Wandering Kennet Square

Yesterday morning I hopped in the car and drove out to the Brandywine area to find a spot to paint. I have been doing a lot of studio work and was anxious to get back to nature.

I left home with darkening skies as the weatherman called for some passing morning storms and sure enough on the way it poured. But I figured by the time I found a spot to paint the rain would be over, and it was. I found a few interesting places that i could set up, but decided to keep going and if nothing else better came up, I'd go back.

Finally I found it, the Goldilocks spot. With a few drops of rain still falling from the tress I hoped out and walked around a bit to find the best view and then quickly set up and got to painting. This scene had a lot of great dynamics and space, a lot of triangles in the composition which makes the picture-space dynamic. Something close and something distant.





















My Palette colors: Cinnabar Green,Terra Verte, Hansa Yellow, Raw Umber, Mars Yellow deep, Naphthol Scarlet, Gablin Radiant White, Bolat Blue, Blick Violet Pastel

I blocked in my shapes very loosely and then using a big flat  (a No. 16) massed in the biggest shapes until I had the whole composition in big shapes down on the canvas. I was again painting on a Source Tek 12 x 16 canvas panel.

After I had finished the mass-in I took a break and stepped back to asses the way things were going--and noticed the sky darkening again pretty fast. I hopped to trying to get working again because I didn't know if the storm would blow over or rain me out. I snapped pics in case I had to finish the painting at home.

It trickled but I kept painting till a sudden burst came and I ran back to the jeep and covered the easel. after about 25-30  minutes the rain passed and I was able to go back and finish the painting. To finish I mostly used my No. 6 Kafka and a No.6 flat, if I got to picky I massed the area and painting back again. I used Liquin fine detail for my medium. But the sun chad finally changesd too much so i stopped

                                                          Creek and Field 12 x 16 Oil

I'm pretty happy with the result and was really happy to be back out painting from nature--I'll be back out this week!

BRRRRandywine Plein Air

This past week along with a bunch of hardy PPAP painters I went back out to paint in the brisk, brisk, OK--FRIGID outdoors along the Brandywine Creek on the grounds of the Brandywine River Museum. The weatherman promised it would be 45 out, but we all know how much the weatherman can lie.

 

I don't think it ever got higher than the mid 30's, if that before wind kicked up and the temp dropped  into the low 20's and we all felt like that scene in the movie Day After where the super freeze started frosting everything up in sight.


We started the day by visiting the museum and looking at the great paintings by Pyles, Cornwell and Wyeths and then having some lunch and taking art.  After Slugging down one more cup of joe we all headed into the cold to paint.

Gabriel, who is from LA and attend the MFA at PAFA with me said his feet had never been so cold.

Alina and will set up down the river from Gabriel and me and Sean set up about 40 yards up from me on the other side.


I had on 2 pairs of socks, sweat pants under my paints and a thick T and 2 layers of coats.  My hands still started to get cold though and my eyes would tear up. It was so cold off the river with the breeze that my phone actually died. I would have snapped more pics but even after I got in the car to try and warm it up it died again. When we were in the museum we were looking at a big painting by Edward Redfield who was a man's man, going out in all weather to paint plein air every day, carrying his large canvases out into the New Hope area and painting  some amazing snow scenes.

So how can we do any less, we painters of the 21st century? I was thinking how the shorter time and the cold really forces you to have to think. The cold makes you think--makes you think you want to go back inside before you toes burn from frostbite!

    The paint behaves different too it get thicker and sluggish so I did use liquin fine detail to cut it and keep it flowing.

One of the good things about returning to a place you have painted before you spend less time choosing a spot to paint. I love that rusty old train bride so i went for that, it was pretty sunny when we started but by the time we got going the clouds came in and it became very grey. Then the sun blasted out after the wind came through and I was able to finally punch back into the bed of middle values with some color and lighter values to catch the sun.


 When the sun came through it not only cleared the clouds away it also launched Alina's painting into the river which Will was just able to save before it was wept away as an offering to the Paint Gods.

                                                           Sean's strong block-in                 

                                                                     Here is my start
 
I was trying to keep it to big simple shapes and would keep re-massing if I got too picky too soon,  Finally with my hands to cold to paint anymore I packed it in along with the rest of the crew. It was a  fun day that gave us some good results.

 Alina's bold little painting after it's bath.                       Williams  striking bold little painting

My final painting. The sun coming back out really helped punch some light and color back into the landscape that i was able to work quick to take advantage of.

Cold Windy Brandywine

Last weekend I got out to finally paint plein air after a busy month of school and commercial gigs. I really wish I had gone the week before since there would have been more color as that one week had a biggest wet/cold snap and most of the color was gone in a 2-3 day period.

There was still more colorful trees in the city or around my area as it hasn't been quite as cold here as it gets in the countryside like the Brandywine.

 

I set up trying to use a tree to block the wind and i also liked the long view it gave me.

                            Alina set up on the ground, being low in the wind I think was a wise choice

 Here is my rough-in and after I got the ground in the sky suddenly changed with the advancing front so i had to rework it quick as the wind pushed in clouds.

 Here is Shawn's block in, he said even though the light had changed he was staying with his original block-in.

 

 Will was across from em painting the same trees and field but decided to face the elements with his pochade box, which is much heavier than my French easel.

 Alina and will were probably both smarter than me and decided to do smaller paintings. Me, I decided to do an 18 x 24 canvas.

