New Sketch
"Watering Cans"
This is a quick sketch of two of my wife’s watering cans done as a demo for a recent class. The cans sit on a table top and were catching the bright late summer light. The pattern of light and shadows caught the eye of one of the students so we used it as the subject for the day. The color scheme is nearly mono-chromatic, using a limited palette of cobalt and ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna, and some quinacridone burnt scarlet.
It is large for a sketch, nearly filling a quarter sheet (11″ x 15″) paper. The subject was sketched in 2B pencil on the paper first, large washes were placed on the cans first, the main shadow on the table surface was added next. Once dry, shadows were added on the spout and side of the large can and on the underside of the handle on the small can. The work was finished up with some glazes of blue and raw sienna on the cans to produce some 3 dimensional modeling and ambient light effects on the shaded side of the cans.
Vacation sketches
Family takes priority during family vacations, so I sketched and painted less than I might have. Still, I was able to get some work done on our recent trip to Hilton Head. Living in New England means that I have very little opportunity to see and paint trees from the southeast. Trees are a favorite subject of mine and are often featured in my paintings. It was pleasing to be able to see and paint trees from a new area. Obviously, palm trees don’t grow in the forests of the northeast. The two sketches below are of a palm located in the courtyard of the condo complex where we stayed for the week. The pencil sketch captures the reality of the tree, while the watercolor sketch is a study in color, light and shade.
By the time I did this watercolor sketch, I had adjusted my color mixtures to be more representative of the colors of the plants and foliage in the Hilton Head area. My initial works lacked a bit of authenticity since I was using colors – particularly greens – that are more like those found in New England. The sketch below of a beach and salt marsh near where we stayed shows the difference. The green areas in the fore and middle ground are tall marsh grasses. As sketched, the green is more like the green of a grassy field in the northeast. Marsh grasses in this are tend to be a somewhat more intense yellow green than as depicted.
Port Royal Sound marsh & sky - Hilton Head Island
On this particular morning, the sky was overcast. I was pleased to find that my favorite combination of cerulean blue and cadmium red did work well to capture the look of the sky.
New Seascape
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate for my Plein Air workshop the week of June 22. The idea was to spend four days painting on location in the Cape Ann area of Massachusetts. Instead of being able to paint outdoors, heavy rain, drizzle, low clouds and wind drove us indoors for most of the class.
We did venture out on the first day, optimistically expecting the weather to clear any moment. It didn’t – so we made the best of it by taking photos to use as reference material - praise be to digital cameras!
Below are a couple of photos taken at Good Harbor in Gloucester on Monday the 22nd – just to give you an idea.
Good Harbor, Gloucester, MA Monday June 22
- Looking toward the ocean from Good Harbor, Gloucester, MA June 22, 2009
One student got a photo of some brave souls walking on the beach in the wind and rain. The photo itself was a study in gray, but had potential as a composition. It was chosen as a subject on the second day of the workshop since it could be instructive in demonstrating obtaining mood in a painting as well as in the techniques of creating rock mounds and reflections.
"Cape Ann Walk"
Although most of my paintings begin with pencil sketches and thumbnails, for this one, I jumped right in. The idea was to capture the feel of an overcast day on the coast, while also depicting the reflective quality of the water. A minor point was to demo the techniques used to paint rocks – in groups and individually.
The work began by sketching the large shapes – sky area, distant ground, middle beach area, rock pile to the left and the foreground. Washes in these large area were next, beginning with the sky. In order to establish the mood of an overcast day, colors needed to be low intensity and value contrast was minimized. Overcast skies are a favorite of mine and I used one of my favorite color combos : cadmium red and cerulean blue. It’s a great combination but needs to be used carefully. The opacity of cadmium red and the heavy sediment in cerulean blue can become an flat, muddy mess. The key is to use the colors with plenty of water – either wet in wet, or directly with a big brush that hold lots of water. With enough water, the colors will disperse and settle evenly. These two colors will separate in wash, creating some beautiful gradations of temperature, value and color.
This same mixture was used to create many of the grayed violets in the painting – sand, rocks, some reflections and some shadows - and the cerulean blue was used alone in much of the fore and middle ground water areas.
The painting was about 3/4 done at the end of the day. I brought it back to the studio and continued working it to the finished product shown here.
Open Studio Weekend
"Early November"
Vermont’s natural scenic beauty is enhanced each spring when the work of Vermont artists and craftspeople can be seen firsthand during Vermont’s 17th annual Open Studio Weekend May 23-24.
My studio will be open from 10am – 5pm both Saturday and Sunday, May 23 & 24. I’m looking forward to again welcoming visitors my studio, showing new works and discussing my work, materials, processes etc.
Open Studio Weekend is a statewide celebration of the visual arts and the creative process. Bennington County, Vermont is home to many fine artists and artisans including the other members of The Artisans of Southern Vermont. The other twenty-nine members of the group will also have their studios open this weekend. The fine work represented by this group includes other paintings, jewelery, pottery, furniture, sculpture, and more.
