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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Sketch of the Day – Feb. 10, 2012

Beechwood Road, Looking South, Hoosick Falls NY. I’ve painted this location twice in the past – both times as autumn scenes. This time the scene also resembles late autumn even though it was actually painted in mid-February. There should be lots of snow on the ground, covering these farm fields but, as I have reported in earlier posts, it has been unusually mild and snowless all winter long.

I found this scene both dramatic and simple, with clear sky, bright sunlight and large expanses of field and woods. In one way, this was a watercolor painters dream scene, with all the elements laid out in large, simple shapes, and a nice balance of warm and cool hues.

My aim was to transfer the simplicity to paper. I tried to emphasize the large shapes and warm/cool contrasts with simple, flat and hard-edged washes.

The warm burnt orange of the fields was pushed in both the foreground and distant fields. The actual local color was more in line with the color seen in the left part of the middle field. Why do that? Catching light on the middle field required that it be contrasted with similar elements. Depicting light striking one object requires a visible difference in intensity, temperature or both. In the case of this sketch, the foreground field is also catching light but painting it in the same manner as the middle field would have left this very large simply painted shape with very little visual interest. By “pushing” the color – increasing its intensity –without cooling the color – changing its temperature. The contrast in intensities between the fore and middle ground convinces the eye that, while both are lit, the middle ground is catching a great deal of intense sunlight. At the same time, the foreground stays warm enough and light enough so that it has visual interest and so the addition of fence post shadows in the foreground left are visually credible as well.
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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Feb. 10, 2012 Beechwood Road Looking South, Hoosick Falls NY

 

Sketch of the Day – Feb 5, 2012

Feb 5, 2012 - North Bennington Freight Station, February Sunset

Feb 5, 2012 – North Bennington Freight House, February Sunset.  I came upon this scene around 3:30 in the afternoon.  The winter sky was bright and cloudless and the setting sun was striking the freight house and the historic North Bennington passenger station brightly and at a very low angle.  The light was changing rapidly so I drew in simple shapes, mapped the lines that separated sunstruck areas from shadowed areas and began to paint as rapidly as possible.   In all, this sketch was completed in about half-an-hour – at least twice as quickly as any of the other sketches in this series begun on Feb. 1.

The color scheme in this sketch is not reminiscent of winter at all.  Both buildings are painted in a shade of maroon. The freight house is old and appears to be unused, so is not really in a state of good repair and has not been painted in some time.  The passenger station is well kept and is used by the Town of North Bennington for meetings.  Perhaps I was a little tired of the muted winter palette, as the warm colors of this scene were really appealing the moment I saw it.

Incidentally, a portion of the space in the old passenger station is also used for the annual North Bennington Art Park.  The North Bennington Art Park is an annual event in which many of the professional working artists in the area exhibit their paintings (indoors) and sculpture (outdoors).

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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Limited Edition Prints Available Online

"Afternoon Farm"

Just added to my website is a print gallery with limited edition giclee’ artists’ prints.  The current gallery includes “Afternoon Farm”, shown at left, along with  prints of nine other works, the originals  of which are now in private collection.  These ten works were selected to fit the theme “Rural Light” and all depict some aspect of  light on the rural landscape.   The online gallery is located at http://tonyconner.com/print-gallery/.

The availability of  artists’ glicee prints provides an opportunity to have a lasting piece of artwork at an affordable price.

All prints are offered a 90 Money Back Guarantee – if it’s just not quite what you wanted, send it back for a full refund of the purchase price (excludes shipping costs).

 

 

“Under the Canopy” – Plein Air Watercolor Painting

"Under The Canopy"

New watercolor painting – “Under The Canopy”. 14″ x 21″ Begun as a demo for my Painting the Autumn Landscape workshop this past weekend, finishing touches done in the studio. More about the painting and process here – http://tonyconner.com/2010/09/30/under-the-canopy-plein-air-watercolor-painting/

Plein Air Watercolor Sketches

Plein Air sketch - Cloud Shadows on the Green Mountains

Plein Air sketch - Hillside tree line

Plein Air sketch – cloudy sky and shadowed mountain top

Three sketches completed during my weekend class “Painting the Autumn Landscape in Watercolor”. On Saturday, the first day of the class, we climbed a hillside behind the Taraden Bed & Breakfast in North Bennington, VT to paint the the visible from that spot. It was a beautiful early fall day – just warm enough and with bright sunshine interrupted periodically by one of the fluffy and fast-moving clouds. From our spot, it was possible to view the a great deal of the peaks of the Green Mountains – from the north east to the south. To the south and west, the distant Taconic Range was also visible. I did these sketches during the day.

The first sketch was done earlier in the day, when the sky had relatively few low clouds that cast their shadows over the mountains. Because they were moving, we could watch the shadows race over the surface of the hills and mountains. One of the biggest challenges when painting “en plein air” is handling the constantly changing conditions, especially the light and shadow conditions on the ground. The solution is to sketch, in pencil, the main forms and then watch for an attractive pattern of shadow. Once it appears, quickly add the shadow shapes in pencil. Once you start painting, you can refer to the light areas of the mountains and hills to get the local color, and watch for more cloud shadows to get that color.

Each of these sketches is about 6 x 8 in size and each was completed in less than10 minutes. For me, the key to lively plein air sketches is working quickly. The other advantage is that it will train you to see both the shape and color of the scene you are painting very quickly, which translates to greater skill as an artist.

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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Watercolor Sketch – Covered Bridge

"Bridge In Morning Light"

4″ x 9″

$99

Since it has been non-stop snow here lately it has been hard to get outside for new material.  In the case of this small watercolor painting, I went back to my sketch books.  Covered bridges are plentiful in Vermont and are painted by many.   It can be hard to take on a subject so well explored by artists over time.  Most of what is to be said about the subject has been said.  That said, I dove in anyway.  The watercolor paper chosen for the painting is by Sennelier, a French art supply company known for its fine professional grade watercolor paint.  The paper is from a small watercolor block shaped in this long horizontal (or tall vertical) format.  The paper itself has a heavy coat of sizing which makes it “slick” – the pigments lie on the surface of the paper rather than becoming absorbed into the paper fibers.

The focus for this work was getting a good composition onto the unusual dimensions of the paper.   A long span of covered bridge seemed to be a good fit for the page.   Without any particular color scheme in mind, I chose colors that are favorites of mine – cerulean blue, Daniel Smith’s Quinacridone Deep Gold (I blogged about this color in a September post) and Dioxazine Violet.    Deep Gold suggests autumn, so the painting depicts the bridge in autumn.

I am always attracted to light effects.   Light as it appears early and late in the day is particularly appealing in the way the slanting warm light affects all the surfaces it touches and causes any standing object to cast long shadows.    The combination of two cool colors and one very potent warm color suggested a play of light and shadow on the long side of the bridge.

The finished work seems to have captured the look.

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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New Autumn Landscape

“Golden Afternoon”

11″ x 15″

$425

 

This painting began as a way to experiment with a new color, Daniel Smith’s Quinacridone Deep Gold.  My palette doesn’t change much in that I generally stick with colors and brands that I am used to, this one caught my eye while browsing the Daniel Smith catalog.  Once the paint arrived, I had to use it!  The color out of the tube is an intense golden orange color – one that reminded me of the color one can experience standing in a Vermont hardwood forest at peak autumn color.  The light filtering through the golden leaves infuses the entire landscape with a magical golden color.   Looking for quick inspiration, I scanned my photo archives for an autumn landscape and found one that seemed to have just the correct light conditions.  With photo at the ready, a couple quick thumbnail sketches and a color sketch launched the work shown above.