Tony Conner Artists Blog

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

"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

“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.

“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.

A quick browse through my galleries will make it obvious that light on trees, especially on the trunks of the trees, is a favorite theme and subject.Many times, my studio paintings begin with an older sketch, developed through a series of thumbnails, often followed by a color study or two.   This latest work began quickly from an old thumbnail sketch. The thumbnail indicated a deep forest and meandering creek, with bright sunlight streaming in from the left of the picture plane.

Rather than working out the composition with thumbnails and studies, I decided to jump right in.  I sketched out the composition on a half sheet of stretched watercolor paper and worked with a wet-in-wet background.

“Glow Woods”

13″h x 20″w

Unframed

$520

The initial underpainting was developed with layers of paint applied directly in successive layers.  One of the greatest challenges of working in watercolor is in creating rich darks without creating “mud” or muddy passages.  In this work, the deep foreground darks were developed by layering glazes over the background and over each other, but only after each successive glaze had completely dried – becoming “bone” dry, as I often tell my students.

The resulting painting worked well enough.  The contrast of the highly reflective stream with the dark shadowed forest along with the tree trunks that seem to glow with inner light create a bit of a fantasy look to these summer woods.

“Equinox Road”

20″h x 27″W

This work is available – contact me for more information

This work, with its final details and adjustments made only a few days ago, represents the final statement of a series of explorations in paint. It’s title, as well as the painting itself is more metaphorical than literal. The idea began with a quick color sketch in early February. That sketch, show below, was created on the fly focusing on composition and color rather than subject.

“Winter Sketch”

Thumbnail sketch 3″ x 4″

Although the idea was to explore a winter theme, once completed, the sketch appeared to feel more like the the time between winter and spring, where winter hangs on in patches of snow while the brightening sun spreads warmth over the cold landscape. A few days later, after having considered the initial sketch, and mulled over the image, I created another thumbnail sketch, shown below. This sketch was created specifically to explore a color scheme that would better convey the contrast between gathering warmth and retreating cold. There are more warm hues and warmer mixtures of the cool hues and a stronger play of direct light.

After completing this sketch I decided to do a larger study to help work out composition, color and color mixes. This work, shown below, is the result. It was compelling enough to be given a title. More importantly, it was invaluable in discovering where I would encounter problems and showed where the the composition would need adjustments.

“Equinox Time”

8″h x 12″w

This work is available – contact me for more information

In earlier posts I have talked about the process of creating a painting. The question is often asked and it is a struggle to answer because, for me at least, so much of the process occurs in thought and consideration rather than in action. This post includes four physical works completed between Feb. 4 and March 30 – almost two months. While these were not the only sketches and paintings started, worked or completed in that time, the question could be asked as to whether these four couldn’t all have been completed in just a few days. The answer is both yes and no and has to do with the internal, non-linear, often wandering, parts of the process.

Thanks for taking a look at this latest work. Enjoy the coming of spring!