Take the Artisans of Vermont Open Studio Driving Tour and be eligible to win a $150 gift certificate to the artist’s studio of your choice. Simply visit at least 8 of the 30 Artisans of Southern Vermont studios, get the artists signature and then leave the form at one of the open studio locations. Drawing to be held on June 15, 2009. Open Studio Driving Tour map, instructions and “Studio Sleuth” form downloadable here.
The End of Winter
OK – this is my last winter painting for the year. This one, titled “Late Winter” is one of what I call my metaphoricalpaintings. The location is real, from White Creek, NY and was drawn in a sketchbook some years ago – I’m not sure how long ago since the sketch is not dated. But the work itself was created by drawing on my own consciousness. In this case, the conscious feeling that this winter seemed particularly long and dark. By the time March rolls around, nearly everyone in these parts – even those who are fans of the season – is ready for the end of winter. Generally, March is the time when fields begin to emerge from under the melting snow, creeks and streams begin to thaw and flow. The sky is also usually lighter and has fewer clouds while the sun brightens.
"Late Winter" - Watercolor landscape - 13" x 17"
The color scheme in this work carries the emotional content of the painting. The composition is very like the original pencil sketch, which is shown below. Since the sketch carried no color notes, I was able to pour in colors that seemed to fit the mood more than reality. Blue color dominates the painting as a metaphor on the end of winter “blues”. The light and warm sky as it appears in the top of the work and as reflected in the bit of stream is the growing optimism in the knowledge that the snow will disappear as spring arrives with warmth and is promise of summer.
The original sketch is shown below.
Pencil sketch for "Late Winter"
Interested in this painting or any of my other work – contact me via email – mail@tonyconner.com; or by phone – 802-753-1156
My artists website - www.tonyconner.com My artists blog – http://tonyconner.wordpress.com/
My architectural illustration website – www.tc-ai.com My house portrait website – www.houseportraits.biz
The light in early November
"Early November"
A depiction of the light of early November on the leafless and wizend tree. Trees, particularly weathered old trees are always inspiring to me. This work is a cousin of several other of my recent works, all of which are the genesis of two sketches – one in pencil and one in watercolor – done on Boston Common in June of 2003.
This painting began, as many of my paintings do, while perusing old sketchbooks. While paging through, I again came across the pencil sketch from my trip to Boston. As usual for me, the rugged, weathered look of the trunk was attractive. The sort of tripod form of the main branches as they grow up and away along with the sense of the main trunk twisting over itself also caught my eye.
Often, upon finding an inspiring sketch, I’ll begin composing a new painting. In this case, I decided to create another pencil sketch using this sketch as the model for the new drawing.
This was last November. I am very attracted to the quality of light in November. It is clear and bright and yet is also obviously fading. The shadows cast on a sunny November day are sharp but seem to have a transparency that is different from other times of the year. In the painting, I wanted to capture the sense of November light as well as the character of this old tree.
The new pencil sketch is shown below.
In the sketch, I tried to create a new tree, but wanted to retain the sense of twisting trunk and the tripod form of the main branches. Once complete, the sketch remained near my easel for some time while I considered it’s possibilities as a finished painting. Obviously, the sketch was turned into a painting, the one featured on this post.
As I mentioned, this work is the cousin of several others. One in particular , “Prairie Oak“, has had particular success in juried exhibits – it is shown below.
“Prairie Oak“
Interested in either of these paintings or any of my other works – contact me via email – mail@tonyconner.com; or by phone – 802-753-1156
My artists website - www.tonyconner.com
My architectural illustration website – www.tc-ai.com My house portrait website – www.houseportraits.biz
New Work, Designing Winter
“Farm In Winter”
9″ x 12″
Don’t get the wrong impression, I am not pining for winter. Although I am not a winter sort of guy - I exist mostly indoors with a mug of hot tea not far away from December to April – there are many things that I find very paintable in the winter landscape. Anyone who checks this blog often will realize that painting is a process with me. The process begins with sketches. Usually, I start with pencil sketches that have been drawn at one time or another, often outdoors on location. In this case, I came across the sketch, below, from an older sketchbook. It usually my habit to note the date and time of the sketch, although this one had no such notations, so I am not sure where the scene really is or when I sketched it.
In any case, I liked the composition a good bit, without much change. The scene is suggestive of summer or fall, with lots of leaves on the trees. I decided to go straight to a color sketch, rather than to pencil thumbnails. One feature I wanted to emphasize in the final painting was the low, elongated left hand barn building. In drawing the contours of the buildings for the color sketch, I elongated this building even more and connected it to its mate. I wanted to suggest larger, complex farm building arrangement so added additional shapes that suggested additional buildings, sheds and/or wings. To emphasize the “horizontal-ness” of the building, I also made the sketch in an elongated, or panoramic format. The actual size of the sketch is 2 1/2″ x 6″.
