Sketch of the Day, Feb. 21, 2012

Feb. 21, 2012 - Deep Woods Near Chester Vermont

Deep Woods Near Chester, Vermont. In traveling from one place to another and with a full schedule, it was difficult to find time for a sketch today. This scene presented itself so I pulled over and made a quick go of it.

I’ve always been attracted to sunlight filtering through the tree canopy and spilling onto snow pack. The contrast of deep gray shadows against the patches of light along with tree trunks displaying various conditions of light, shade and shadow is so appealing that I usually have difficulty not stopping everytime I see something like this.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Sketch of the Day, Feb. 20, 2012

Feb. 20, 2012 - Neighbors House and Street Light

Neighbors House & Street Light. Of all the sketches done for this project, this is the first one I’ve hesitated to post. The scene looks out our front windows toward the street and our neighbors house across the street at night along with the street light that sits at the corner of his property. I knew it would be a challenging scene, with most of it in dark, or very dark values. Even so, I’m afraid this one has missed the mark. The street light is one of those that casts a distinct orange glow. The orange light infuses everything so that darks become browns and lights are low intensity versions of the street light. Despite my misgivings and in the spirit of doing what you say, I’m posting anyway and will look to redeem myself with another “nocturne” in the future.

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Sketch of the Day, Feb. 19, 2012

Feb. 19, 2012 - Tree Trunks in the "Y" Woods

Tree Trunks in the “Y” woods. Today is the second day of my Wet into Wet Watercolor workshop and rather than try to start another sketch during lunch, like yesterday, I did this work in the morning before leaving for the class. Our neighborhood has the great benefit of having a preserved stand of woods in its midst. Called the “Y” woods, for reasons that I don’t know, it is a great place to walk the dog, ride a trail bike, XC ski (when there is enough snow to do so) or just stroll through. It is home to all sorts of wild critters, from the mundane – rabbits, mice, squirrels, deer – to the somewhat exotic – bear, moose, fox, coyote and even, according to one neighbor, Canadian Lynx! It is common to hear the call of owls emanating from the woods at night. In fact, while out walking the dog just a couple nights ago, we both heard the call of a Great Horned Owl low and rumbling through the trees! This little scene presented itself near the edge of the woods as the morning sun caught the standing and fallen trees and cast gray-blue shadows.

For the first time in this series, I used Fabriano Aquarello paper fitted into a home-made sketch book. Being a slick paper, it works in a very similar way to the paper in the Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook.

 

 

 

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Sketch of the Day, Feb. 18, 2012

Feb. 18, 2012 - Taraden Barn, North Bennington, Vermont

Taraden Barn, North Bennington, Vermont. I started this sketch during the lunch break of a weekend workshop – Wet into Wet Watercolor – which was being held at Taraden B & B, in North Bennington. This view out of one of the finished barns toward the entry of another is familiar to me and I have painted it several time before. Most recently it was painted last winter during another weekend workshop. This particular February day was un-typically sunny and snow-less – this whole winter has been sunny, snow-less and relatively warm.

Despite the lack of snow and the plentiful sun on this day, the winter palette – ultramarine and cobalt blues, raw and burnt sienna dominate this work as well. The green of the barn shingles is created mostly with cerulean blue with some raw sienna.

This quick sketch was done in the Canson Montval Watercolor Field Sketchbook.

For comparisons sake, I’ve also posted this sketch which was done just over a year ago, at another weekend watercolor workshop. The

Feb. 6, 2011 - watercolor demo for workshop of Taraden B & B, barn, North Bennington, Vermont

most notable difference between the two is probably the depiction of the weather conditions. In very stark contrast to the current winter, the winter of 2010- 2011 was very cold, snowy and gray. While the vantage point is the same in both works, this one focuses on the structure of the building and the deep snow cover piled on it.

This sketch was not done in a sketchbook, but on a piece of 140 lb. cold press, Kilimanjaro brand watercolor paper.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Sketch of the Day – Feb. 17, 2012

Feb. 17, 2012 - LaClair Road Puddles, Shaftsbury, Vermont

LaClair Road Puddles, Shaftsbury, Vermont. This area of Shaftsbury, Vermont is one of my favorite places to paint – see the sketch from Feb. 13, which is part of this territory. I went there early on this morning to try to get a sketch done. This view looks east and includes a lonely stretch of dirt road that was very muddy from recent rain. The edges and shoulders of both sides of the road had standing puddles. From my vantage point, the puddles on the left were reflecting the dark colors from the trees and brush on that side of the road. On the right side, the puddles were reflecting the light sky and one puddle also had the reflection of one of the utility poles along that side of the road. Although for all of the sketches in this series one of my main goals is to develop the skill of capturing the feeling and effect of a scene very quickly- under an hour if possible – this one took almost twice that long.

