The Grassy Lane

The Grassy lane in Provincetown has been painted by all of us for years.
Cars parked down the lane many years ago I'm told by longtime residence. Now grass covers the old car tracks.
The lane is really a garden with houses on it and is a tour deforce of roses; creating a fantasy land environment.

Developing the Painting

Rooftops

Developing the painting has it's challenges. I seldom work on a painting in one sitting, "One Shots".
I usually return the next day at the same time in the same lighting conditions.
Nothing can replace the color and the experience you get from painting consistently from life.
I will get rid of the white spots in my studio however, and sign the painting.
I might work on a painting for two or three weeks.
I love to start the painting for me, that's where the fun is. Developing the painting takes patience and that's a bit of work.
This rooftop painting will take a couple more sessions to finish.
I like to think of developing paintings rather than finishing paintings. When the colors are true and I can't see anymore variations of color I begin to but on the smaller details.
It's interesting to see all the types of plein air paintings and methods folks have for outdoor painting.
It's a bit of a fade to see all these quickie "one shots", however it's important to have a great start of a painting then a developed crummy composition.

Painting Captain Jack's Wharf

 The many grey days this past week has given us interesting light keys to paint.
Captain Jack's wharf is a great misty scene to explore for color on cloudy days.
Provincetown brings many visiting artist's to town, because of the light and beauty of the town; John Ebersberger is one of those.
I enjoy the exchange of insight John and I share. Painting with John is a chance to learn something fresh.

First Day Of PAAM

Today was the first day of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum's summer workshops.
My first day of class went off with beautiful weather; we painted a simple landscape of the pier on the beach. We finished the class as the tide forced us off the beach.

White In the Light

White has often been said to be the absence of color. In order to make white convincing we need to express first white in the light as well as the shadow.
On the right is an example of Henry Hensche's resent auctioned painting shown at the PAAM.
Clearly a typical silhouetted  outdoor portrait, Henry painted the white blouse very cool without being just some blue formula.

Clearly the white is many colors and their reflections holding within the mass.
Students hate to paint simple blocks because they aren't as exciting as the model or landscape; the struggle with white can be reduced through those exercises.

The White on the shoulders is not the white of the board it's a particular color, that relates to all the light planes.

Dulah Evans a student of Hawthorne, expresses an almost tour deforce of white in painter's on the beach.Hensche always said, "white in the shade is deeper than blue in the light. You can see all the reflections of color expressing the shade.

close up of hat by Dulah Evans

Dulah Evans oil on Masonite courtesy of Jim Bakker

The Hat below is a great example of this fundamental truth.

Hillary Osborn

 

My recent workshop in Falmouth, included a short visit to the Osborn Rugh Gallery. Hillary and I painted together in Provincetown years ago. It was wonderful seeing how her work has grown and discovering that Hillary and Her husband Dough Rugh have opened a gallery in Falmouth.
Osborn simplifies the landscape to the essentials and details are subject to the landscape as a whole.
I love Hillary's treatment of the foliage, because she treats them as masses more than a distracting linear approach.
Osborn's work is colorful and simple.
If you find yourself in Falmouth stop in and meet Hillary she is approachable and interested in sharing her work.  Osborn's website with address is   http:/www.osbornandrughgallery.com
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Falmouth Artist's Guild

Painting at Quissett harbor

Quissett Harbor brush demo by John Clayton

My workshop at the Falmouth Artist's Guild this weekend, brought me to exciting new painting places that I never would have explored.
The Falmouth students were for the most part accomplished artist's and very much open to painting with color.
I enjoyed sharing some of the principles of cape school painting, along with passing on some history.
We started with simple block studies and then moved on to some elements of landscape painting; using the pallet knife to keep things simple.
Some of the students felt the knife created much needed challenges that will help their painting stay loose and fresh. Others found the knife difficult to handle.
The weather was perfectly sunny. I was becoming concerned that I wasn't going to demonstrate the cloudy day; crucial to understanding the light key.
Sunday  we had an overcast morning and I did a quick demo before the sun came out.
The last part of workshop we used brushes.
It was great to see the growth during a few days of painting; teacher included.