Tag: Casco bay

Fort WTF and the Power of Artistic License

3 BOATS ON CASCO (study) | 5×8” | graphite on paper

Figuring out why a composition is failing can be a real challenge at times. If the painting fundamentally sucks, I know it’s a lack of talent or experience on my part. Sometimes, however, it just doesn’t look right. It’s on this latter front that I often find myself with boats. 

Granted, I don’t have extensive experience painting seascapes that highlight boats. They’re tricky and I believe lots of practice is the key to get the blizzard of weird angles, maddening levels of detail, and the reality that they move constantly, even when anchored, working in concert as a composition. 

Last week I did a short plein air session of boats – it was a total failure, although the outing itself was great time spent on the coast. I decided to try drawing the same scene in the studio to see if I could figure out the issues. As it turns out, this small study solved a lot of problems, of which there were 2 big ones.

First, the viewing angle was too steep, meaning it works better with a more horizontal perspective. The painting I had done was simply too aerial, probably in part because I was standing on a pier and secondly it was low(ish) tide, so everything was below my line of sight. 

Secondly, the composition included something very unusual, namely Fort Gorges, which is literally a Civil War era fort seemingly floating around in Casco Bay. It’s an iconic part of the Bay for those who know Portland, Maine, but for those “from away”, it’s basically a big ‘ol WTF part of the horizon. It’s made all the more confusing to the uninitiated because it has a tree filled square in it’s center, which makes Fort What-the-Fuck even more awkward with what looks like a Jolly Green Giant broccoli patch springing skyward. How does one work that convincingly into a composition. NOBODY! 

Upon realization that Fort WTF needed to be ignored, aka artistic license, the final version of the drawing was complete. Note that in the pictures there is a before and after version to show the impact of using a drastic design decision to make the composition work. Whaddya think?

Before with Fort WTF
After without Fort WTF

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #portlandmaine #landscapesmaine #maineart  #portlandmaineart  #southportland #southportlandmaine #capeelizabeth #pleinairaustin #cascobay #fortgorges #seascape #sailing #drawing

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End of an Era

SHACKS OF GOLD | Oil on Canvas | 20×16”

If you’ve lived in South Portland, you knew the Fishing Shacks. If you don’t, please get out more and explore the wonders of your own backyard!

For the uninitiated, the last of the 3 remaining, dare I say “iconic”, Fishing Shacks were sucked into Casco Bay on January 13, 2024. Over their 120+ years, these historical structures had endured whatever the tumultuous Maine coast could throw at them, but a record tide (14.57 feet) coupled with a massive storm surge was a one-two punch they simply couldn’t withstand. 

Many Fishing Shacks On Willard Beach
Shacks Stored Fishing Gear… Maybe Bodies 🙂
Fishing Shacks With Metal Roofs
Reference Photo of Fishing Shacks – August 2023

Despite their absence, they leave many fond memories, a rare marriage of human structures and the natural environment which, together, made Fishermans Point a better place. As an artist, one of my primary inspirations is to return to a fond location and remember the time I spent there by recreating a view or experience on the canvas. Regarding the Fishing Shacks, my wife and I spent many happy hours soaking in the sights, sounds, and sea air on Fishermans Point, the shacks standing guard. It was, and still is, our happy place… just a little different now. 

The painting (not my first of the shacks, see Fishing for Edward Hopper) is meant to capture that unique light at the end of the day when the world is bathed in golden rays and everything looks just a little more inviting. I used very little artistic license regarding the shacks themselves, as I wanted to preserve their actual structure as much as possible, including their positioning on the rocky point. 

Experimenting with color to figure out the right palette for the water
Zoom In Shacks

I used a painting knife and broken color on the illuminated side of the shacks to ensure they were the focal point of the work, most notably the railing leading to the first shack, guiding the viewer into the work. The use of high contrast values of the railing against the sunlit side of the shack should pull you back to that point every time you look at the piece, supported further by the diagonal cast shadows of the railing on the shack wall. 

Compositionally the piece could be unbalanced and wonky, the shacks and rocky point stacked on the right side.To offset this issue, I incorporated a lot of high value, strong chroma setting sun reflection in the still(ish) blue waters on the left side. This is a relatively new compositional strategy I learned from another artist, Jeanne Hougen , who I had the pleasure of taking a class earlier this year. 

Lastly, there is some hidden meaning in this composition, most notably the lack of the rocky point and the supporting stilts of the shacks in the water’s reflection. This was done intentionally and is meant to represent the physical disconnection of the shacks from Fishermans Point, but also a reminder of their powerful presence in the memories of all of us who shared time with them looking across the bay. 