 

 

 

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Sketch of the Day – Feb. 16, 2012

Feb. 16, 2012 - Mt. Anthony and Westward Morning Sky

Mt. Anthony and Westward Morning Sky. This quick sketch was done early this morning looking west out of my studio window. I spotted this sky coming together while out walking the dog a little before the sun had actually risen. Once back home, I picked up a pencil and sketched Mt. Anthony and the other land forms nearby. The sky was then washed in quickly by mingling cadmium red, cadmium yellow, permanent red and cobalt blue together in the sky with an effort to catch and maintain the shape of the violet blue clouds within a relatively watery mixture. The most fascinating thing about this very simple scene for me was that the warmth in the western sky made it appear as if the sun was actually setting at that time of the day. The sketch is about 6” x 9” and was done in a Montval Watercolor Field Sketch book.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Sketch of the Day – Feb. 15, 2012

Feb. 15, 2012 - Marie Hill Farm, Andover Vermont

Marie Hill Farm, Andover Vermont.  This farm sits on a hill along the north side of Vt Rt 11, between Londonderry and Chester, Vermont.   I travel along this route often and notice the farm everytime.  On this day, the scene struck me as being particularly “wintery” during a year when we’ve really not had much of a winter.

The sketch itself was done with very fluid washes applied quickly and directly.  The colors are from my four-part “winter palette” plus a little cerulean blue.

I did this sketch in a Canson Montvale Watercolor Field Sketchbook.  It’s the first time I’ve used this sketchbook for this series, and had forgotten how much I really like it for plein air sketching.  The paper is not all that absorbent, but has a soft, slightly textured surface which is terrific for flowing washes and direct work.
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Sketch of the Day – Feb. 14, 2012

Feb 14, 2012 - Studio Bottles On Box

Studio Bottles on Box.  In a bit of a change in the theme that has run through my sketch of the day series, I decided to try something indoors for today.  Like many studios, mine seems to be full of items that might otherwise be useless, including a collection on glass bottles and containers.  Mostly they sit around, taking up space.  Once in a while, the mood to paint something other than my usual subject matter and I’ll pick a few of these stray items and set up what might be called a still life, except that they are generally simple arrangements of simple items meant to be simply sketched – much too humble to be called “still life”.  Today the arrangement was two small glass bottles on a decorative box, placed in front the large, east facing window in my studio.  The set up combined two of my favorite elements – glass subjects that are both transparent and reflective, along with backlighting.   The other advantage of this arrangement, at this particular time, is that it allowed me to work with some colors other than those same four or five that dominate my winter landscape sketches.  In this case I was able to use cadmium red, cerulean blue, thalo blue and quinacridone gold – a big change from those winter landscapes.  The sketch was done in the Aquabee sketchbook and is about 8” x 10” in size.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Watercolor Sketch of the Day – Feb. 13, 2012

Shimmering Stream off Myers Road, Shaftsbury, VT.  A busier day than usual kept me from doing anything too ambitious.  This little stream flows under Myers Road at the intersection with Bennett Hill Road in Shaftsbury.  I’ve passed it and noticed it many times, but never stopped to paint.  Needing a subject to work on quickly, I thought of this little scene and decided to make it my sketch of the day.  Normally on winter days, I find a good scene which I can see from inside my car.  Meaning there has to be a way to see the scene while parked in a safe location.  This view is actually not visible from any safe parking location, so I parked the car, jumped out with my Moleskine watercolor sketchbook and pencil and walked to where I could get this view point.  I put the pencil sketch in, did my best to burn colors and values into my brain, and went back to the car.  A couple times, I’d leave the sketch while it was still wet, get out, and go back over just to make sure I was getting the look of the scene.   Finally, I finished after about 25 minutes.  The sketch is about 4 1/2 “ x 8” and done in a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.
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Sketch of the Day – Feb. 12, 2012

Feb 12, 2012 - Neighbors Sun Porch In Morning Light

Neighbors Sun Porch in Morning Light.  This view is out the window on the west side of my studio which looks into my neighbors back yard, the back of their house and their sun porch.  On Feb 6, I sketched the view out the large picture window on the eastside of the studio, which gives me a view of the back of our house and some other neighbors homes.

In the interest of full disclosure, this sketch is actually a continuation.  Based on the notes in the sketchbook, it appears I began this work some time in March of 2008.  Not sure if I decided to abandon it at that point or thought it was finished.  In looking at it again this morning, it appeared to be unfinished, even for a sketch.

So, I picked it up again and began to work on it.  The first thing I noticed were the number of important elements I had left out of the initial start: the shadowy shape of the tree trunk at the far left; the curvy branch that sweeps diagonally down across the middle of the composition, the tops of trees and branches that stand above the rooflines; and, not least, the in-through-out effect of the sunporch windows at the far right.  Certain of these missing elements were sketched in with pencil, some were simply rendered with brush and paint.

This sketch is on Canson Montval paper.  Like the Aquabee paper, Montval is described as “cold press’, but is not quite as toothy as most cold press papers.  It is also a “slick” surface – meaning that it is not very absorbent – so both the water and the pigment sit on, rather than being absorbed into, the fibers of the paper.  It is a surface I enjoy painting on anyway, although I use it exclusively for sketches, not for studio paintings.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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