Mark and Remark: May 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Not a Red Barn

This pastel is a version and a corner of a big barn on Hopper Road.

I have been busy training myself to paint in oils out-of-doors. Very different from pastels. It will take me a few more weeks before I have it down.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Barns

The bottom two are quick studies of the Wavy Barn on vellum paper. The top drawing is of a new barn for me. I hope to do a painting or two. All are 8x10.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

I checked with Vince, and he said to post everything at once. They are in order of creation, from bottom to top, top being the last made. The first one is the longer version of the Vellum Canal, longer as in the time it took to make it.

I am back in barn country, where I have another set of lamps. I just had to trek all the pastels and drawings there to make the photos. The next set of images will probably be barns again.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Still Awaiting

The problem of not having a photo light won't happen again, but in the meantime this is another drawing that I did last week. Unlike Degas, if I had to do it over again, I would do both black and white and color.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

On Hold and Degas

This is a drawing that I did last week. One of my photo lamps broke a couple days ago so I am on hold until I get a replacement. I do have several things in the pipeline.

The following quote is from an essay titled "Degas as Master of an Artificial Reality" by Line Clausen Pedersen in Edgar Degas: The Last Landscapes: "It was probably the artistic challenge posed by caricature--the need for absolute economy of means and without resorting to color effects--that captivated and fascinated Degas. He once said, 'If I had to live my life again, I would work only in black and white.'" According to the essay Degas had collected 750 prints and drawings by Daumier.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Vellum Canal

This is a quick (1/2 hour) pastel sketch on Bristol vellum paper. I will do another on colourfix paper next.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Canal Near Parking Lot at Washington's Crossing

The painting will be next. It may make more sense then. This is 8x10, soft and hard charcoal on bristol vellum paper. I have to try pastel on this paper. It may look like watercolor, which might be interesting.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

View Across the Canal

The black and white I started yesterday, but finished both today. The view is across the canal on the New Jersey side over the Delaware to the east coast of Pennsylvania. I am not really that fond of green, but it's everywhere. I have been looking at reproductions of Tom Thomson, the great Canadian outdoor painter. He seems to pick scenes where he can use red, despite the green, and he does it without barns. I have to study him further.

Early Morning Canal

These I did yesterday, though I finished the pastel this morning.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Controlling Chaos

The canal is like controlled chaos. The water flows down a channel, but the bottom is littered with rocks, sticks, and even railroad ties. Water plants are rising out from the depths. The grasses and bushes on the banks are already overflowing into the canal. The trees are in full leaf. The geese with their little ones litter the path. But the water flows on smoothly. My depictions are also a controlled chaos. This is a late afternoon view.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

May Canal

You have seen this view before. I tried to be quick about it to capture the essence of what is there. It's early in the morning, this morning.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Moving On

I had to rework the barn a bit more. A lost cause. But I hate giving up. I went out into the field to change what I was looking at. RT commented below that he misses the quarry and the canal. The canal now is so green. I haven't done very many canal drawings in the past prior to painting, so I will do that next, as a way to get into and out of the green.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Obsession

Time to move on to something else. I think I am over my obsession with this barn. Maybe. This one is 8x10.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Redo

Scrape, wipe, blot, push, rub. Everything one does is always a lesson for the next thing.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Barn Sketch

These color sketches are okay, but I probably will wipe them down, and start over. When the surface is too rough, and the size small, they need a prep coat. Pastel on, pastel off, followed by pastel on.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Busy Sketching

I have been busy drawing and painting. First with the white silo and barn: three 5x7 sketches. Then the Water Street barn: three 5x7 sketches, with the last on Canson paper. Finally, another wavy barn sketch on Canson paper. The last one is 8x10. These are all "learning" pieces with the idea that I will try a slightly larger painting as soon as I can.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

White Barn and Silo

This barn and silo are located not far from the wavy barn. And it's not red. I hope to do more with this one.

I just finished a book called Alla Prima by Al Gury on "traditional direct painting." He illustrates two artists of interest to me: Jon Redmond, and Tom Thomson. Thomson was a Candadian artist, who died young (1917). Self-taught, he spent only five years painting wilderness landscapes in Ontario basically out of a cigar box and a canoe. All his paintings are small, and they number in the hundreds, and, judging from the reproductions I have seen, they are fabulous. You can google both these artists to see their work. I will have more to say about Thomson in the future.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Other Barn in Color

The foreshortened barn in color. Lotsa bits of stuff.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Other Barn

This one is much better in color, which I will try to tackle tomorrow. I am fascinated how working with black charcoal bits seems to be opening up my handling of pastel. At least it seems that way.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Wavy Barn Long View

Here's a view looking along a foreshortened side of the wavy barn. There's a tiny pond on the right. Someday I hope to get the okay to walk to the other side of this barn, and see what's there.