"Moon in June" oil on board 12 x 14

 

This month's theme for Girls Just Wanna Paint is "June".  While contemplating what to paint, one of my daily drawing images popped into my head, and I remembered being on the Scituate Lighthouse Jetty at dusk while people awaited the rise of the full moon.  There is usually a crowd, families, photographers, individuals, with lots of quiet chatter. Then, the moon reveals itself along the horizon, and there is a moment of hush.  On the right night, with the sun just setting behind, there is a spirituality in that space.  

I dug up my drawing, shown here.. 

It is ink with some watercolor and gouache.  I used the drawing a source for my painting "Moon in June", adapting the people and the mood.  I began the painting with a warm undertone as the painting would be dark and cool. As you can see in the progress photo, I began with very dark silhouettes of the people on the jetty.  I added the moon very early, a slightly tinted white, to establish it as the lightest light, then gradually lifted the people and the jetty gently out of the dark, intending to the tell the story of night beginning.

As always, thank you for looking, and you know I love your comments and questions.  

Day 581 "Low Tide" watercolor and ink - gray day in Scituate Harbor

The days have been gray for weeks... spring is slowly revealing itself, and will burst forth if and when the sun returns.  Today I spent some time in Scituate Harbor.  It was gray, but pleasant, with people walking by with their dogs.  There was one particular clump in front of me that was especially fascinating to each and every dog.  It occurred to me that each dog's human had no idea this was a special patch.  But, the dogs knew, and I knew... our little secret.  
The fishing boats in the harbor were below the walkway with the tide, but I liked the variety of horizontals with walk, fence, boats, reeds, wires, one above the other.  This is my five hundred eighty-first daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest and comments on my work.  

Day 372 "Sunday Picnic" ink & watercolor 9 x 12

Today was a lovely, warm day for first week of October.  My husband and I took a picnic out onto the Scituate jetty; just enough breeze, wonderful smell of salt and sea, and lots of people clambering over the rocks, including families, a couple in almost matching tie die shirts, an engaged couple being photographed, some people fishing, and children building a wall of rocks on the jetty with that lasts-about-15-minutes urgency on a task that eight year olds can summon at will.  
I took the time to make today's daily drawing, showing the constant stream of jetty walkers, and I added a little watercolor wash when we got home.   It was a lovely day.   As always, thank you for looking. 

Day 262 "Scituate Harbor Dusk Block In" 9 x 12 oil

 I have begun converting some of my daily drawings to oil paintings.  You can see my reference drawing here to the left, and read its blog post here.  It is an interesting exercise, using only the daily drawing as reference, and thinking about how to convert those renderings into an oil painting.  Before I begin, there is some thought about how to begin the process.  In this case, I covered the entire board with a neutral ground, about value 4 on a 1-5 scale.  Then I carefully wiped out all the lights using a clean brush, clean towel and my solvent of choice, which is Gamsol. This is my two hundred sixty-second daily drawing, and only the second not using ink in some way.  I will post the finished painting on my blog later.
Thank you for your continued interest. 

Day 244 "Incoming Tide" pen & ink 6 x 9

Today we headed over to the Scituate Lighthouse, and took a walk around the loop.  The road is flat, and good for my new knee.  We walked .8 mile, a good distance for today, and had time to sketch the harbor.  It's a beautiful time of day, families walking about, some bringing take out dinner to eat on the benches overlooking the water, boats returning into the harbor from a day out, the smell of salt, and sound of soft waves.  

This is my two hundred forty-fourth daily drawing.  Thanks for your continued interest and your comments.  

Day 237 "Lunch at Lucky's" 6 x 9 ink, pencils & marker

Today was a beautiful day.  After some morning busyness, my daughter and I had a relaxing lunch at Lucky Finn's Cafe in Scituate Harbor.  We sat next to the harbor, had great food, conversation, and time together.  I loved the overlap of the people inside and outside, out of the light and in the light, with all the surrounding geometry.  I added color using some Faber Castell colored pencils, then continued to darken the interior with warm gray markers.  
This is my two hundred thirty-seventh daily drawing.  Thank you for continuing to look at the world as I see it these days.  

