Friday, July 31, 2020

One, Two, Three to See

One, Two, Three to See
painted plein air July 30, 2020
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150


Finished just before the sunset shadow
filled the harbor.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Inn for the Night


Inn for the Night
as seen from Green Head Lookout
in Stonington, Maine painted plein air July 29, 2020
14" x 11" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $500

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Andrews Island Low Tide

Andrews Island Low Tide
seen from the Sand Beach spruce woods
in Stonington, Maine, painted plein air July 28, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

Midnight Harbor Reflection...

Midnight Harbor Reflection
Stonington Maine
upon my arrival at 11:45 pm July 27, 2020
painted with minutes plein air at midnight July 28, 2020
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Susans Summer

Susans Summer
Brown-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba) blooming in my yard
on July 25, painted July 26, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300, SOLD

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Holar from Laufa / Hólar frá Laufá

Holar from Laufa /
Hólar frá Laufá

from a photo by Björn Jóhann Björnsson of the familiar view
from his late father-in-law's summer house in
Hólar, Iceland, painted July 25, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300



1 - 2020 photo by Björn Jóhann Björnsson



2 - 2015 photo by Bruce McMillan. What's noticeable is the effect of global warming in only five years; the mountain snow is melting.


See the 2015 painting and more here on this blog in the 2015 posting HERE.

Friday, July 24, 2020

Walk to the Ponds

Walk to the Ponds

from the back fields and through the woods behind my home in Shapleigh, Maine on July 1, 2020, painted July 23-24, 2020 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper framed.
$400

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Rowing Glide plus Rowing Gallery

Rowing Glide
approaching the public dock on Bickford Island,
Cape Porpoise, Maine in Kennebunkport, Maine
July 16, 2020, painted July 22, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press fine grain
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
A Rowing Art Gallery
Kandinsky, Vermette, Hunter, Tuke, 
Park, Bailey, Homer, and Buckholz

Russian, American, Scottish, English, and German
Does the last painting raise the question,
should you not stand up in a boat?

1
Rapallo - Boot im Meer
Rapallo - Boat in the Sea

Rapallo is along the Italian coast in Genoa.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Russian
Oil on Canvas, 13" x 9" (w x h), 1906
Franz Marc Museum, Kochel am See, Germany

"From 1906 to 1908 Kandinsky spent a great deal of time traveling across Europe, until he settled in the small Bavarian town of Murnau." -Wiki

2
Monhegan Lobsterman Rowing
Michael E. Vermette, American
Watercolor on Gemini cold press watercolor paper,
24" x 19" (w x h)
$3,000 USD, Sold

"Inspired by James Fitzgerald's monochrome watercolors and the oil paintings of Eric Hudson, I've painted a Monhegan Island lobster boat captain rowing in the harbor in the Fall just before the beginning of the lobster fishing season. This painting image was painted four times, twice as black and white monochrome watercolors and twice as a colored high key colored watercolor and as a low key colored watercolor.
    I wanted the viewer to feel that they were right in the harbor with the lobsterman rowing towards his lobster boat. This is the moment in the Fall season when the lobster boat captain contemplates any changes in fishing strategies with his crew. I wanted the painting to represent contemplation, even a change in direction for the seasonal lobster fishing year." -Michael Vermette
    The artist's website is HERE.

3
Rowing Boats, Largo
(Largo, Fife, Scotland)
George Leslie Hunter (1877-1931), Scottish

"George Leslie Hunter (1877-1931) was a Scottish painter, regarded as one of the four artists of the Scottish Colourists group of painters. Christened simply George Hunter, he adopted the name Leslie in San Francisco, and Leslie Hunter became his professional name. He painted a variety of still-lifes, landscapes and portraits, and his paintings are critically acclaimed for their treatment of light and the effects of light. Hunter worked in both pen and ink and oil on canvas. They became popular with more progressive critics and collectors during his lifetime and have grown to command high prices since his death, among the most popular in Scotland." -Wiki
    See more of his art at ArtUK HERE. Read more about the artist on Wiki HERE.

4
The Waterman and His Boat
Henry Scott Tuke, RA, RWS (1858-1929), English
Watercolor on paper, 1921

"Henry Scott Tuke was an English visual artist; primarily a painter, but also a photographer. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style, and he is probably best known for his paintings of nude boys and young men. But in addition to his achievements as a figurative painter, he was an established maritime artist and produced as many portraits of sailing ships as he did human figures. Tuke was a prolific artist. Over 1,300 works are listed, more are still being discovered.
    After his death in 1929, Tuke's reputation faded. He was largely forgotten until the 1970s, when he was rediscovered by the first generation of openly gay artists and art collectors. He has since become something of a cult figure in gay cultural circles, with lavish editions of his paintings published and his works fetching high prices at auctions. Elton John is a keen collector of Tuke's works and in 2008 loaned eleven of his own pieces, including works in oil, pastel and watercolor, for an exhibition in Falmouth." -Wiki

