BLACKWATER EVENING - STUDY

My recent trips down to the Eastern Shore of Maryland has re-awakened my desire to do more paintings of the region. I prefer the marshes and backwater areas, often finding myself driving down roads I had not travelled before. Most of the landscape thereabouts is flat, the water table not far down so my views are sweeping with large open skies, such as the painting above. This one done in the studio was based on a smaller plein air study finished earlier and both were the inspiration for the much larger 30" X 40" Blackwater painting posted on my blog sometime ago. When out walking and painting in the landscape I prefer the mornings and evenings, often getting up before dawn to witness the breaking of the new day. These time are very special to me and is the reason why I paint so many of them. I never tire of the different light and moods that nature has to offer during those times and no two days are the same. I truly haven't spent enough time there to really understand the landscape but plan on going back time and time again, hopefully gaining more insight with each visit. Blackwater Evening Study is an oil on canvas, size 8" x 10".

EVENING OVER THE MARSH

I saw this scene some time ago and only recently got around to finishing the small study. This painting was one of many that I exhibited last weekend at the Waterfowl Festival in Easton. Over the four 4 days of the show, I enjoyed meeting new acquaintances and old friends, so a big thank you to all who came by and said hello. Also many thanks to Matt and Julia for all their hospitality, the sailboat ride was magnificent!
Now back in the studio, I have started a huge cleanup getting ready for the new year and some serious studio painting. While I do go out in the winter to paint, it is nice to be snug and warm in the studio painting away when it's freezing outside. Fortunately it's not that cold yet and I'll be taking another short trip this weekend visiting the Eastern shore again only this time going a little further south to Chincoteague. More paintings to follow.........
Evening Over The Marsh is 5" X 12", oil on canvas.

AUTUMN MORNING STUDY

Although being very busy working towards the Waterfowl Festival next weekend in Easton Maryland, I have found some time to get out with my easel and paintbrushes. Weather has generally been good with warmish temperatures and for the most part, rain has held off - at least while I was out and about anyway! The skies have been fantastic, mostly overcast with breaking sun and shadow lending to many wonderful moods. I sat on the top of a nearby hill and just watched the clouds pass by. Wind was strong higher up but much less so where I was and created many different patterns as the drama unfolded. I'll post some of the other paintings I did from that day later on but for now, here is a small 5" X 7" study finished when the sun broke through the clouds and lit the Autumn landscape.

RAIN OVER SALMON RIVER

This scene was close by to the dawn study of my earlier post but of course at a different time of the day. I did a smaller study first then painted the slightly larger one. Initially I had a somewhat cloudy sky painted in but this didn't work so that was wiped off and a graduated sky put in its place. This really set the overall tone for the painting (as skies often do) so the trees and grassy banks were kept somewhat subdued. Again this is not a great photo of the completed study, I'm happy that the painting looks a little better! This oil is 12" X 9".

DAWN AND DUSK

I recently completed these two studies, again continuing with my Dawn and Dusk series. While I'm not exactly ecstatic with the outcome, the two paintings are after all studies so I have to take them for what they are - studies. I may do larger versions of them, that remains to be seen but often one painting inspires another and so on I go. Sometimes these small paintings will hang around my studio for months until I come across them again then I will consider them with a fresh eye. This usually leads to a more in-depth contemplation about what I was trying to do in the first place and consequently, a new painting arises. Dawn over Salmon River measures 6" X 8" while Cloudburst from Upper Fields is 6 1/2" X 10", both oils.

PIRATE

Awhile ago, we stayed with friends in Pittsburgh and still have many fond memories of that time. There were many walks in the woods along with visits to art galleries and eateries, most of the time accompanied by the stately Pirate. Mature and dignified is how I would describe Pirate. His gentle demeanour and intelligence gave him a sense of quiet but penetrating dignity. I knew that I wanted to do a portrait of him but only got around to it lately. I started by choosing a greenish grey background color which went on thinly. The rest of the painting was painted alla prima with just a few tonal changes over the next few days. Being so dark, the painting was extremely difficult to photograph properly and I feel that this photo (the best that I have) does not do Pirate quite the justice he deserves. The oil is 8" X 10".

BLACKWATER LANDSCAPE

Back in July, I posted an unfinished image of this painting and here it is now that I have finished the final areas of the foreground. I will have this painting (and others) at McBride Gallery this month in their Autumn Celebration Exhibition so if you are in the Annapolis area, please come in and have a look. I am continuing with the dawn/dusk series that I mentioned earlier and hope to post some more of these paintings soon. Blackwater Landscape is an oil, size 18" X 24".