Not sure what this totemic assemblage signifies, but it was a worthy challenge to depict in watercolor. I had brought along a chopped down clip board along with a tripod, and realized I could C-clamp them together to make a nifty watercolor workstation.
Day two at Cape. Work in progress - oil painting of dunes and distant houses from our porch.
1. Current state
2. Set up and ready to paint.
3. Initial sketch, tape cropping to root 2 rectangle.
4. Starting to find the dark accents.
5. Blocking in the middle values, connecting the darks.
6. Starting the sky, restating the darks.
7. Me at work
First day on Cape Cod. This seagull came to visit - they may have been interested in my chicken salad. Nice contre jour effect against the late afternoon sun.
I recently had occasion to reassemble my old homemade easel, which I built back in the mid Eighties based on plans by the great painter and teacher Paul Rahilly. I had only a circular saw, a power drill, and minimal carpentry skills, but it wasn’t too hard to do. It stood me in good stead for about 20 years until I got a David Sorg.
I’m calling this done. Tentative title “Mount Norwottuck from Mount Pollux: Showers Likely” oil on linen panel 7 3/8” x 12”. I started this back in June, then put it aside for a while and returned to it last week.
With the passing years I grow less tolerant of hunching over low work surfaces. I had already raised my palette table up a bit with furniture lifters, (see second pic) but I really needed it higher. Today I built a small sub table out of odds and ends of lumber to go under the palette table, raising it to belly button height. Much more convenient and ergonomic. My DIY ventilation system can be seen on the upper left.
Thank you note for neighbor’s gift of corn. We ate the originals upon receipt; these ears are ringers. Watercolor on cold pressed paper post card.
