Dock View of Houses Views . . .

The view that I painted
across the harbor at Sharp's Point South
on Mechanic Street in Rockland, Maine

Dock View of Houses Views

across the harbor at Sharp's Point South
on Mechanic Street in Rockland, Maine
painted plein air on July 20, 2017
12" x 9" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and most permanence, and Uniball waterproof
fade proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press
rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
$240 USD including frame and shipping, $200 unframed

Critique
of the painting
above by David Dewey:
"It's Stuart Davis like.
It has a slight recklessness 
that holds the composition."

Egg Beater No. 1
Stuart Davis (1892-1964)
Oil on linen, 36" x 29" (w x h), 1927
Whitney Museum of American Art, NY

Two Sailboats Too

at Sharp's Point South on Mechanic Street
in Rockland, Maine painted plein air on July 20, 2017
5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and
most permanence, and #3 graphite on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico
cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper
$120 USD including frame and shipping, $100 unframed

David Dewey Inside
His Color Full Workshop

at Sharp's Point South on Mechanic Street in Rockland, Maine
sketched plein air on July 20, completed July 26, 2017
7.25" x 5.5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and
Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and most
permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lb.
Strathmore 400 Series cold press 100% watercolor paper
$160 USD including frame and shipping, $140 unframed

David Dewey Watercolor Workshop
Day 4, 2017 07 20
"Sometimes I see a painting."

1
"I'm going to do a two-minute thumbnail,
a values snapshot."

2
"I'm painting color over value.
Value simplifies everything and then
the color pulls it together."

On to the painting . . .

3
"Mixing my paints I'm watching the value."

4
"I want to make the space around the
paper dynamic, to control the brilliance
of the page by the way I add value, shaping it,
and the color makes it dance."

While painting David says, "I'm just piddling around."

piddle verb (used without object), piddled, piddling.
1. to spend time in a wasteful, trifling, or
ineffective way; dawdle (often
followed by around).

"Watercolor is the subject,
not the subject matter."

5
In the middle of painting David stops,
picks up his pencil, and explains.
"I'm drawing a little so I can
see where I am in this painting."

6
"The baguette, I wet the paper first,
just to give myself some elbow room."
Paint flows. "Then I weight the bottom
of this down (paint flows on the tilt) to
ground it. And add a little more red
on the bottom, not changing
the values."

7
David seems to look more at the scene that he's
painting, constantly taking it in, more than
looking down at what he's painting.

8
There was a granite statue of a nude woman
directly in front of the view where David
was painting. He stated, "What's that
woman doing in a boatyard?"
We all laughed.

9
That woman, that sculpture,
had been carved by the night watchman
who works here in this boatyard, Joe Auciello.

"Joe Auciello is a self-taught sculptor. His primary passion is the human form, and he has demonstrated his versatility in public and private art commissions. Joe's work has a large following throughout the northeastern United States, where he has sold functional and representational art and garden sculpture through such venues as Directions: Mount Desert Island, Three Rivers Arts Festival and the Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show. Joe's work for the garden uses the natural shapes and properties of stone that comes from Maine and beyond. The grace and beauty of field stone and granite lend themselves to gentle and dynamic carvings that enhance private and public spaces. A founding member of the Maine Stone Workers Guild, Joe can be seen each fall at the Common Ground Country Fair, where he joins fellow guild members in demonstrating his craft. He is a resident of Rockland, Maine, with a workshop in Warren. A man of few words, Joe prefers that his work speak for him." Source: HERE

"Okay, now a little bit of the reflected color
and that's it. I'm ready, ready to glaze the sky."

He was going to wait for it to dry, but . . .
"Aw, what the heck, I'm going to paint the sky."

"I'm going to make the sky luminous,
maybe throw some yellow into it, sunlight."

10
Holding the painting upside down,
then right side up, both at an angle,
so color flows through the wet over the
paper. David evaluates the whole painting."

11
"Look what happened to the water."
The white pops. "Notice the horizontal
division. It's a one, two, three division."

12
Then we painted in this idyllic mid-coast Maine location,
some of us, like Ruth Kaldor, in their
plein air bare feet.

13
David popped by to observe and comment.
He observed Kathy Baribeau's work in progress,
and said, your mast could use some Jaune Brilliant #1,"
which she didn't have. No problem. David dashed over to
his palette, which he'd loaned to Amelia since she'd
lost hers, was back momentarily with a fingertip
full of Jaune Brilliant #1.
It was a Michelangelo moment.

That evening we gathered at Millers Lobster Company
on Wheelers Bay in Spruce Head, Maine (HERE) to eat.
It was a beautiful evening. There was a moment,
observed from the float, and seen by only
the curious few who ventured down,
when our day closed with another
Michelangelo moment.

14
Way to go Sistine.