Reference Photo
Block In
Progress – Sky Sets Tone
Bright Blue Water Aint Right
Working in Reflections
Sunlight Reflection for Balance
SHACKS OF GOLD | 20×16″ | Oil on Canvas

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Waiting to Sail

SPRING POINT BOATS | 10 x 8” | Oil on Canvas Board

This is a follow-up to a previous post while in Maine. SPRING POINT BOATS was started en plein air, the session just long enough to allow me to lay in a solid structure and composition that was interesting. There was some artistic license taken in terms of boat placement and colors, but the remainder of the setting is, believe it or not, an accurate depiction. 

While the paint didn’t effortlessly jump off the brush, something did click regarding boat shapes and structure. I’m not happy with how some of the areas look a bit chalky, but that should be easy to improve in future efforts. I believe I relied too much on Titanium White to lighten values throughout the piece, as opposed to reserving it primarily for the boats. However, the sense of a strong mid-afternoon sun on a calm day came through pretty well.

The last self-critique, and it’s a big one, is the compositional structure. I didn’t notice until the work was done, but now I can’t “unsee” it, that the lighthouse jetty looks artificial because it comes into the painting in a parallel that’s very distracting. It needs to be more angular, or at the very least, I need the sight line to be above the jetty so you can see the side and top, not just the side. I have to laugh, though, because I was so proud of my artistic licensure of the boats, yet I ignored the massive rock jetty in the background. Oh well, there’s always next time.

Thanks for reading!

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #contemporaryart #southportlandmaine #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #springpointledgelighthouse #lighthouse #maine #portlandmaine #sailboat #marina #sailing

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Fix and Finish Spring Point Lighthouse

SPRING POINT LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE | 6×8”| Oil on Canvas Board

Finished! I’ve posted a couple of progress related updates regarding this composition and I’m happy to say the 3rd time is a charm… this one’s done! If you look at the previous progress post, you’ll notice the removal of the tiny island fortress of Fort Gorges, an extreme application of artistic license. It was giving me fits compositionally, in part because the intent to use it as a balance with the lighthouse on the right was more of a distraction than something complimentary. I was going to simply mute the greens of the trees and push it back in the scene, ensuring the lighthouse was the focus, but what I discovered was that it’s such an unusual structure that it took over the composition as the viewer is sucked into wondering “what the hell is that?” I mean seriously, how often do you see an old fort on an island with a miniature forest growing in the center? I tried to convince myself that I painted it so realistically and thus it was a distraction, but in reality it’s simply weird to see out of the full context of Casco Bay, so I wiped it out… in the interest of artistic integrity.

The fort was easy enough to wipe out, but the issue it was meant to address, namely a well balanced composition, was still a problem. Not a pro at just dropping shit into a painting out of thin air, this seemed like a good scenario for practice. I’m pretty happy with the result, but it took a conscious effort to ignore details and simply work in some loose brush strokes. I also incorporated some of the ubiquitous lobster buoys found in and around Casco Bay, and lastly some distant sailboats to give the sense of an active afternoon on the water.

As to the focal point, the final result of the lighthouse and the complex stones of the jetty came out pretty well given my relatively minimal subject matter experience. As any of you artists know, tackling new subjects can be a reminder of the impossibility of knowing how to paint anything and everything equally well. The process was very enjoyable and satisfying, so there will be more lighthouses in the near future. I might expand my new found rock painting knowledge to some coastal scenes, too. 

Thanks for reading! 

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #contemporaryart #southportlandmaine #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #springpointledgelighthouse #lighthouse #maine #portlandmaine #getoutside #fortgorges

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Stop With All the White Boats!

Casco Bay Boats (study) | 7 x 5” | oil on Canvas Board

The weather and views were so fantastic, frankly I didn’t care how this plein air piece turned out. The vantage point was from a hillside trail in the shade looking out across Casco Bay. I had originally setup along the water, but had to move due to the rantings of a homeless guy who felt me and another guy nearby had infringed on his oceanfront property.

The boats were tricky to paint because the scale was so small – this was the first time I’d painted a seascape with various boats on a small canvas. I realized I had to pay more attention to giving the impression of details with singular brush strokes, almost dots in some places. The other challenge with boats, maybe it’s just in this particular bay, but the vast majority of them are white, the entire boat, not just the sails.

Overall this was a successful study and I’m looking forward to future compositions, both in plein air and studio refinements. There are also some great hues to work with in the sky, water, and the backdrop of green forests and islands. What’s not to like?

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #cascobay #portlandmaine #landscapesmaine #pleinair #maineart #sailing

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