But it was a good day to get out anyway and our group of Will, Alina and Shawn made the most of it. I had been down through this area in the summer when it was really crowded with families, hikers, etc.  It's right off the Brandywine Creek and near an old Indian trail the N C Wyeth and Frank Schoonover used to take from Howard Pyle's house. It was pretty windy so the view I really wanted to paint would have been impossible with the French Easel. It was really hard as it was after about 20 minutes as it seemed a cold front was moving in and the winds really started gusting. At times I literally was holding the whole rig down with my left arm and painting with my right--but eventually the wind which must have been gust to at least 25 MPH lifted and tossed my whole rig over, painting, paint, terps--all of it.

                                                                    My final painting

My phone also died or I would have taken more pictures. That could front also dramatically changed the light as it went from partly cloudy to mostly cloudy in less than 20 -30 minutes. But these are just the issues you have to deal with painting out doors and the unpredictability of Mother Nature. So after the wind slapped my easel and painting down and only a tiny amount of terps left I righted the rig and had to make some bold choices. I had plenty of Liquin, so I grabbed my biggest  flat and went at the painting figuring I had nothing to loose  now and about 20 minutes before the light was totally gone. In the end I was happy with what I ended up with as a painting  even though it might not have been the painting I originally planned or thought of. I was forced to make bolder choices and that I feel was a good thing and in a way reflected the day, windy, cold and very November.

My hands were freezing by the end and everybody was pretty cold so we packed it up and headed back to Will and Alina's for burgers and soup! MMMM Good!

4th of July Paint Out

 To celebrate my Independence day I didn't fight aliens, go to the movies , BBQ or watch any fireworks, instead I cruised around the Brandywine area hunting painting spots and eventually setting up to paint until the sun drove me back inside and back home. I scouted around for a good while driving the back roads around the Brandywine area off of Route 100 and  Route 92. I found so many awesome spots to paint- however so often they were on roads where there was no parking spot, no place to stop and set up to paint. A few spots I found the state troops cleared me off and said I couldn't park there. I think being on a motorcycle would be a great thing to have for spots like this--but I don't trust driving motorcycle--they are too deadly around these parts.

 The good thing is even thought there were a lot of spots I couldn't stop I took about 400 photos I can work with and noted spots I can go back to. It was hot for sure and the air conditioning in my car needs a recharge, so it was a hot ride in spots. but driving down these small winding roads there was a nice cool breeze in the shade. Eventually I stumbled upon Delaware State Park and drove in there and found a spot to paint. the trouble was there was no shade. So I put on some sun screen and my new hat that I grabbed at target, which is great for painting in the sun. i really need to get an umbrella for painting and I guess that will be my next purchase.

I knew I'd last maybe 90 minutes tops in the sun with the heat just beating on me, so iIworked fast and snapped pics as I knew I'd be finishing this in the studio.

This was my start and below I snapped another process shot. My eyes kept filling with sweat and it was hard after a while to judge the values a bit. I did take a break and sit back in the shade on the car for a spell to give my eyes a rest.

 I got things blocked in in around an hour or less and called it quits. But I got what I wanted which was my eyes and my sense of the space, colors, atmosphere. I snapped a few more pics and headed back home.

 After a shower a siesta and some dinner I worked from the pictures I snapped and finished up the painting in about 3 hours.  It was one of the best 4th of July's I have ever had!

                                                         Delaware Barns 16 x 20 Oil

Tuesday Afternoon in the Brandywine

 

 Today Aaron Thompson and I headed back out to the Brandywine to paint early because the weather is hot, hot, hot and the storms were forecast to roll in by the afternoon. I took Aaron back to the spot I painted at last Saturday along the top of a hill off of Creek road that gives you a great view of a barn and the valley.

 

This spot also provides a nice place to park and shade to paint in---which is important when its 92 degrees out. The air was already heavy and thick, the hazy was building fast over the sweet fields of grass. We started right away, as I set up my rig Aaron did some thinking with a few sketches.

 

 

This time I wanted to use a panel instead of canvas  for a change and really liked it.  I settled on my view and sketched it in real quick with a wash of Quinacridone Red. I figures since there was still a lot of greens the red showing through in spots would look good.

 After a while I snapped a pick of Aarons sweet mass-in, you can see mine in the background and you can see the different ways we think about approaching the same subject colorwise.

 We knew we didn't have much time as the clouds were really starting to build in the heat of the afternoon. I finished before Aaron and sat as he finished up his painting with a few last deft touches. One thing for sure, it's important to know when to STOP! You can really %$#!! up a painting quickly with a few wrong notes or over tickling one spot compared to the rest of the canvas. The great painters make everything on the picture plane in harmony--and plein air painting is very demanding in this way. To get down in a bold way the atmosphere, or the "prevailing weather conditions" as Peter Van Dyck would say. What is the color of the air? The light? You must also be a great designer to say more with less and to rearrange, conduct and construct. Technical knowledge in the harness to your emotional reaction, a horse that must be in control or it will over do it and ruin things quick. I find I have spells of thinking and not painting---then painting very fast. Greens are so hard to paint, and there are so many dancing into your eyes, you can dance with them all.

 Below you can see my painting as I left it. my biggest issue was the foreground and the mass of grass and the detail. I didn't want to get too busy, but I did want to get in some texture and the colors that wove together. I must have painted it 4-5 times and remassed it each time.

 There is Aaron's final and I love how he stated the planes and the feeling of air, of atmosphere. We were both kind beat so we headed off to hanks to have lunch and as our sandwiches were being served the sky grew dramatically dark, so we beat the rain by less than 20 minutes. On the way home it stormed like mad, but that means green grass for tomorrow's plein air adventure!