5
Man in a Rowboat
David Park (1911-1960), American
Gouache on paper, 9" x 14" (w x h), 1960
Helen Park Bigelow

"Park's paintings have seen a resurgence of interest among collectors and institutions, with 2009 exhibitions at Washington's Phillips Collection and Stanford University's Cantor Arts Center; pieces recently auctioned for $2.7 million at Christie's and $1.4 million at Sotheby's. He had a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, 1988-1989. He was an integral part of the San Francisco Bay art community from the early 1930s on, and is counted as one of the group's immensely gifted artists who made up the Bay Area Figurative Painting movement in its 1950s emerging years." -Amazon book page
    The book David Park, Painter: Nothing Held Back by Helen Park Bigelow, his daughter, is on amazon HERE.
    Read the book review in the New York Review of Books HERE.
    Read more about this artist HERE.


6
A Family Outing Off Ringstead
Julian Bailey, (1963- ), British
Oil on board, 20" x 18" (w x h), 2009
Auction 2018 in London sold for $1,900 USD

"For contemporary landscape painter Julian Bailey, the structural qualities of the cliffs, particularly along Ringstead Bay, mesmerized him. 'I took a little 9ft dinghy out into the middle of the bay. From there, you start to see this ribbon of ups and downs, of the white chalk against the ultramarine sea and the landscape beyond. I painted it for years and now that lateral movement has infused other subjects.'" -The Magic of Dorset, Arabella Youens, Country Life, UK
See the artist's Dorset Sketchbook Art HERE.


7
Boys in a Dory
Winslow Homer (1836-1910), American
Watercolor and graphite on paper, 10" x 14" (w x h), 1880
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

"Before his Maine years (1883- )Homer started painting with watercolors on a regular basis in 1873 during a summer stay in Gloucester, Massachusetts. From the beginning, his technique was natural, fluid and confident, demonstrating his innate talent for a difficult medium. Despite critics, his watercolors proved popular and enduring, and sold more readily, improving his financial condition considerably. They varied from highly detailed (Blackboard - 1877) to broadly impressionistic (Schooner at Sunset - 1880). Some watercolors were made as preparatory sketches for oil paintings (as for "Breezing Up") and some as finished works in themselves. From then on, he seldom traveled without paper, brushes and water based paints." -Wiki

8
Crossing the Water
Quint Buchholz (1957- ), German
2008

"Quint Buchholz, born July 28, 1957 in Stolberg, Germany. is a German painter, illustrator and author. He is best known for his colorful, pointillist paintings that draw on techniques and motifs of magical realism, as well as his book illustrations and children's books for which he has won a number of awards. works as a freelance painter in Munich, Germany." -Wiki
    "Since 2002 I've been painting my newer pictures using wider brushes and acrylic paints, also oil paint on occasion. Sometimes on canvas, usually on paper or cardboard. The grainy structure of the paintings, if present, is now created by dabbing paint onto the surface with very dry brushes of various widths, later also layer by layer using increasingly thin and extremely thin brushes. It is a procedure of slow condensation and refining, which you have to indulge in and which I cherish very much. -Interview by Lucia Peters (German, 2017)
    The artist's web site is HERE. Read more about him HERE.


Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Tender Waiting

Tender Waiting
at the public dock on Bickford Island, Cape Porpoise,
Maine in Kennebunkport, Maine
July 16, 2020, painted July 22, 2020
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150

Lobstertraps Docked

Lobstertraps Docked
on the pier at Bickford Island, Cape Porpoise,
Maine in Kennebunkport, Maine
painted plein air July 16, 2020
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150

Monday, July 20, 2020

Goat Island Light AM

Goat Island Light AM
painted as morning light at Cape Porpoise, Maine
in Kennebunkport, Maine, July 16, 2020,
painted July 18, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Goat Island Light PM



Goat Island Light PM
in the early evening at Cape Porpoise, Maine
in Kennebunkport, Maine, July 16, 2020,
painted July 18, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Thirty Minutes to Three Afloat

Thirty Minutes to Three Afloat
demo painted during the thirty minute live Facetime
broadcast with Lesley Unger, head librarian, Springvale
Public Library, Springvale, Maine, online HERE, at
Bickford Island, Cape Porpoise, Kennebunkport,
Maine, plein air July 16, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper

Cape Porpoise Painting Demo

The Cape Porpoise
Painting Demo

Video (30:12) Below
The thirty minute live Facetime
broadcast with Lesley Unger, head librarian, Springvale
Public Library, Springvale, Maine (library online HERE) from
Bickford Island, Cape Porpoise, Kennebunkport,
Maine, plein air July 16, 2020, was lots of fun,
with viewers across the US


 
Lesley Unger, head librarian,
Springvale Public Library and
Bruce McMillan at the start of the broadcast.

As we chatted for the next thirty minutes,
I painted a watercolor.


I completed this during our thirty minute broadcast.
(the image is reversed in much of the broadcast)

View the (30:12) broadcast...
Enjoy..