Day 110 "Hot Chocolate" 6 x 9 mixed

We took a little walk today, felt like spring after weeks of gray and cold... stopped for coffee at Lucky Finn Cafe in Scituate Harbor.  The lovely and spare building serves coffee drinks and light sandwiches with a sweet view of the harbor.  The building used to house the Quarterdeck gift shop, which we frequented for its eclectic gifts, jewelry, photos and antiques.  We stayed briefly today, but I did a quick sketch of a mom and her I'm-guessing 3-year old.  The were enthralled with each other and enjoyed hot chocolate for a few minutes before continuing their walk.  
This is my hundred tenth daily drawing, a little grayer than I intended, but a sweet visit nonetheless.   As always, thanks for looking at my work.  I am enjoying the time drawing each day.  

"Last Light" 9 x 6 mixed 83rd #dailydrawing

A sketch of the warm last glow of light by the Scituate Lighthouse one night last summer.  Every evening nature cooperates, people gather to watch the sunset across the harbor from the lighthouse.  I loved the silhouettes against the warm sky.  
This is my 83rd daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest.

"Scituate Afternoon" pen & ink 6 x 9 #urbansketchers #dailydrawing

Between some afternoon errands, I spent a bit of time observing the boats in the local harbor.  One fishing boat was coming in during the afternoon dusk.  That is some serious cold work, and takes a hardy soul on an afternoon like today, gray, rainy, raw.  The boat in this little harbor "cul-de-sac" have a backdrop of tall reeds during the mid to low tide.  It's an unusual looking arrangement, as if they  have a wall behind them.  The jumble of boats is appealing as they bob and shift in the tide.  
This is my forty-fourth daily drawing.  As always, thank you for taking the time to look.
 

Day 14 "Quiet Harbor" pen, ink, colored pencil 9 x 9 #Inktober

I love drawing from the foreground to the back, thinking about the interplay of lines and shape and what needs to intersect what where and how.  Sounds a bit vague as I reread, but truth is, once I get going, it is very specific... maneuvering reality as I draw it to avoid unintentional geometry and misleading tangents and intersections.  Today was gray, albeit warm for mid-October, and occasionally drizzly.  The harbor is in transition from summer's bustle, to winter calm; half of the pleasure boats are in storage, many on the other side of the harbor, indicated here by the slightest suggestion of grouped masts and shrink-wrapped boats.  
This is my fourteenth entry into #Inktober 2017, and as you can see from the additional photo here... I can not take full solo credit for my work.
Again, thank you for looking.  I'm enjoying the intentionality of  making drawing time each day. 

"Early Light, Scituate" 5 x 10 soft pastel

"Early Light" is a recent and early exploration with soft pastel.  I wasn't sure where to begin, but knew I wanted a dark ground. I squeezed some burnt sienna, viridian and ultramarine gouache onto the board, and spread them out which provided a very dark ground with some cool and warm components.  Turns out the gouache dries with a nice matte finish with tooth!  Great for the application of the pastels.  My plan was to build up the lights, leaving the ground in places.   You can see a few transitional images to the left.  I'm pleased with the result and encouraged to keep exploring.  One of the challenges for me was that when I wanted a neutral violet of value 4 with hints of ochre in it, which I could make quickly with my oils... I had to hunt and open another box, and lay color next to other color to approximate the color I was looking for.  It's a puzzle, an exciting puzzle.  Looking forward to more exploration.  
Every couple of years, North River Arts Society holds a fundraiser, Outside the Box (OTB).  The public is invited to create art, this year on a 5 x 10 inch board.  Nothing is signed, and each participant is invited to make art that is different from their norm. The resulting hundreds of pieces of art are displayed for a month as silent auction.  Visitors bid on the art they love, without knowing who created it. "Early Light" was my entry for this year's OTB.