Tree - Potomac River

Tree - Potomac River
6" x 6" oil on board
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I took one day off from moving/unpacking this summer to paint outside.  My easel broke after carrying it 1/4 mile down the Billygoat Trail on the Potomac River, and I nearly gave up. This one makes me happy, though.

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.

'DIFFICULT Run'

8" x 10" Oil on canvas panel


The scene is Difficult Run about a mile up from where the stream empties into the Potomac River in Great Falls State Park.  I painted it on site and the conditions were challenging...This was the first time I had ever tried hiking to a location with my travel easel so there was a bit of a learning curve.   To make matters more difficult, a small piece of the easel that keeps the paint and brush tray from sliding out broke off and all of my supplies emptied onto the ground...then I had to figure out a way to keep the tray from continually sliding out while I was hiking...Once I worked through the glitches though, I really enjoyed painting outside and hiking to my location.  The day was really overcast, which may have made the painting easier because there were fewer lighting changes.  All in all, I like the way the painting turned out and I can't wait to get outside again!

'Small Boat Dock - Alexandria'

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas Panel
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I picked this image from a stack of reference photos at the Herndon Art Space where I recently finished a painting class. I painted this over the span of a few weeks and one day, while the painting was still in process, I was looking through the art instructor's website, and I discovered that she had painted the exact image. Here is a link to my instructor's version of the same painting, which was painted outdoors, on site:

http://www.blehert.com/gallery/pages/Small_boat_dock_Alexandria.htm

You might have to copy and paste the link because I don't know how to embed a working link...

In other news, I sold three paintings at my latest exhibit in Poolesville, MD. Pretty good considering the cafe where the paintings were hanging just recently opened and is still not well known.

I'm hoping to do some outdoor painting any day now, although my motivation is lacking of late. Inspirational comments appreciated!