Springvale Public Library Facebook Page HERE

Thirty Minutes to Three Afloat

 

Friday, July 17, 2020

Far Away Light House


Far Away Light House
Goat Island Light, Cape Porpoise,
painted plein air July 16, 2020
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, no ink or graphite, on 140 lb. Fabriano
Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra
white watercolor paper, framed, $150

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Mother Nature in My Yard Studies


Mother Nature
in My Yard Study 2
painted plein air  on July 9, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300


 The setup

With the view.

Mother Nature
in My Yard Study 1
painted plein air  on July 9, 202010" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300



The sun departing, setting behind me, the photographer.


The lush colors used.

Watch Online a Bruce Painting Demo

Watch Online a Bruce Painting Demo Live
July 16, 2020, at Cape Porpoise, Maine
Live 6:00-6:30 pm EST
Springvale (Maine) Public Library
Facebook page HERE.
If you "follow" the Library Facebook page
the video will pop on automatically, otherwise,
simply tune in at 6:00 pm.


The Remarkable Riderless Runaway Tricycle (Houghton, 1978) and I will be at Cape Porpoise, Maine where I'll will paint an original watercolor while being interviewed by Springvale Public Library's Director, Lesley Unger. Yes, the actual tricycle from the book will be there, where it was photographed for six pages of the book.

Just as Helen Schepens-Kraus was painting a watercolor when the tricycle rolled by Blowing Cave on page 25 of the book, I'll be painting with the tricycle nearby. Hopefully, it won't roll off the dock like it did in the book. This harbor is home to approximately 120 moorings, the majority used by commercial fishermen. Hmm, what will I paint? It will be mid-tide with the tide coming in.

If you miss it check the library Facebook page afterwards, where the video will be posted HERE.

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Evening Light


Evening Light
the view from my dining room window after
a thunderstorm passed by on June 24, 2020,
painted July 8, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Hike Up a Ridge


Hike Up a Ridge
on a ponds walk behind my home
on July 1, 2020, painted July 2, 2020
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Summer Sky Summer Field


Summer Sky Summer Field

on a ponds walk behind my home on July 1, 2020,
painted July 6, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

My Watercolor Art
became an Oil Painting
in a Class Assignment


In Carol Douglas' Watch Me Paint posting, How did you get that color? (online HERE) featuring my watercolors and my palette concluded with an assignment for her students.

"Your assignment is to copy one of Bruce’s paintings—you can choose which one—trying to get the same intensity of color on the first pass, using the paints you have on your own palette. (If you use my palette, you should have no problem hitting all the points in his paintings.) I’m hearing the oil-painters chuckling, thinking 'this is so easy.' Try it first."
Carol L. Douglas


This is what I saw while out on a ponds' walk, but this photo wasn't shared with anyone.

This is my watercolor used as a reference image to paint from.

This is what Carol's student, Ann Clowe, painted in oil, using my watercolor as a reference photo. Way to go... What a treat to see my painting reinterpreted.

Ann Clowe plein air painting / photo by Carol Douglas

Saturday, July 4, 2020

On the 4th by the Woods Studies

 On the 4th by the Woods
with Me and US Study 1
painted July 4, 2020
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150



On the 4th by the Woods
with Me and US Study2
painted July 4, 2020
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $150

Friday, July 3, 2020

Path Up a Woods Hill

Path Up a Woods Hill
on July 1, 2020, painted July 2, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Yellow Rose Blue Sky plus Complimetnary Gallery

Yellow Rose Blue Sky
on June 8, 2020, painted July 1, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), using only Hansa Yellow Medium,
Pyrrol Orange (both Daniel Smith) and French Ultramarine
(Winsor & Newton) watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, no ink nor graphite, on 140 lb. Fabriano
Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white
watercolor paper, framed,
$300

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Yellow and Blue
Complimentary Colors
Playing Well Together
 ...............................
Fine artists know
how to let them play...
Matisse, Monet, Van Gogh, Kahn,
Johns, Lichtenstein, and Frankenthaler.

 
1
Interior in Yellow and Blue
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), French
Oil on canvas; 32" x 46" (w x h), 1946
Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris

2
Yellow Irises with Pink Cloud
Claude Monet (1840-1926), French
Oil on canvas, 42" x 42" (w x h), 1914-1917
Private collection

3
Wheatfield with Crows
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch
Oil on canvas, 41" x 20" (w x h), 1890
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

4
Foreground Yellow and Green
Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), German-American
Oil on canvas, 40" x 40" (w x h), 2019
The artist's website is HERE.

5
Target
Jasper Johns (1930- ), American
Encaustic and newspaper on canvas, 66" x66" (w x h), 1961
Art Institute of Chicago


6
Nude with Yellow Flower
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), American
Oil and Magna on canvas, 72" x 92" (w x h), 1994
Christies 2013 auction sale $23,643,750 USD

7
Orange Breaking Through
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), American
Oil on canvas, 93" x 95" (w x h), 1961
Private Collection

8
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Dutch
Oil on canvas, 36" x 29" (w x h), 1889
MOMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York