Day 113 "Brattle Lights" pastel on ink 6 x 9

Last night I was in Cambridge to take my daughter and her best pal to dinner.  Her friend just passed her teacher licensure tests and found a student teacher placement for her last semester of college.  Very exciting.  She's going to make a great teacher.  We had a lovely dinner, than drove back through Harvard Square.  Since I was a kid, I have loved the mesh lights-hanging-above-the-streets look, first remembering it from Boston's Downtown Crossing.  Here's a quick sketch.  I laid down a rectangle of ink, then used some pastel over it to create the feel of the lights at the street.  
 This is my hundred thirteenth daily drawing... I'm exploring and using some materials I never use, and enjoying the exploration.

"Last Call" oil 10 x 10

The December challenge for our Girls Just Wanna Paint group was "frosty".  Here's my take.  I painted using the Zorn palette of black, yellow ochre, white and cadmium red, and wanted to set the feeling of a dark, intimate bar.  I deviated from the palette only in the beer glass itself, adding a little cadmium yellow to the mix. You can see the rest of our takes on "frosty" here.  

Thanks for looking.  Happy New Year, and as always, I love your comments.

"Concert on the Common" and The Lovin' Spoonful watercolor & ink 4 x 6

These summer nights are beautiful; the air kisses your skin as the light lingers and lingers.  
I added some color to my drawing from earlier this week, trying to capture that late light clinging to the west-facing planes in the city skyline.  

It's been a lovely summer so far... here's a link to the Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 hit "Summer in the City".

... but at night it's a different world...

Thanks for looking.

Childe Hassam silhouette - Nocturne, Railway Crossing

My classroom has no windows, although I can see light from across the hall through my doorway.... small consolation some days.  I have filled my classroom with visual interest, posters the students have made, art posters, a word wall, etc, etc... and my Smartboard which arrived this year.  Everyday, I choose an image or two to grace the Smartboard when I am not using it for academics.  It has great resolution.  I have displayed Calder wire faces, Eric Carle's joy, Homer, Sargent, Sorolla, today a Paul Rand, illustration... vivid, powerful, deceptively simple genius.   

Seems this winter, now spring, we have seldom seen the sun, and in fact, this mid-week of April, it was dreary and cold and drizzly, and enough is enough.  So, I called on Childe Hassam for a "wow the rain is beautiful" image, and here's what I got.  "Nocturne, Railway Crossing Chicago" from 1892.  Suddenly, the gray day that merges into a gray night, is not so dreary...  I am mesmerized by the silhouettes and tonalism in this quiet watercolor, and spent a little bit of time studying its gracious lines... what a masterpiece.   And, hey, the sun is coming out tomorrow!!

"Welcome Home" oil 6 x 8

Our painting challenge for May is "nocturne".  This small house glows on its hill overlooking the ocean.  I have walked past it many evenings, and felt the welcoming warmth of its glowing windows, inviting the occupants home.

See all the nocturnes from the Girls Just Wanna Paint blog here.  Thanks for looking. 

"Newbury at Night " in process 14 x 14 oil

Next stage of "Newbury at Night".  I have kept the glow, actually haven't touched the original wash in the sky.  It's been interesting working with the cool of distant neon lights, against the glowing sky.  I'm still moving around a few elements, have begun blocking in the pedestrians in the middle and foreground.  I've moved people a few times, and may again.  The light coming from an (unseen)  store window on the left is greenish so I'm wrestling with the small amount of light on the walkers, don't want them to appear green, but want to keep them less warm than the distance, and the lights. 

  I'm happy with the indication of street lights on the upper right, gives a sense of the cross street, actually, Mass Ave, without any other indication.  Stay tuned for the next iteration. Not much more to do in the painting, I'm proceeding very thoughtfully, not that I don't as a rule, but even more so, in unfamiliar territory... kind of an adventure.  I like adventures.

Newbury at Night - start 14" x 14" oil on board

I am experimenting with an idea for a nocturne from photo reference of Newbury Street at dusk.  I love the backlit glow of the buildings and people and the exodus of cars from the city onto the Pike.  They hit the ramp across Mass Ave and merge with a stream of taillights migrating west.  Meanwhile, pedestrians meander the streets, moving to a variety of different destinations at different paces.  The painting is about these contrasting energies. I have washed in light, shadow, silhouettes and am pushing around a few of the elements to make sure I convey the movement, which is the focus - in a very small piece of geography there are many stories, most unaware of the others in close proximity.  Night.  I'll keep you "posted".