Bearskin Neck with wires
Posted: June 25, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 20 CommentsWhen I was drawing yesterday’s sketch of Bearskin Neck someone came up to me and said “It’s a good thing you’re not drawing the side of the street with all the electrical wires!” I found that pretty funny since I love drawing wires and utility poles. Some people may find these unsightly but I think they give a rhythm to the drawing and they often echo the curves found in other parts of the picture. Sometimes they add a contrasting note when there are a lot of verticals and horizontals. Or in this case they add a little bit of disorder to a scene that might otherwise be a little too pretty.
Bearskin Neck in the morning
Posted: June 24, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 11 CommentsIt would be impossible to sketch on Bearskin Neck in the middle of the day —there’s just too much pedestrian traffic and the street is too narrow. But it’s the reason why people go to Rockport. To walk up and down this street with their kids and dogs, to eat lobsters and fudge (hopefully not at the same time), to buy souvenirs and to check out the art galleries. On Father’s Day there was no parking to be found within a mile of the centre of town. Rockport seems to be a place mostly for day tourists and that’s what makes it attractive to me. In the morning and evening the place clears out and then I can set up anywhere and sketch all the little buildings. In a sketch like this I usually start by looking at the line of the roofs against the sky. Once those are in I can add the detail of the structures, and lastly all the colourful accents.
Carters Yacht Yard
Posted: June 23, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 5 CommentsI love setting up a travel stool and looking through the fence into Carter’s yacht yard in Gloucester. This is where they work on the big old boats. They are simply beautiful objects to draw — no polished wood or shiny metal here — this is all rust and grime and sawdust and grease. I can get totally lost in this and if I could spend a week just painting these boats I would.
Gully Point Cove
Posted: June 22, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 11 CommentsIt’s no fun to paint on a windy day. The paper dries too fast and the easel is always threatening to topple over. That’s why I went up to Gully Point Cove in Rockport early in the morning while the sea was relatively calm. As I painted, the wind slowly picked up until I had to hold the easel down with my free hand. So absorbed was I in trying to complete the painting that I didn’t notice a crowd gathering nearby, hands shielding their eyes, staring and pointing out to sea. When I looked out to see what the commotion was, I witnessed a dramatic kayak rescue. Later in the day I met the young man who had to be picked up by the coast guard boat and I was relieved to find out that he was fine. I guess it’s no fun to kayak on a windy day either.
Gully Point Cove sketch
Posted: June 21, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 7 CommentsWind, water and rocks. There is not much accurate about this sketch and I was going to finish it when I got home (and out of the wind), but decided to leave it as is because it expresses perfectly the day and the setting: wind, water and rocks. I did go back the next day and make a painting of this (which I will post tomorrow) but in some ways I prefer the sketch because it has the energy of that moment. Size: 16″ x 10″.
Halibut Point
Posted: June 20, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 32 CommentsToday was a day for painting rocks. I managed to get in two paintings, both quarter sheets and since tomorrow is a travel day I’ll save the other one for then. I painted for the first time at Halibut Point State Park last year and it is one of the most special places in this area. One of the things I notice most when I’m there is the quiet. You can hear the ocean waves breaking in the distance but the only sound you hear at the quarry is the birds — mostly gulls along with a few ducks — along with the odd teenager or two, defying the park rules by jumping off the cliffs into the water.
Rockport from the shade
Posted: June 19, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 4 CommentsI discovered a great spot today with a perfect view of the yacht club in Rockport and the iconic red Motif # 1 in the background. The perfect spot for me always includes shade and this was even better because I found a high wall to sit on and with space to set up my easel below. It is only now, looking at Motif from my deck that I realize I forgot to add the chimney so that will have to be done tomorrow. You can’t paint an iconic building with a part of it missing. It’s just not right.
Long Beach, Rockport
Posted: June 18, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 9 CommentsWhat makes a good subject for a sketch? For me it’s always a scene with a lot of contrast. This beach was perfect — those dark rocks, the white surf, and lots of interest in between. If you look closely at the sketch (and I’m not sure if this will be visible from an iPhone photo) you’ll also see some great texture in the rocks. Created thanks to a great gust of wind that blew sand into the wet washes, onto my palette, and all over my brushes. I’m still cleaning it out of the damp paint.
Buoys ‘n traps
Posted: June 17, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 16 CommentsWhat is the first area you work on when you start a sketch? This is something I’ve been thinking about as I plan my West Coast summer workshops. The answer is not always clear, but for this sketch it was obvious. The centre of interest is the area where I most often begin because it’s where you find the greatest contrasts, the brightest colours and the most detail. The light was quite good on the buoys when I started my sketch so that was the place to begin. And the time I spent sketching there was relatively uneventful except for the five minutes when a police cruiser came speeding towards me — lights flashing — and slammed on his brakes in front of me. Fortunately it was the owner of an illegally parked car he was looking for, not me!
Annisquam light
Posted: June 16, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized 22 CommentsYesterday in my post I mentioned the many challenges of plein air painting. For me one of the most difficult is painting in full sun. When my paper is not in shade the white of the sheet blasts back at me, bleaching out everything and making colours impossible to see. Despite that, I painted the Annisquam lighthouse in full sun, sitting on the rocks, watching the tide advance and threaten to wash both me and my painting out to sea. Well it really wasn’t that close but I was sitting on rocks that are submerged at high tide, so there was a certain urgency to complete this before the water came in. Size: 11″ x 15″ painted on Fabraino soft press paper.
