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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Preparing for an upcoming exhibit – “Sacred Vessels & Vantages”

"Mid-Summer's Day"

Working hard getting work ready for an upcoming exhibit at the NAACO Gallery. This exhibit with the theme “Sacred Vessels & Vantages” opens Thursday, July 28th and runs through August. It is a two-person show featuring the work of ceramic artist Jessica Phillips and my watercolor paintings.

This exhibit will include a series of paintings created especially for this exhibit and this theme.  The paintings themselves are all in format of wide panorama – with lengths more than three times that of their height. “Mid-Summer’s Day”, shown above has dimensions of 8″ x 29″.

Knowing that the exhibit was scheduled well in advance, it was  goal to create work that was new and fresh for me, in one way or another.  The first challenge was in deciding how to approach the theme of “sacred vantages”.   Being a plein air painter, much of my painting time is spent outdoors – an experience that is almost always enjoyable just to be able to take in all of the sight, sound and smell from nature.  The balance of nature and human activity is at least solemn if not sacred.

In addition to the challenge of theme, I wanted these paintings to be something of a technical challenge as well.   In the end, I ended up with two technical challenges.  The first was in composing in a panoramic format that seemed to be a way to emphasize “vantage”.  The biggest challenge for me was in creating panoramic compositions while maintaining focus, movement and balance in the works.  In “Mid-Summer’s Day”, above, the barn grouping to the left along with the large tree serves as a visual focal point.  The sweep of the fields and the mountainside that angles down from the left  both serve to keep the eye moving across the scene.  For balance, there are the distant farm buildings  and the weight of the mountainside to the right.

The second challenge was to create a variety of greens that are evocative of the summer landscape. Most of my landscape paintings depict either fall or winter. Since I tend to mix my own secondary colors – orange, violet and green, it has been a challenge and a pleasure, working with the yellows and blues on my palette in various mixtures to create the various greens.

All of the paintings in the series depict Vermont landscapes and include both studio and plein air works. More of the series can be seen on my artists website – www.tonyconner.com.

The exhibit “Sacred Vessels & Vantages” opens with a public reception on Thursday, July 28, 2011 from 6 – 9 pm  at the NAACO Gallery, 33 Main Street, North Adams, MA.  The exhibit is on view through August 22, 1011.

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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“End Of Season” – New Watercolor Painting

“End Of Season”

My latest landscape painting  began as a demonstration for my current “Landscape Painting in Watercolor” class. The class focuses specifically on the most efficient and effective techniques needed for painting watercolor landscapes.  Since the class is held indoors, we are working from photos.  The two reference photos  are shown below.  In this particular class, we combined images from the two photos while simplifying the subject and focusing on large shapes and in applying three basic kinds of watercolor washes – flat, graded & variegated.  By the end of class, the large foundation washes had been applied. I finished the painting in my studio principally by adding the touches of value, color and especially the textures needed to depict that time in autumn when the fields have been harvested, the leaves are gone and frost has removed the life and color from any remaining vegetation.

The reference photos are from scenes that are near but across the road from each other.  The sweeping, quiet rhythm of the fields from the left photo was attractive to me but I felt it needed more focus.  Adding the farm buildings and road from the right photo added the point of focus needed.

As is my tendency, the color in the finished painting has been enhanced with additional “chroma” or intensity and the field shapes along with the road enhance the feeling f movement.  I’m attracted to both the rhythm and contrast of open fields – both cultivated and uncultivated.  As mentioned above, farm fields – after the harvest – and open fields in the time after frost have unique textures.  Suggesting these textures is a visual cue as to the season – despite the color that is more expressive than realistic.

The content of the current class, plus some additional information, will be offered again in “Watercolor – the Essential Techniques” on the weekend of November 6 & 7, 2010.

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.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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"Barn Snowscape" – new watercolor landscape painting

"Barn Snowscape"

“5 x 7″

This small work began as a study for a larger composition and took on a life of its own.  The main challenge for this work and for the larger painting was in balancing the warm and cool areas and in unifying the colors.  The background went in first with yellows, oranges and mixed violets for the forest and the trees.  I wanted to use blue  for the snow shadows – primarily cerulean and ultramarine – which I did.  The problem was that the foreground and back ground did not relate.

The solution was to pull background color into the mid and foreground, while bringing the cool blues up into the sky areas.  The barn itself contains colors from all areas of the painting.  Because of this and because it is the focal point of the painting,  it created a great deal of harmony and unity on its own.

There are three other significant locations where color was added specifically to create unity – the silo, where an intense spot of cerulean blue was added high, so that it would overlap the background, while using the deep violets from the woods on the lower parts;  the left forground snow cover has both violets and a spot of warm orange mingled with the ultramarine; and the fence post to the right, which anchors in the foreground and overlaps the mid-ground and background.  The post was the last item painted and received cool blues where it overlaps the background and warm orange-grays where it overlaps the cool snow shadows.

This and other works on this site are available for purchase. 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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