River Copse

 

River Copse 

8" x 10" oil on board

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Today was not exactly a pretty day, as you can see from the sky in the photo below - and maybe from the painting...But, an overcast sky actually makes for less challenging painting conditions, even if it's not as colorful as a sunny day. It's less challenging because the light and shadows don't seem to change as quickly when the sun is blocked by clouds. The last three days have also been 100 degrees +, so upper 80's and overcast felt like a spring day. Still, painting on a rock in the middle of the Potomac River is not without its challenges.

One challenge faced was that my normal put-in at Violet's Lock, which lets me launch below the broken down dam, just upstream from the copse pictured in this painting, was blocked by a massive deadfall. This meant that the first thing I did this morning was navigate some fairly challenging rapids with all of my painting and fishing supplies, food, etc., strapped to my kayak. The uncertainty of the route and not knowing extent of the rapids, however, was scarier than reality, and I made it through just fine.  Later in the day, I was sucked into a much larger drop while bouncing around, casting for smallmouth and not paying attention to my route through the boulders. 1.5 feet doesn't sound like much, but when you're caught off guard in an overloaded kayak, it's disconcerting.  I got a little sideways, for sure. 

Fishing may have been more successful than painting today! I caught one decent smallmouth after another with some big boys mixed in - one of the best days of fishing I can remember and an all-around great day. 

 

Monocacy Island III

 

Monocacy Island III

8" x 8" oil on board

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My third painting of this same spot on the Monocacy River, this one done from a distance in the only shady spot I could find within view. It was 95 degrees with a heat advisory in effect. I'm not sure why, but I did this whole painting with one brush, and it was a brush that I've never used before, basically a watercolor brush. The paint was really moving, I guess because it was so hot, so I just stuck with it. And I really like it...Painting outside is usually tough, but this one just kind of painted itself. 

River Path

River Path
8" x 10" oil on board
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Completed en plein air by the Monocacy River in Frederick County, MD.  Believe it or not, painting green is difficult. Green out of the tube is really green, so it helps to tone it down with some violet and orange.  I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Monocacy Island

Monocacy Island
8" x 10" oil on board


The photo and the name of this painting - not so great. However, I think this is one of my best plein air paintings.  I got it down quickly, and it's accurate. I like the little reflection of sky in the lower left.  I caught no fish on this day because the river was up, but I had a great time painting.

Monocacy River Train Bridge

Monocacy River Train Bridge
8" x 10" oil on board
$70 plus shipping

Sadly, I am writing this post on the final day of summer vacation before I return to teaching and the stress of the school year. Summer photos have been uploaded and now it's time to scroll, achingly back through the wonderful experiences that I shared this summer and reassure myself that good times will return.

This painting is a reminder of one such experience. I was allowed out of the house for a day of fishing and painting, so I chose the Monocacy River, never having fished it before.  The Monocacy is beautiful and filled with fish.  I paddled upriver for a mile or so, casting along the way and catching tons of decent sized smallmouth bass. Once prime fishing hours had passed, I set up my easel in front of this train bridge and did my best. Amtrak passenger trains rumbled by occasionally as I painted, and when I was finished, I took a swim.

Violette's Lock

Violette's Lock
5" x 7" oil on board
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I took a personal day last Wednesday, June 17th, even though it was a week before summer break because...well, because I felt like I deserved a day after SOL's, SOL remediation, and SOL retakes.  Plus,  it might have been the last chance I'll have to take the kayak out, or paint, before our baby is born.

This was an ambitious little adventure. I decided I would fish for a few hours after sunrise and then paint once the fishing slowed down. So I packed an oversized dry bag with my travel easel and painting supplies, thinking it would fit in the hold of my kayak. It didn't, so I strapped it to the back of the kayak and paddled off into the dark at Violette's Lock on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, a few miles west of Potomac, MD. Normally, the rapids around Violette's Lock are nothing to fear, but I realized as I put in that the river was up a bit.  The biggest rapid that you have to navigate at Violette's Lock is in the narrow inlet, immediately after you put in. There's a sizable drop located on a sharp bend and in the dark with the water up, it's a little scary. However, I made it through, and I caught some nice smallmouth along the broken down dam that stretches across the river next to the lock. This is an ideal fishing/paddling trip for lone paddlers because it doesn't require a shuttle.  You float down a mile and a half or so, hop over to the C&O Canal and paddle back to the starting point.

Painting was a little more difficult. As I daydreamed about my fishing/painting adventure during my off-periods leading up to my day off, everything was so much easier.  Idyllic scenes abounded, the ground was flat, and my paintings were fresh and beautiful.  As usual, reality did not match my delusions.  In fact, I dropped my painting completely under water twice!  How it arrived home not completely ruined is a miracle. And if you plan to purchase, beware that there may be some specs of Potomac River sediment embedded in the paint. Character...

White's Ferry Landing

8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel
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A few things I've noticed about the way my favorite painters paint:

1. Paint is applied thickly.  They don't draw or scratch; they paint, and the paint is thick, with visible brush strokes.
2. Value (the relationship of light to dark) is more important than anything else.  Shapes, forms, subject matter, color - all meaningless without correct value.
3. Small details are ignored.  Impressionist, or perceptual painting forces the viewer to fill in the details.
4.  After value, color is most important.  Shadows are not black.  They are warm or cool versions of local color that can still be beautiful.
5. Every painting has a color scheme and color harmony.  Maybe this goes along with number 4, but I've noticed that my favorite paintings have harmony.  And that's usually achieved by using a dominant color (one color is included in all color mixtures) or through a limited palette (using a small number of colors, usually three, to mix all values and tones).

I guess these ideas are obvious, but I have to repeat them to myself over and over as I paint.  For this painting, I took in interesting approach to help me focus on value.  I removed my contacts and wore my glasses while painting. When working on the values, I lowered my glasses so that I was essentially blind (I can't distinguish my own hand in front of my face without glasses or contacts).  All I could see were value relationships.  So I focussed on values, completely disregarded details, and did my best to mix beautiful colors while using a limited palette of violet, phthalo green, and yellow.   I think I did alright for a blind man.

National Harbor Fog

5" x 7"
Oil on board
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Sometimes when I have leftover paint, I like to do a quick palette knife painting and just try to slap it down as quickly as I can.  That was my approach to this painting.  It took about thirty minutes to complete.  Maybe that's apparent...I kind of like this one though.  It's interesting.

"Four Gulls"

5" x 7" Oil on canvas
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My wife and I, along with my older brother and his wife hiked the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague National Seashore this past weekend. Chincoteague and Assateague are barrier islands off the coast of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland. There is no hunting, fishing, camping, pets or vehicles allowed in the Wildlife Refuge so the beach and the forests are pristine. There are two populations of wild ponies that roam the islands, one on Chingoteague and one on Assateague, that are separated by a fence that spans the width of the island.

The hike is 24 miles round trip; we started in Chincoteague, VA and hiked 12 miles to Assateage, MD, where we camped for the night on the beach and hiked back to Chincoteague in the morning.

Although the terrain is flat,the hike was much tougher than we anticipated. Hiking on the sand for a good portion of the 24 miles and using the same leg muscles the entire hike as opposed to mountain hiking with elevation changes that call for different muscles, made us so sore by the last mile that we literally could not take another step. I tried not to let the exhaustion take away from my enjoyment of the scenery.

Looks like that big gull in front is pretending that his feet don't hurt, but I know better.