I so appreciate your work! Happy New Year! Carolyn

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  2. Love seeing your sketches. Thanks for taking the time to share them and your experiences with us.

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  3. rosjenke says:

    I love your messy and not very precise. It has a joy and vitality to it. Something I’m forever striving for.

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  4. Alison says:

    It continues to fascinate me how vivid sketch memories can be. Thanks for sharing yours. Lovely sketches.

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  5. Bill Fagan says:

    Hi Shari,
    I really like both- there’s a nice looseness in squiggleys. What blues did you use for the water?
    Bill

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    • Hi Bill, Nice to hear from you. I don’t remember exactly what I used because I did these so long ago but I would guess there’s cerulean and ultramarine in the water mixes, and maybe a little Phthalo too.

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