Back To The Harbor

impressionist2 · #1 05-16-2002, 04:39 PM

Today I returned to the scene of my last painting, " Widow's Watch " , moved the easel slightly to the right, took out a 12" x 16" canvas on masonite and painted the edge of the tree and the boats in the harbor.

This was an hour and a half worth. As soon as the sun cooperates, I will return for the second half of the work required to finish this one.

Renee

walden · #2 05-16-2002, 04:54 PM

Looking good! An hour and a half??? I did an 8 x 10 in a little under an hour, and thought I was really cooking.

CarlyHardy · #3 05-16-2002, 04:55 PM

Other than a few shadows to anchor the boats into the water...I'd say this is finished! I'm envious....in an hour and a half...I've only just begun to paint!!
carly

Wayne Gaudon · #4 05-17-2002, 06:56 AM

.. nice lead in with the ducks and boats .. should be a dandy when complete.

LarrySeiler · #5 05-17-2002, 08:23 AM

I see a definite style developing, and like what I see! The presence of the sun is there.

Kinda cool isn't it? I mean...many people just don't know that there exists this side of realism. What shall we name it? The real Real? Speaking of something present where you just know it was painted on location. Must be the natural unifying presence of the same bathing source of light and sky, and its play on everything.

Renee...the upper left part of this painting bothers me just a tad
Perhaps my eye would like to see more variation to that horizontal of the treeline extending across the painting. Perhaps as though a bit of a hill was there or larger taller grouping of trees. Then again, it might not represent the typical area people are likely to see. I'm just thinking compositionally.

Nice color work...

Larry

impressionist2 · #6 05-17-2002, 10:25 AM

Thanks so much, Lisa, Carly, Wayne and Larry. I appreciate the comments.

Larry, You wrote:

Renee...the upper left part of this painting bothers me just a tad
Perhaps my eye would like to see more variation to that horizontal of the treeline extending across the painting. Perhaps as though a bit of a hill was there or larger taller grouping of trees. Then again, it might not represent the typical area people are likely to see. I'm just thinking compositionally.

Nice color work...

Larry"

Larry, Welcome to Long Island !...... and this is the "hilly" part, on the Northshore!

If you look at any Wm. Merritt Chase paintings of Long Island ( or any of the pleinairists out here) you'll see vast expanses of Flatness! At least on the northshore we have some small hills and trees. That part of the horizon dips and I will try to adjust that. I was being too literal. Thank you.

You should see the high priced plein aire paintings in the galleries, of the beaches on LI. They're even flatter!

Another concern I had was, how do the boats look to all of you, vis a vis, Composition? Too many boats... not enough? What about their positions? Should I do some "clumping" of boats, together? Thanks.

Oh, yes, the biggest reason for the "hour and a half" is that I feel secure....and Why?? Because, I switched to larger brushes ( at least one inch wide), use Larry's ragin method ( you all Really should try this!!) and look through my "frame finder". The painting , except for details, is "done" in the first ten minutes.

The rest is just connect the dots. Sometimes I use a one inch brush instead of the rag to delineate shapes. But, the point is that, All the values are placed and the scene is "Set" in the first few minutes, and the rest is a downhill ride ...... Thanks So much, Larry. You have completely changed the way I paint en plein aire.

Lisa wrote: "Looking good! An hour and a half??? I did an 8 x 10 in a little under an hour, and thought I was really cooking. "

Lisa, here's my line of thinking. I thought, if I can do a painting, 8" x 10", in three hours with size 8 filberts and the kolinsky size 4, then if I switch to one inch brushes, flats, why can't I get a larger painting done in the same time? Remember, the hour and a half is only half the painting, I will be back there as soon as the sun reappears. So, I did the whole layin with the one inch brushes-worked great. Then, when all the values were established , I switched to the filberts size 8, and then for the tree details and the swans, the kolinsky size 5s.

I guess a 16 x 20 or larger is going to require a very large brush!

Btw, being outdoors is the very Best thing. We are having a real spring here in NY and it is So enjoyable. I am using Kevin MacPherson's suggestion of planting myself in the shade ( whenever available) and I am using Neutrogena Sensitive Skin spf 30 sunblock and wearing my Myrtle Beach baseball cap to shade my face. The breezes blow and the tent stakes on my EZ Go easel legs hold everything down even as the winds kick up to 30mph. It's heaven here.

Renee

walden · #7 05-17-2002, 10:50 AM

That's good thinking on brush size relative to canvas size, Renee, I might have to do some more experimentation on larger panels. As for the "rag-in", I finally decided that 1) I must draw-- I simply can't place my major masses without a few lines (maybe later I'll be able to, but not now) and 2) a rag is too imprecise an instrument for my clumsy hands and tiny canvases-- normally 8 x 10, sometimes 9 x 12. So, I do a quick drawing-- maybe 5 lines, then use my biggest brush to rough-in first my darks, then my middle values. I think I'm basically accomplishing the same thing as the rag-in, and almost as quickly, but just doing it in a way that suits my skill level.

Yesterday I went out with my smallest, lightest gear, so I didn't have my big lawn chair with its beach umbrella, but I took along a very lightweight, compact, folding umbrella. I planted myself in the shade, but would have been in the sun for the crucial last 20 minutes of my painting if I hadn't had the umbrella-- just popped it open & held it, or laid it open on the ground with my pochade box underneath. It wasn't ideal, of course, but it made all the difference for those last, critical finishing touches.

