Today was gray, sometimes foggy. It was a great day to hang out in the village with sketchbook. I parked myself on the steps of the Black Duck, with a yummy cup of coffee, and drew across the street, where the Chadwick House was nestled behind its picket fence, a few trees and an old dory, long ago consigned to the land. I had a chance to people watch, and spent some time talking with our two neighbors from just down the hill, then with a pleasant visitor from Round Pond, ME, and then a young couple, who turn out to have some connections to my hometown in MA. I got back to the house and added a little color to the sketch, deciding to only color what was organic, leaving all man-made pieces unpainted... for now, or forever, will decide later.
Again, thanks for looking. I enjoy your comments, each and every one.
The house we rent each year on Monhegan Island is up Horn Hill, steep walk, but well worth it with its open floor plan, view of the mainland 12 miles distant above Manana, 240 degree (math teacher estimate) vista, glorious sunsets and views of approaching weather. Half way down the hill is a flat area with a granite block bench and small memorial to Bill Cameron, a longtime resident who passed away in 2009. A small sign invites visitors and asks them to "leave no trace". I love pausing there, and painting there from above the village. Tucked in behind a graceful pine is the home of artists Arline Simon and Moe Oberman, both of whom we met when we first began visiting the island about 15 years ago. Moe and Arline are not on the island this year, and their absence is felt. Here is a blog post about Arline, me and a painting swap over 5 months, and another about a visit with them, and a last post about dinner at their house when we discovered Moe's love of Fred Astaire. The last one includes one of my favorite Astaire dance numbers, in the toy store from movie "Easter Parade". So, I spent some time sitting above their house and painting this week, remembering their joy and sass. The painting is not quite finished; I will post again when I complete it. Whatever happens to this eclectic home, I will always think of it as Simply Simon's, and thank God for the day I followed Arline's small shingle arrow pointing behind the hedge to her studio.... "A. Simon T, Th 2-4". Here is a video of Arline being interviewed a few years ago about her work here on Monhegan.
As always, thanks for looking. I love your comments.
Yesterday I posted my watercolor and ink sketch of the forklift on the Monhegan dock. Today I added some more watercolor from a different watercolor set I brought that has a little more pigment in its pans. My goal was to add some mid-range values to the forklift and to bring in the contrasting cools of Manana in the background. I may or may not add some color to the people waiting on the dock for their departing ferries.
Today was interesting, did some drawing, met a nice couple over here from Orono, ME, and visited the Lighthouse Museum. This year's show is titled "Reckoning with Nature, Andrew Winter, at Monhegan Island". Winter (1893 - 1958) arrived on Monhegan in the early 1930s. He spent a decade living full time on the island and painted its rugged topography and working families. I chose a few of his paintings here of Manana during the winter.
I will visit the exhibit at least once more during my stay here on the island to drink in the rich colors and strong design in each of Winter's paintings. His darks are layer upon layer of varied, rich color shifts that convey the majesty of the rocks on this beautiful island. In fact, we renewed our family membership to the Museum to help support its important work here. Here is a link if you are interested in checking out this gem of a museum.
As always, thanks for looking.
At 2pm, weather permitting, the Balmy Days ferry from Boothbay Harbor offers a half hour circumnavigation-of-the-island tour, then stops to exchange tour passengers for those returning to the mainland. I take the tour several times each week we are here. It's a nice mid-afternoon sojourn, visually sumptuous every single time. After the tour, I may hang around the dock area enjoying the hubbub of people returning from day's hikes to catch their ferries back to Boothbay Harbor or Port Clyde.
Yesterday I parked myself on a rock behind a small forklift. I loved the way it framed the people, and beautiful Manana, the small island across the harbor. And, I like the contrast of the natural beauty here, those traveling for the day to enjoy it, and the small workhorse waiting for some heavy deliveries from the mainland. I sketched the scene and added in a touch of watercolor for the shadows. There is a nice contrast between the greens and blues (which you can't see yet) in the sky and on Manana against the industrial orange of the small Toyota forklift. I can see a large painting here and will begin to work it up.
Each of the last fifteen years or so I have spent some time on Monhegan Island, ME. Our first two days here this summer have been sparkling, clear, dry, exquisite. This is the view from our deck looking North. We are up high enough to see the sunset over the mainland, twelve miles distant.... heaven on earth.
I began this painting by blocking in the darks, and arranging the picture space with an ultramarine wash. Then I used alizarin crimson to wash in the shadow areas and cadmium orange for the lights. You can see the painting in several stages here.
I concentrated on simplifying the brush strokes and cutting into the darks with the lights, then minimizing the details in the distance.
This month's theme for Girls Just Wanna Paint is "bliss". This painting is my take on the idea because Monhegan is pure bliss for me. You can see all our blissful paintings here.
As always, thank you for looking. I love your comments.
We arrived on Monhegan Island yesterday. Weather is sparkling! I began a painting this morning then put it aside for the next time the light is where I want it. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next day.... one of the lovely things about vacation. Then I embarked with sketchbook and small watercolor set. Turns out I had no water dish, so used the cap of my water bottle as a tiny reservoir, and kept emptying it as needed, which, as you can imagine, was frequently. A man paused while I was painting and told me I had done a nice rendering of those 3 chimneys. He asked if I knew the name of the house. (Each of the houses here has a name... Treetops, Field, Wildhaven, Inkspot, The Bog, Ice Pond House, etc). I did not know the name of the three chimney house but guessed, "Three Chimneys?" Good guess as it turns out. Here is my watercolor sketch of the aptly named Three Chimneys. As always, thank you for looking.
I added some watercolor to a sketch of the swan boats from the Boston Public Garden. Have you ever ridden them? It is really a slice of the past; the boats travel slowly, propelled by a pedaling pilot sitting within the swan. They travel through the Public Garden Lagoon, past the sights found in the famous Robert McCloskey book "Make Way for Ducklings".
I did a little research. The Swan Boats were introduced to the Public Garden in 1877 by Robert Paget, who combined the popularity of boating in the Garden lagoon with the new and popular mode of transportation, the bicycle. And, interestingly, Paget designed the swan boats with the opera "Lohengrin" in mind during which Lohengrin crosses a river in a boat drawn by a swan.
The fourth generation of the Paget family still runs the Swan Boat operation today. Check out the Swan Boat website from which I pulled a lot of my information.
As always, thanks for looking.
