Rockport Red, 12x14

 

Rockport Harbor.

There must be at least two boats in Maine for everyone that lives there.  They are all over the place, in all kinds of shapes, colors and purposes....and with all sorts of personalities.  They would make a good Pixar movie.

It's hard to pass up painting a red one sitting against the intense blues of a Fall sky reflected in the water.....all those color possibilities....all those excuses to push and pull the hues and find color vibrancy and pattern.  Working boats are a pleasure just to watch bob around in the water.

My classes begin later this month at the Winslow Art Center.  While I frequently revamp what I teach, this year it is a total makeover and I'm going to try to move into areas of instruction I haven't tried before, but I think will help those in the course move more quickly into their own expression and style.  It will be pretty much all day on Tuesdays for seven weeks and will be four (yes, four) hours of instruction followed by open studio.  Come if you can.  We always have a good time.

Find out more about it HERE.  Scroll down until you find "Painting To Your Next Level" and read all about it. 

Rockport Harbor, 7x9

I just returned from Maine.....

....where I met a bunch of talented artists, hung about the art galleries, chain sawed my way out the driveway (there is a story there) and learned a lot from Colin Page, one of those handful of painters I would call masterful.  More on all that later.

I did some drawings and especially enjoyed the relaxation of doing this one, as it allowed me to get 'into the zone'.  I took some progress shots which I'll have in the new version of my book 'Value Sketching With Markers' which I've been promising will come out soon for too many months....so it has to happen pretty quick.

There were a number of ways this could have gone but I liked the double masted boat up on blocks and chose to have the shadow line move the eye into that area.  I didn't make it up, all that shadow was there...but it was also other places so it got subdued.  One example is the shadow under the foreground ramp was just as dark but I made it slightly less so to reduce its significance.  Ditto for some other parts.

This art thing can be a lot of fun...and I do enjoy those markers.

Friendship

Friendship, Maine.  An inlet/harbor filled with lobster boats, buoys, sparkling water and fishermen who do it for an income. 

This drawing is also about another type of friendship.  If you look carefully you can see my friend Bob sketching almost the same scene.  He probably looks like a fire hydrant if you glance casually.  He's seated just below center in front of the closest dock....see him? 

Bob is a terrific artist.  He has a book out called 'The Simple Sketch' in which he shows you how to go out drawing with just a pen and a carpenter's pencil.  The results he gets are inspiring.  I'd give you a link to his book if he had a website (hint, Bob).

I never seem to get over how a blank piece of paper can be transformed into a recognizable place with just a few strokes of a pen and some tone.  The same goes for a canvas.

Think about it.

We take some hair and put it on a stick.  Then we mix some vegetable oil with some colored dirt and put it on a piece of cloth....and actually convince people that they are looking at a person, a scene, a bowl of fruit.  Magic.

If you went to the patent office with this idea it would be the joke of the year.  "Hey Harry!  Get a load of what this crackpot wants to do...,"

I have a few Maine paintings to share but they will have to wait until I get back from Montana. 

Room for One More, 10x12

Lost in one of the painting piles was this and another from the trip to Maine.  While here in the Seattle area isn't exactly boring, I do envy those painters on the East Coast and all the beautiful subjects/shapes they have available.  The grass is always greener....and I have wander lust.

This is from the Rockland area.  I'll post the other one soon.