LarrySeiler · #8 05-17-2002, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by impressionist2

If you look at any Wm. Merritt Chase paintings of Long Island ( or any of the pleinairists out here) you'll see vast expanses of Flatness!
Renee

and..I love the history and work of the painters of that era as well as Chase's....

I'll have to look, and see if there isn't something compositionally they're doing a bit different. Perhaps some color mechanism or value that somehow strikes me different and contemplate/muse why...or, if in fact, yours is simply very much the same. There certainly is room for horizontals predominantly for producing harmony and calm. Always has been...always will.

Imagine plein air painters in anartica. Now, wouldn't that be a challenge?

Larry

Muddy · #9 05-17-2002, 01:30 PM

Renee,

Re: Larry's comment about the upper left sky...I see a color change there in the clouds. They appear to be a bit darker than the rest of the sky. Maybe that's what he's seeing. I love the color and brushwork you've used. Beautiful painting.

walden · #10 05-17-2002, 04:17 PM

Regarding placement of the boats, it depends on who you want to please. As a sailor, this looks to me like a harbor full of boats on moorings, which are always placed at sufficient distance from each other that they can't swing into one other-- so, to my eye, the fact that they don't overlap looks fine. The only boat that looks a little odd to me is the sailboat in the back, in the middle, because it's facing towards the upper left of the painting, rather than towards the right or upper right. Of course, it could be under power rather than moored, or maybe the water is flat enough and the wind light enough that they're sort of swinging on their moorings at random out there.

Anyway, if you wanted to get overlap, you could move the power boat with the green canvas to the left a bit, or even just extend its stern, so that the foreground sailboat mast crosses it-- that would sort of group those two and the foreground power boat. Then, you could give the sailboat pointing left a VERY slight wake, just a hint, and move it a bit further back in the picture plane and to the left, to overlap the blue-hulled sailboat.

Having said all that, though, the painting works for me just as it is.

impressionist2 · #11 05-17-2002, 04:44 PM

I am coming back here this evening and read all your comments thoroughly, but just wanted to post today's 2 hours. Not much changed, just more intense. I read the overlap suggestion quickly-like it!! And Muddy, I will check the sky out although it went through changes today. This painting is definetly getting a third session.

Renee

walden · #12 05-17-2002, 06:54 PM

Ah, you turned that back center sailboat around! Good move. This is looking wonderful-- some New England sailor is going to buy it, and maybe even hang it aboard his boat, or in his office to remind him why he works.

It has that feel of one of those wonderful, lazy days in a beautiful anchorage that we've all had. Great work!

impressionist2 · #13 05-17-2002, 08:46 PM

Lisa, I was halfway through the session when I said to myself, "Why do I have one boat facing the opposite way?" Ofcourse, they all are pulled by the tide and all face the same direction, although the other day the wind was whipping them around the moorings. So, I fixed that one.

Muddy and Larry, that section of the sky is still a different color. Must have been neglect on my part. Thanks for pointing that out. So busy with the boats and the leaves!

When I finished the session, I packed everything up in the car and went for a long walk along the harbor. Found a private boat club and asked permission to paint there. I can get really close to the boats tied up with their gorgeous reflections in the still harbor, in the afternoon sun. The manager gave me the number and name of the owner, the man to ask. He also asked me a price to paint their club.

I also found the Long Island Greenbelt trail, a six mile hiking trail. It's amazing what you discover on foot. Turns out the island across the inlet in this harbor is a protected bird sanctuary. It's going to make another painting.

I am going to sit and think on this composition before I go back for one last session. I put a pm in tonight to Milt, regarding the composition of the boats, who has been kind enough to critique some of my paintings. I'll post his suggestions with his permission.
There's just something about the placement of the boats that is bothering me and I can't figure out what it is. Good design is just knowing when something looks good.

Renee

LDianeJohnson · #14 05-17-2002, 09:11 PM

Nice Piece Renee,

You asked, "Another concern I had was, how do the boats look to all of you, vis a vis, Composition? Too many boats... not enough? What about their positions? Should I do some "clumping" of boats, together?"

It is fine to have lots of boats if you want to say, "harbor with lots of boats." If you would like to express a lone boat or just a few that is different. Here, the boats work well and serve to show the direction of the sunlight very well. I think someone mentioned overlapping...it would help a great deal to have at least a couple of boats overlapping one another rather than all separate. In addition, the farthest boat could overlap the background land a bit more to give even greater visual depth to the painting.

The only other small item with the boats...they are in two rows. Someone may have problems discerning if the boats are following each other or are parked in rows. Not a real issue except that they both aim out and away from the picture plane. The two far ducks face in and the boats face away conflicting somewhat as well. The more items added to a painting, the greater the challenge it is to make them all work together.

Your rendering of the individual boats, left tree, and water are especially nice.

Diane

impressionist2 · #15 05-19-2002, 06:54 PM

Diane, Thank you. Yes, I see the rows of boats. I am going to take the image file to photoshop soon and work out the boat composition. It'll be a fairly easy fix. I will do some overlapping.

It'll be the perfect time to fix it this week, as the weather is cooperating nicely.

Renee

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