plein air painting – Page 17 – Marianne Thompson

July 12th, 2013

July 12th, 2013
Unfinished
Rocky Neck, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 in

The workshop was on buildings and boats – I had done two boats already, so I opted to try a building. I had only two canvases left – a very small one, or a large one. I thought I’d opt for the large, since it’s difficult to get much detail on a small space with the knife. Downside of course is that there’s much more space to cover on a large canvas. This is as far as I got. However, I left the parts I hadn’t time for completely blank. This means that I can return to the site one day and finish it. With palette knife you can’t paint over dried paint – or I think one shouldn’t (for various reasons.) The only part where I would have to do so would be putting in the dozens of windows that thread along the pier building.

July 11th, 2013

July 11th, 2013
Rocky Neck, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in

Day two of the workshop on buildings and boats. I painted and scraped off two separate compositions this morning before finally settling on this one. I sat and worked on it through a mild thunderstorm and a decent amount of rain. It was a really lovely boat. I may yet tweak a thing or two on this piece, I may not.

July 11th, 2013

July 10th, 2013

July 10th, 2013
St Peter’s Square, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in
(sold)

I am having trouble getting a good photo of this painting. I did this on location at the docks in Gloucester, day one of a workshop on buildings and boats. You may have noticed how carefully I avoid painting man-made structures. That is mostly due to my disdain for the careless and destructive ways of humankind, but also somewhat due to my inability to make a straight line. This is the first boat I’ve ever painted (in my adulthood.) I had several offers to buy it while I was working on it – which boosted my morale quite notably. Next time I may have the sense to hand off the painting in exchange for the cash right there on the spot. More than one lesson learned on this day.

Blackberries

Blackberries
July 6th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in

It was a 95 degree in the shade day, and the first day (that I had experienced this year) of Greenfly season. I had a small canvas so wanted to find something I could focus into, also wanted to find something in the shade. It was an exercise not only in painting but in self control – staring at ripe wild blackberries for hours without eating any. That much I succeeded in – maintaining my pacific, live and let live attitude to all living things – that suffered in the onslaught of greenflies who combine their extraordinary nastiness with remarkable stupidity – so a warning swat too easily becomes a mortal blow.

I haven’t touched this, except to scratch my mark into the corner, since painting it, and I won’t.

July 2nd, 2013

July 2nd, 2013
The Breezeway
Rocky Neck, Gloucester MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in
(sold)

We’ve had a tumultuous weather system hanging above us for about a week – overcast with sunny breaks, occasional rain, occasional thunderstorm, occasional tornado warning. I need to re-take this photo.

June 29th, 2013

June 29th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt
Essex, MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

Well, on Friday the thing I’ve been dreading for two years finally happened – namely, my two favorite players were traded from the Celtics to the Nets. So all of Friday I was in a funk. Saturday, however, I felt about 60lbs lighter. I had no idea how heavily that imminent threat had been weighing on me! My mind was clearer and calmer than it had been in a long time. I felt great and was able to give all of my attention to the task at hand, and enjoyed every minute of it.
There’s a small stick that blew into my sky above the tree on the far left which I will extract when it’s dry. It felt great to be painting, and I think it turned out fairly well. Meanwhile I continue to develop my piebald sunburn, as an effect of the uneven application of sunscreen. That’s becoming a work of art in its own right.

June 22nd, 2013

June 22nd, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
(sold)

I only had a small canvas, and I wanted to find a subject to do in a close up / study (rather than a big vista on a small scale.) Also I wanted to paint sitting down, and didn’t have a chair. Conveniently I found these flowers growing low to the ground. I settled in to paint. It went especially well in the beginning. After a little repair this morning (23rd) I think it’s done. Colours are nice and rich.

June 19th-23rd, 2013

June 19th-23rd, 2013
Half Moon Beach, Gloucester MA
(January 15th revisited.)
Oil on Canvas, 22 x 28 in
(sold)

I tried painting this water in January and was not pleased with the result, so I tried again this week – and I’m not overly pleased with the result. However, I have learned a thing or two – so maybe the third time will be the charm. In another six months or so. Light reflecting in water is sinuous, smooth and flawless – I think the knife (palette knife) is just an imperfect tool for painting it, or I have yet to find the way to make it work. I resorted to a brush for some of this one.

June 15th, 2013

June 15th, 2013
Gloucester, MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

This is still not finished. I don’t intend to make it more polished, exactly – I won’t be adding more detail to the figure, I don’t imagine… this was an exercise painting a figure in the garden and attempting to depict the light as it falls through the trees – warm against cold.