More Sketches

Hello Fellow Artists-

Today I am posting another favorite sketch. This is Chatham Light on Cape Cod. I like the energy of the sketch the play of the light off of the red roof(s) and the clapboard. I have done a few finished pieces of this scene.... but none has had the sparkle of the sketch. that is one of the best things about sketching on location. I am much freer in my sketchbooks. Maybe it is not thinking so much about the choice or the distractions of the elements that prevent me from getting bogged down. Lets face it painting outdoors while great fun you many things working against you getting that wash done evenly and maybe not worrying too much about that is part of the key. After all it is a sketch right and not meant to be a finished piece... yet there is that something special about the sketch that shines brightly.

One thing the sketches do for me is to inspire me to keep painting and give me subjects to work on in the studio during these cold winter months.

Carl

Sketchbook

I love my sketchbooks! I use Canson watercolor sketchbooks w 140lb coldpress paper. It is close enough to the Arches block paper I use for my finished work. I keep several. One is full of my favorite Cape Cod scenery and has inspired several finished works. I have one for general painting ideas and one for drawings and value sketches.

This little sketch is of a house on Whig Street in Dennis Ma. I have this and a photo and will work on a finished painting for the next couple of weeks.

Speaking of Cape Cod.. After seven years of visiting the same house in Dennis on the Cape we will head to a new bigger location in Sandwich this year. I am excited about the change of scene, but also a bit nervous. I know the area around the old place so well and the light there in late August, but it is time to stretch and try new things again.

Keep painting!

Carl

Still life with Crock.

I did not paint this weekend. The boiler quit at home and there went my Sunday morning paint time...

Oh well. It happens right. This still life is painting I did last year. It is 8x10" and I am pretty happy with it. I feel it got a little overworked and I lost the shape of the top of the crock. On the other hand I think I really nailed the apple and the painting has a nice feeling of depth. I think I will make a project of trying this one more time. I will post my progress as I work on this new painting. Wish me luck. How about you? Do you wind up doing the same painting several time until you are happy? Do you visit subjects you like and have painted before just because you like them. As I have mentioned before I am a sucker for lighthouses and have painted most of the lighthouses from Cape Cod several times.

Happy Painting!

No Turner, but it is a start

Hello Painters:

It is not a Turner... but I am happy with this little painting I did of a pear. I will probably take one more pass at the shadow side to give it a little more depth. I'll post it again in the next few days. This humble little painting is important. It got me brain connected to paints and a brush again. I had not painted anything since August (Way too long) and the excuses to not paint were becoming way to easy to say.

This little painting helped me get over the fears (or whatever they are) that sometimes keep me from the studio. I have found that when long stretches of not painting lead to even longer stretches of not painting. I keep having to relearn this lesson.

It is so easy to forget how restorative half an hour in the studio can be. I am happy for this little painting and also for the 2 hours it took me to clean the studio enough to find my drafting table. I'll post the finished painting later this week.

Keep Painting,

Inspiration to Paint

Hello Fellow Artists:

OK. I am on my way into the studio to paint. What am I painting you ask? I am not sure yet, but I was inspired the other day. I went to the National Gallery of Art and saw the Turner exhibit. First of all catch it before it closes this month if you have the chance. I was inspired by the draftsmanship and rendering of detail in the early work and the explorations of color in his later years. Turner took landscape painting and elevated it to a grand form. His influence on the Hudson River School painters is undeniable. Enjoy this painting of the Grand Canal in Venice by Turner while I go find the bottom of my drafting table and start to paint.

Lesson for today... When you need inspiration to spark your own work. Go to a museum and look at art created by others. It never fails to get me ready to start painting after some time away from the brushes.

Happy Painting

Holiday Photo

Dear Friends and Artists,

Happy Holidays! Enjoy this special time of year with your family and loved ones!

Take some time during this time to paint or draw!

I will paint something and share with you all after the first of the year.

Happy Holidays

Hello Fellow Artists (and Art Lovers)

Wishing you all a joyful and healthy holiday season. For your view pleasure today I have included a painting of a parsonage in the Hudson Valley owned by dear friends of ours. While it is not purely a Holiday painting the quaint home in the snow reminds me of the holidays

Peace & Joy,

Carl

Balance

Since the title of my blog is artistic balance and is as much about my balance as a painter / photographer as much as it is about the balancing act of having an artistic soul and full time career here is a photo I took of Indian Brook Falls in Garrison NY. I hope to get to it it again in a few weeks when there is a fresh snowfall and a blue sky. It is one of my favorite waterfalls. I seem to be a sucker for photographing waterfalls and painting lighthouses. I have to force myself to use other subjects... but they capture my imagination so I tend to return to these two subjects over and over again.

Keep Painting (and Photographing)

Carl

Creative Juices

Hello Again Artists...


What gets your creative juices flowing? For me it is seeing a scene in nature that strikes me. That is why I never leave the house without my camera bag... but the real world gets in the way doesn't it? Seeing a great scene and saying "I'd love to paint that" doesn't mean you have time to stop and photograph it when you are heading to work and a re dangerously close to missing your first meeting of the day. Then one day you are so busy... the creative spark takes a vacation and the idea of painting seems to take way too much energy... What then?



Well gentle reader then I turn to you all for inspiration. I read blogs about painting or visit one of the many great daily painters blogs. Reading about other people going thru the same thing or finding a way to tune out the outside noise and finding time to paint gives me hope! So keep reading and writing those art blogs... and if you have been lurking here, but not writing anything just send me a reply with a link to your site or blog. I'd love to see it and will mention the ones I find here. While art is a singular and sometimes lonely pursuit it also feeds off of the fire and inspiration of other artists.



I also have shelves full of books on watercolor instruction. Some are good and some are bad, but they all have something I can use. Maybe it shows a great color combo i may not have tried or has an inspiring image I might try to make my own version of (as a warm up exercise). So what is my favorite book on Watercolor? It is the one pictured here. the "Basic Watercolor Answer Book" by Catherine Anderson. Her glazing techniques are wonderful and really glow. I really enjoy Catherine's paintings. I do not always paint in her glazing style, but I turn to the book often for humor and inspiration. I am always mindful of keeping my colors clean and enjoying the act of painting. Thank You Catherine. Your book has gotten me out of a couple of painting slumps!

Keep Painting!

Where to Paint?

Hello Fellow Artists!

This painting is of Nauset Light on Cape Cod. It was done in the summer of '06. I have painted it a couple of times. I'd love to say I painted the finished piece on location. Alas I have not managed to work out how to enjoy Plein Air painting, at least not for finished paintings. What I like to do is to to watercolor sketches in a watercolor notebook I keep and take photos. The sketch and the photo help me to create the finished painting in the studio. I just find there are too many variables with watercolor (lighting, wind, temperature, equipment and sand to name a few) for me to be both happy and productive. I get a lot of satisfaction out of the sketches and enjoy looking at the book from time to time. It helps me capture the essential feel that made me want to paint it in the first place and can tell me things a photo can not.

How do you paint outdoors? What process works for you?