Tag: maine

Gray and Rainy… Perfect Day to Paint

SPRING POINT LIGHTHOUSE | 8×10”| Oil on Canvas Board

Presented with a sketchy weather forecast for the coming few days, my need to get out and tackle this lighthouse painting got the best of me and I made a rare late afternoon plein air session happen. Nothing about the timing or the weather made sense for an outdoor session, but when the temperature is in the lower 70s that’s all the motivation I really need. 

The drawing session from last week proved very helpful with this composition. I knew exactly how I wanted to orient everything, which in this case was the jetty, NOT the lighthouse. I need to remember this for future works, namely to find the piece of the composition that’s going to serve as the anchor for all perspective and measurements and start there, noting that this isn’t always going to be the focal point. The vertical orientation of everything on the horizon and the width/centering of the lighthouse relative to the jetty was also key. This made things move very fast so I could get to the business of putting oil on canvas. 

Starting with the sky and working forward was my approach this session. I’m ultimately ignoring the very gray, muted light because I know what this looks like on a sunny day and the plan is to polish things up in the studio or return to this location to finish it off with better contrasts. However, I’m very happy with what I finished today in just over an hour. A part of me says I should leave it as is and simply shore up the lighthouse details. Maybe I’ll put myself on an hour limit and refine whatever I can within that time constraint? Something to think about. 

Side note, a family with a young girl come by to ask if they could check out the painting. Apparently she likes to paint and seeing someone doing it outside on a day like today was either very cool, or just weird. Either way they seemed to be entertained and were very appreciative of our brief chat. I’ve never understood plein air painters who get so bent out of shape when people ask to check out what they’re working on. Doesn’t bother me, especially if what I’m painting doesn’t look like garbage. 

Thanks for reading!

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Cuz White is Boring

PREBLE SHED | 8 x 6″ | Oil on Canvas Board

In an effort to up my “en plein air” game, I’m going to do a few sessions this summer focused on simplification. The plan is to either find scenes that are lacking details and complexity, or zoom in on the focal area of a detailed scene and cut out the noise in an effort to simplify. 

The Preble Shed is an example of the former approach, namely it ain’t complicated… it’s a shed. However, I spent a lot of time also streamlining the background, almost ignoring what trees were actually in the background. I also made a point to blend, perhaps even muddle, the tree edges into the sky. I think it worked pretty well and added atmospheric perspective, something that has eluded many of my previous efforts. Progress!

Not surprisingly, the shed itself was the real challenge. It has a thick coating  of paint because there were a number of re-dos as I struggled to find a good light and dark color pairing. I noticed that so many professional artists who do sun-drenched urban landscapes tend to focus on white or very light yellow, using a contrasting blue-purple for the shadowed sides of the structure, which works really well, but honestly strikes me as a little boring. My goal with the shed was to use some hues that could be incorporated into other elements of the landscape – namely the flanking tree in the foreground, the fence in the background, and the sunlit grasses. I went with orange, about the 50th attempt, and can’t tell if I stopped there because I was satisfied or just worn out trying. 

Thanks for reading!

artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #southportlandmaine #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #pleinair #pleinairaustin #pleinairmaine #maineartists #mainelife

Plain Ol Shed
Practice Sketch
Base Value Block In
Final Composition
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Fishing for Edward Hopper

Fishing Shacks | 7 x 5” | Oil on Board

These fishing shacks are located, appropriately, on Fishermans Point in South Portland, Maine. Anytime of day is wonderful to visit the point to soak in the sea breeze, watch the activity in the bay, or simply smile at the beautiful landscape. While this spot has intrinsic beauty and plenty of subject matter for painting, these fishing shacks jutting over the water are inescapably paintable. This is one of what’s sure to be multiple compositions I do at this location. 

This was a particularly challenging piece due to the weather. In the photos you can’t see the wind, but trust me it was whipping around like a petulant child, something that wasn’t typical for this location. Despite the wind, it proved to be a stunning afternoon for late day sun, which lit up the shacks in that special way that only the sun can do. 

I definitely called on my inner Edward Hopper for this piece. My wife also influenced the outcome, noting a need for color so it wouldn’t be so blah with all the gray wood. Pushing the contrasts was easier than expected, in large part because the magic of plein air really helps with getting the light right.

Plein Air at Fishermans Point, South Portland, Maine

Thanks for reading!

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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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