In the past few weeks I have been able to get out and about and paint a bit and enjoy the great fall we have been experiencing here in Philadelphia. In the next week or so I expect we will be at the peak of the fall colors so I will be sure to get back out and try and catch some of them on canvas before they are gone with the wind.
Last Saturday a big group of Philly painters got together and painted, some going to Eastern State Prison and some going down the the navy Yard in South Philly. My friend Diane Feissel puts the finishing finger touch on her painting along one of the historic cell blocks. Eastern State is a great place to visit as well as paint--however its is very busy as well which at times complicated you painting things are there are so many tourists and they often get in your way for minutes and minutes on end.
I set up quick deciding to try and cath the light and angle at the end of the cell block, and it was actualy very quite and only a handful of people when I started painting, but about halfway through the crowds really built up and often blocked my view of what I was painting. As usual when painting in a public place i had several interested parties who would stop to chat, comment and ask questions, but unlike most of the time painting elsewhere in Philly, they were nice and not drunk.
Will and Diane worked in the next cell block over from me.
This was the result of the first painting which I eventually stopped
due to the light shift and crowds ad then moved on to the yard where I
found Will and Charles painting. It was nearing the end of the day but I
still had some paint ready so I busted out this quick little landscape
with one of the guard towers in about 45 minutes. Having to paint quick
is good at times as it make you take bold steps you might not in order
to get something down. No time to be picky!
A few weeks before the eastern State paintout I headed out to Ridley Creek State park near Media with will and another frend an painted there at an old mansion. Another great fall day but I was actually getting cold and shivering a bit towards the end, my hands were freezing!
There are mant feral cats out there and they sped around and hunted as people walked by. I saw a few chipmunks get eaten by the cats as I painted. They all seemed pretty used to the people but kept their distance as well/
Once the sun moved too low I had to stop and my hands were really cold with me sitting there so I packed up and went to see what Will and our friend was up to.
This was Will's sweet little landscape.
Here is my final painting of the day. Its on a Sourcetek Birch panel and I love to paint on them. I was definitely thing of how Sargent handled many similar scenes and views in his Italian paintings. I felt pretty good about this till I got home and looked at some Sargents to compare---oh well, there is always next time!
