welcome message

Find here news about my work and observations and incidents that happen while out painting. Double clicking an image will open up a larger-view slide show. Thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Changing a Concept and Adjusting a Painting in Progress


I want to try to make the work (and mistakes) I'm undertaking relatable to my students, so I thought I'd share a recent change of plan I exacted on a painting.

I last wrote about painting along Runnemede Avenue in Lansdowne.  I'm still painting there, and had planned to do another canvas to go along with this piece to create a diptych:




Work in progress along Runnemede Ave. I was planning to add a second canvas of the same size to the left side depicting a neighboring duplex.

You'll see I started to draw along the edge to keep the scale the same as the painting above.

Here I begin blocking in the shapes. 


So I got as far as what you see above, but two things happened.

One was that I wanted to include the entire building (a duplex) as opposed to cropping it, in part because the architecture fascinates me, as well as the two different shades of green in which the building is painted.  I also noticed that the forsythias had begun to bloom and was imagining that I would like their yellow color agains the green structure.

The second thing that happened was that I heard the weather forecast: we were due for snow.  Possibly a lot of snow. If there is one thing that I love (and don't often get to paint) it's snow. So I let go of the idea of creating a diptych and decided to make an independent canvas.  I've noticed that I have a default scale that I tend to use for buildings, so it really forced me to concentrate to get everything small enough to fit on my canvas. 


You may see the previous drawing wiped away as I re-considered what I wanted to achieve with this painting.


Satisfying and different for me to work smaller in the architectural drawing; I liked being able to zoom out and capture more of the landscape.  The snow did not disappoint!

In progress....



Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Sabbatical Paintings in Progress

Here are some photos of ten paintings underway for my sabbatical project. As I'm modeling my project after the AP studio art exam, I plan to complete 12 pieces this year that explore the idea of habitat along the Darby Creek.



Painted along Greenwood Avenue in August. It was hot and this shady spot was a welcome relief to beat the heat. This painting also continues a painting I had made years ago of the same house. I decided to put them together and make a diptych.

Owen Avenue in Lansdowne has so many amazing houses to paint. I saw a few former students while doing this one, including one who is currently taking Studio Art AP at Penn Wood!

This painting was conceived to be a continuation of the painting above.

Here you may notice that three paintings are put together to create this triptych painted on Owen Avenue in Lansdowne, PA.

I love this spot on Lansdowne Court; this shot shows my setup and a piece under way. 
How it starts...

This is the same painting above, but further along. It ended up changing a lot before it was finished!

Painting in this spot along the creek in Darby I bumped into two former students, owe of whom had gone on to study art at Tyler.

Whenever I've driven through this section of Hilldale Road I've always wanted to paint this wooded area overlooking the creek.  

Hillsdale Road, a bit further along.

Years ago I painted this same house on West Lacrosse Avenue in Lansdowne; this time I was intrigued by how it was peeking out behind a large foreground tree (that got added in later). 
This section of Runnemede has so much inspiring architecture that I could turn in any direction and start painting.  It made sense when a neighbor told me the area was on the National Register of Historic Districts (Lansdowne Park).  The hardest part is just picking something to paint.