“Looking Up Plum Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts” – Painted this sketch from the porch of the North Shore Artists Association, in Gloucester, Mass. The view just to my left included buildings, boats, docks and water on a beautiful, warm spring day. For some reason, this view looking up Plum Street, attracted me more. The sketch was done in the middle of the afternoon with bright sunlight catching the southern exposures of these homes.
This sketch is about 9″ x 12″ and done in my D’Arches Watercolor Book. Since taking up this sketch of the day project in February, I’ve been working in a variety of sketchbooks. I’ve noticed distinct differences between the working characteristics of different brands and have come to prefer a couple over all the others. The D’Arches Watercolor Book is one of those as is the Canson Montval Watercolor Sketch book. Both have sturdy covers, great working surfaces, and paper that resists buckling. For this kind of project, I like knowing that these sketches will become somewhat of a record of work, the subjects that attracted me and, hopefully, a record of progress my own artistic development. Both of these sketchbooks are sturdy, archival, and will protect the sketches over time.
Personally, I find Gloucester to be an artists dream – it is a real working community, with plenty of beauty as well as plenty of grit. It is the home of Gorton’s, the purveyor of many frozen fish foods that you can find in your local supermarket. This alone makes Gloucester home to many commercial fishing boats and the harbor is always busy with the activities that support commercial fishing. It has been painted by many well-known painters over the years including Edward Hopper, Emile Gruppe’, and Winslow Homer to name just a few.
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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