Extremes

This week I have an exercise in extremes to share. Despite the fact that we are just 30 miles east and a suburb of one of the largest cities in the world, there really is a lot of natural beauty here on Long Island and I constantly search it out to paint it. But there is more to the Island than just the coastal beauty and the magnificent variety of trees. There is the infrastructure which, if the artist makes an attempt to handle it properly, can be quite striking as well.

Last Thursday night I was driving home from teaching on the Long Island Expressway. The LIE, Route 495, bisects the Island horizontally all the way from New York City at it’s western end to Riverhead in the east which lies in the crotch of the two forks of the Island, a distance of about 100 miles. It is not always avoidable (though most of us wish it was) and the traffic, especially during the summer Hamptons season can turn it into one long parking lot! However, at night, it is usually not too bad traffic wise and it gets me home from Dix Hills in about a half hour.

For some reason or another I was captivated by the look of it while driving home. The lights are mesmerizing and despite the fact that it was 10PM there did seem to be a lot of notes of color from the brake lights to the exit signs.

So, I decided to paint it. However, this decision brought with it some logistical difficulties. Setting up an easel in the center lane of a 55 MPH highway seemed…risky? And the fact that I wanted to do this at night took away any real possibility of doing it from photographic reference. My solution was to have my wife drive back and forth between a few exits while I studied, tried to get some photographs, and took loads of notes from what I observed. The result was painted largely from memory and very quickly to try to preserve the sense of motion.

"The Long Island Expressway~A Nocturne"12 X 16 oil on panel. Click on the link below the painting for purchasing details.

I spied the next view this past Saturday and thought to head out to do it on Sunday but the weather was bad so I had to wait until this morning. This marked my first trip outdoors, albeit around the corner, to paint this year and it felt good. It struck me when I returned home that the tree looked as jolly, fat, and exuberant as the artist did knowing that spring was finally here!

"Violets and Marsh Marigolds"12 X 9 oil on canvas. Click on the link below the painting for purchasing details.

I am also pleased to announce that I have been juried in to the Wayne Arts Center’s annual plein air event in Wayne, PA. I participated in this event last year and despite the fact that we had non-stop rain really enjoyed it. I hope we have better weather this year.

The Poor Carpenter

A poor carpenter blames his tools. Everyone has heard that old axiom and I know I have used it often when a fellow artist or a student complains that they can’t get the brush stroke they want because the brush “won’t behave” or that they had a difficult time getting their drawing down correctly because of a rickety easel, etc. I’ve never had too much patience with these claims, in part, because I was taught and make every effort to keep my equipment in as close to new condition as possible. I am very diligent about washing my brushes and “training” them to keep their original shape. I have a checklist taped inside my easel which I go through before I go out to paint to make certain that I have everything I need. I am compulsive to the point of wiping off the threaded ends of my paint tubes before I screw the tops back on!

However…(and I can hear you thinking “here we go!”) I got stuck with some bad gesso! I can also hear you now saying “Hey Paul, a bad carpenter…” but it is true! Really! For those of you who don’t know, gesso is one of a number of a “grounds” that are applied to the surface that an artist works on. In my case it is the material that makes my canvas white. I have used the same brand of gesso for as long as I can remember and, for this reason, never look at the jar when I pick it up off of the shelf at the art supply store. However, this particular jar was of a different formula and consistency than my usual. It seemed a lot thicker when I was applying it to my canvases but I didn’t think much of it.

My troubles began when I started painting on these panels. I just could not get the paint to move the way I usually like it to move. It seemed as though when I applied a stroke it would just sit there like a dull lump and I couldn’t get it to move. Being of a self critical nature I began to wonder and then to really fret about what I was doing wrong. I had suddenly parted with my hard earned skills! I was a hack who could no longer paint!

After a fitful night sleep I arose the next morning, got out of bed and immediately went down to see if the painting was as bad as I had thought it was the night before. I’m sorry to report that it was even worse. I dropped into my chair and started to wonder what other profession might suit me when something about the canvas caught my eye. I noticed that all of the paint I had applied only the day before was already dry! This is highly unusual for oil paint which normally takes a few days to start to set up. I reached out with a finger and started trying to smear some of the paint around but it would not budge. Immediately it dawned on me what the problem might be…the new “formula” thicker gesso had leeched all of the oil out of the paint leaving a dead, immoveable, dried crust behind!

Hope began to swell in my bosom and I excitedly grabbed my gear and a few older panels and went out to paint the two paintings that follow.

The Old Sentry12 X 12 oil on canvas. Click on the link to view purchasing details for this painting.