Although winter was not on my mind as I began to work, the contours were suggesting a peaceful and calm winter day. The notion of calm led to the selection of green as the local color of the barn buildings, since both color and value contrast would need to be minimized in order to convey “peace”.
The color sketch is shown below.
Color sketch for “Farm in Winter”
2 1/2″ x 6″
As you can see, I went to a more conventional “landscape” format for the final painting, thinking that it would actually emphasize the shape of the focal point even more. I also brought the building forward and balanced their collective weight in the upper right, with the muddy road, a scrubby leftovers from fall in the lower left foreground.
Congratulations to Barack, John and all Americans
Pardon me for a non-art related post today:
While always a proud American, I have not often been proud of actions that have been taken in my name in recent years. That sense of pride which had shrunk in me recently, was resurgent last night as I watched polling results come in. In all honesty, I can’t remember ever feeling so proud to be an American. All Americans deserve Congratulations today!
Much has been made of the historical significance of electing the first African-American as President. That point is so very true and remarkable. The depth of meaning to the black community was lost on me during the campaign as I focused on the positions and qualifications of the two candidates. It was only in seeing TV images of African-Americans with tears streaming down their faces that I understood how important Barack’s victory was on a deeply personal and emotional level for so many. Congratulations to all whose private hope, dream, desire, or what they may have thought of as only wishful thinking, has been fulfilled on Election Day 2008.
Congratulations to both candidates for their campaigns. While the campaign had its ugly moments, the overall tone taken by both sides was more high than low road. While Obama received my vote, if a relatively few things had been different, I could have cast my vote for McCain. Both men seem to me to be sincere, honorable and have only the best in mind for the United States of America. Both of their Election night speeches were gracious and both spoke of unity, a quality that has recently been missing from our national and political discourse. Both recognize that hard work that is ahead. Barack Obama in particular used the words “sacrifice” and “humilty”. It is my sincere hope that our newly elected Democratic President and his Democratic majority in Congress keeps these two words in mind as they move forward.
Congratulations to those whose candidates won. Whatever your issues, they seemed to carry the day. Remember that with victory, often comes the temptation to dominate, while progress and success usually involves cooperation and teamwork. Most importantly, remember that future victories will require a record of progress and success.
Congratulations – yes, Congratulations to those whose candidates who did not win. Don’t forget that you get another chance in the elections to come, and that you have the great privelege of walking a mile in the moccasins of those who have been on the losing side in the past and those who may be on the losing side in the future. Use the experience to develop inclusion and unity with the losers the
next time you come out on top. Rather than despair of the prospects now that the opponent has won, try to remember that it is rare for your worst fears for the future to actually come true, and that good ideas and good work come from both political parties.
Congratulations to all of us for bearing our part in the democratic system we have been given. While daily news bombards us with seemingly infinite reports of political fights, scandals, corruption and excess, it is
easy to lose sight of the unique beauty and unique burden of our system of government and elections. Once again we have peacefully and successfully transfered power from our current sets of leaders to new ones. There is no substitute for an informed and involved electorate.
Congratulations Barack, John and all of us!
New England Watercolor Society North American Open Show
“Equinox Road“
20″ x 27″
My painting, “Equinox Road” has been accepted into the 11th Biennial North American Open Exhibition of the New England Watercolor Society. There were 418 works submitted by watermedia artists from all over the United States. One hundred works were accepted. It is a thrill to be included in this prestigious show.
The exhibit will be open from September 19 through November 2 at the South Shore Art Center, 119 Ripley Road, Cohasset, Massachusetts. The public is invited to the Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony which will be held on Friday, September 19 from 6:00 to 8:00pm.
I wrote about the process of creating this painting back in April of this year. That post can be seen here. It includes information on the germination of the idea, exploration of compositions and the final creation of the actual work.
Latest Painting – Rural Theme, Summer Season
“Afternoon Farm”
20″ x 28″
$1,120
This painting is one of a series of works completed this summer (see “Along The Way“) that celebrate rural scenery, roads, farms & fields. Although I sometimes question the thought during the dreary days in January, February and March, I really am fortunate to live and work in such a beautiful and quaint area of the country. Vermont and the surrounding New England states and even the neighboring areas of upstate New York provide so much “paintable” subject matter.
Both farms and covered bridges are so strongly associated with Vermont. As an artist, it can be difficult to add anything artistic to subjects that have been painted by many other artists. Even so, barns, sheds and all of the other working structures found in this area hold particular facination for me, as do the seemingly endless rural roads where one farm follows another as you travel along.
The quality of light at this lattitude begins to take on the look of autumn as July wanes and fades to August, particularly in the afternoon. In this painting I hoped to combine the typical and romanticized farm building, and use it to depict the light on a late July afternoon.
The result is this painting. Thanks for looking – and enjoy the remains of summer.
