Plein air on the Susquehanna River



"Rockville Brigde on the Susquehanna"
12" x 16" Watercolor on Arches CP.

 

 A storm was coming in last Saturday and I only had about a two hour window to paint.  I was drawn to the view of the Rockville Bridge and the amazing clouds.  I’m slowly finding my favorite spots and I’m looking forward to the variation the seasons will bring.

Garvine Mill

Sunday, I had the perfect opportunity to visit another amazing mill in Fall Grove Pa.  Garvine Mill initially caught my attention online and I’m very happy I took the hour and a half drive to get there.  Unfortunately it was an overcast day, and at least 30 minutes was used photographing the area and mill.  I will definitely be making at least a sketch or a painting in the fall or winter.



"Garvine Mill"
12" x 16" Watercolor on Arches CP.

 

Laughlin Mill sketch

This sketch was done as a value study of flowing water and overall value range.  When I painted the Laughlin Mill a few weeks ago, I had a vague idea of how to approach painting flowing water however I am happy with the results of the watercolor painting.  I had to do an interpretation in pencil for more of a comparison.

The more I worked on the sketch the more I fell in love with it.   It is far from perfect but for five hours of work I am very happy.  When I do attempt a final landscape piece in graphite it will take me at least 40-50 hours.   It will be a daunting task but will be quite enjoyable.

'Laughlin Mill sketch'
8.5" x 11" Graphite on paper

Reference photo

 

Plein Air

Italian Lake.

I have painted Italian Lake a few times over the years and can’t seem to get enough.  It is so beautiful that I wouldn’t mind living across the street and fortunately there are a few houses right along Italian lake.  I could only imagine waking up to that view every day…wow.  This painting is a little bit smaller than usual 7x11 but it was a little bit easier to manage and that was the goal on this one.

'Italian Lake'

7" x 11". Watercolor on Arches CP.

Boiling Springs Mill

This was the second painting last weekend.  I think I spent more time looking for yellow breeches creek and walking around taking pictures than actually painting the mill.  This is the second time I have been to this location but I was trying to find a specific bridge on yellow breeches creek.  I never did find a great view of the bridge but I had a great view right in front of me. 

'Boiling Springs Mill'

7" x 11" Watercolor on Arches CP

Laughlin Mill

I was going to paint this location last Friday but the weather didn’t allow too much painting.  Yesterday wasn’t much better, overcast and cloudy with storms coming around noon, but I figured I had nothing to lose.

Laughlin Mill is a historic mill located in Newville Pa, right outside of Carlisle.  I initially found this gem online on www.ohiobarns.com  while looking for local water mills and I’ll probably go back to this site for years to come just to see what amazing locations there are left to explore.  

I am always drawn to water and, although I don’t fully understand why, it seems to have a very relaxing and familiar quality to me.  There are a few more mills and a lot of reference photos to draw and paint. 

 


Watercolor on Arches cold press 12" x 16"

Wetcanvas Portrait Challenge

Sorry, I haven’t posted in a long time.  I don’t know whether it is the summer, my belief a week-long vacation was enough time off, or possibly just laziness.  The summer is normally a little slower for me, filled with distractions but I need to get out of this rut and get back to business.

I don’t remember the last time I tried a master copy, but Wetcanvas June portrait challenge was a perfect opportunity to get back on track while taking on a fairly difficult task.  John Singer Sargent’s work is amazing although I’m not too familiar with a lot of his work.  The quality and emotion in his drawings and paintings are amazing. 

Emily Sargent is John Singer Sargent daughter and such a beautiful lady which led to an amazing painting.  I know there was no way I could do any justice trying to paint this in watercolor or oil so colored pencil and graphite was the best approach for me, using a simple two color interpretation.  I forgot how hard it was to copy a master until I started.  Outside of the painting looking amazing from so many levels, I am happy with the results as a sketch.  I know it would take me well over 100 hours to do any justice to this masterpiece. 

Emily Sargent

Crescenzo Fusciardi drawing was very tricky and complex.  The lines and transparent quality of charcoal was what drew me in.  For a line drawing there is so much subtle information.   At the very end of the sketch I was happy until I looked at my drawing beside the original.  There was no comparison to the original by a long shot.  I believe the collar bone and shoulder are fairly close to the original and that is itJ…

CrescenzoFusciardi

Head of a Capri girl was the most frustrating drawing out of the three.  I like a good challenge but this was rather tedious because there are so many subtle changes.  I quickly took the drawing for granted and assumed I was going in the right direction and before I knew it was time to yell, scream and start over. 

Whenever I have a very difficult time with proportions I have a tendency to sketch muscular features, tones and contours that are easily visible to work through.  I like the line drawing the most but lost so much when I started adding tone and value.  I am very happy I took the time to sketch these master drawings and learned so much.  The most valuable lesson learned was being humbled and having a greater appreciation of the Masters of the past.



Head of a Capri Girl

Daily Painters of Pennsylvania Challenge

First I would like to thank DPP artists and especially Mary Beth Brath for allowing me to participate in March DPP challenge. 

I was initially drawn to DPP challenge because of the light and my assumption of wow this would be fun to draw, little did I know my interpretation of a bird’s nest was going to be a painful one which involved some research, patience and a technique I might have used once or twice in the past.  The light hit the eggs just right, not to dark and not to light with a little bit of reflected light and shadow.   Things got a little problematic or stressful when it was time to address the nest ( I should of did a close up).  I figured a negative drawing of the nest was the best approach, although it was rather difficult to see a pattern to the nest other than overlapping sticks and twigs.  Twenty plus hours later, I’m fairly happy with result although it’s not complete, close up looks so good right now J.  Hopefully I will have time to go back and complete the drawing and post the entire nest as opposed to the close up.

Bird’s nest 5" x 7"

Colored pencil, white chalk & graphite on toned paper

Bird’s nest WIP