Sunday Morning~Locust Valley12 X 9 oil on canvas. Click on the link to view purchasing details for this painting.

I felt as though a bad dream had ended, that I had been paroled from crappy painter prison! Suddenly my skills had been returned to me, all was right with the world and I began to wonder if a good carpenter ever blames his tools?

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.

"...and the forecast calls for..."

I guess the lesson here is that one can never trust a weather forecast! I had a one day plein air workshop scheduled for this past Saturday in Smithtown, NY but we cancelled it because the weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain and cold damp winds for both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say I never saw a drop of rain and Sunday was one of the loveliest days I can recall since last autumn.

The element which made both days memorable for me was the incredible sky that the passing cold front left in its wake; massive fair weather cumulous clouds moving majestically up from the south. Nothing makes me more excited to get out and paint than the presence of this sort of very busy sky.

I left early on Saturday morning to head over to Centre Island Beach because I know that it is a spot where I can get a bit of water and some distant trees in the foreground yet have my canvas be mostly devoted to a good sky painting. However, I never made it that far because, as Bayville Road makes a sharp right-hand bend, you get a view across Long Island Sound towards Connecticut and I was amazed at how beautiful this sky was. The plein air mobile made what the faint of heart might consider to be a rather treacherous left hand turn into the beach parking lot. I got out of the car and looked to the west and saw the kind of view I normally only see in my dreams, lots of blues and grays in the water and in the tumultuous sky and a wonderful pink beach house which was brightly illuminated and would serve as a wonderful focal point.

"End of Summer~Stehli Beach" is available for sale. Click this link for details.

Idyllic, right? Well, not exactly. If you know the area then you are aware that I was set up just across the street from a somewhat new amusement park which I think is called the Bayville Scream Park. Among their other attractions they apparently have a pirate themed ride. To lend the proper atmosphere to the ride they have a loud recording of a very British sounding sea captain exhorting his crew to fire upon the dreaded enemy. The recording is repeated…over and over and over again! I began to root for the pirates, hoping they would get in just one shot which would send the annoying British flagged frigate to the bottom of the sea!

Not being one to look a gift sky in the mouth, I ate lunch, did a few errands, grabbed my rig and headed out again. I returned to Rottkamp’s Farm where I had painted last week for just the same reason as before…a bit of foreground to act as an anchor for a sky painting. And finally, early on Sunday evening, the clouds lowered, blocked out the sun and any blue sky, and raindrops began to splatter on my palette!

"Early October Sky" is available for sale. Click this link for details.

In truth, conditions would not have been very favorable for some of my less experienced students. Both days felt a considerable cool wind and the clouds intermittently blocked the sun causing subject matter to be illuminated, thrown into shadow and then illuminated again. Variable conditions while painting outdoors can be maddening even to the most experienced painter. But this was one day I will never forget!

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.

Primary Ingredients

A word of warning…never set up to paint the ingredients you plan to use for dinner that night!

I have grown to really love cooking. I love all of the shapes, colors and textures of the ingredients and the feel of the tools. I love all of the preparatory work and the act of cooking and then sitting down to eat what I have made.

It occurred to me that a “food” still life might be just the ticket. Everything is gray and brown out doors and after looking for someplace to paint on Saturday and early Sunday I decided to instead move indoors and set up a still life.

I had already been shopping for what I was going to make Sunday night and had many different ingredients to choose from. I grabbed my cutting board, my old Chicago Cutlery knife, some fresh parsley and a lemon, a tomato and garlic and set it all up in my studio.

The problem was that I had intended to get the painting done “alla prima” or in one sitting thus making my ingredients available later for dinner. Unfortunately this was not the case but I thought this was OK as all I really had to replace was the lemon. I ran to the local food market just as they were getting ready to close, bought my replacement lemon, and headed for home confident that my troubles were over.

Wrong again! I started to get set up when I remembered that my cutting board and favorite knife were still set up downstairs and could not be disturbed. So, no problem, I can improvise. I used the back side of my wooden pizza peel as a cutting board and my less than favorite inexpensive Sabatier knife. Everything was moving along fine until I came up about a tomato short of the required 2 cups of diced tomatoes. As the local market was now closed I had no choice but to raid my still life for the necessary ingredient.

Monday morning found me at the market early to purchase my replacement tomato and the painting was finished without further inconvenience to either my self or any of my “models”.

The title of the painting, “Primary Ingredients”, refers to the fact that the three so called “primary colors” red, yellow and blue are all present here at full strength.

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.