Iconic Island Idyll

Iconic Island Idyll - Monhegan

based on my plein air sketch study on July 14, 2023 atop Lighthouse Hill, Monhegan Island, Maine painted on July 27, 2023, 11" x 9" (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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$600.

Into a juried show... "Congratulations! I'm very happy to inform you that your painting, Iconic Island Idyll—Monhegan has been accepted into the 2023 Works by Associate Members Show at the New England Watercolor Society Gallery."

Exhibition at the NEWS Gallery Sept 8 to November 2, 2023
NEWS / Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North Street
Plymouth, MA 02360

Reception for the Works by Associate Members Show, Thursday, October 26th, 6:00 to 8:00 pm

The 7" x 5" plein air sketch, $250 HERE.

Little Whitehead Coasts

Little Whitehead Coasts

the view looking northwest from Whitehead cliff on Monhegan Island, Maine on July 15, 2023, painted July 25, 2023, 17" x 14"" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$700

The Art of Spruce by Nine Noted Artists

How Noted Artists Paint Spruces...
The Art of Spruce
By Nine Artists
from Finland, Norway and the US born from 1870 to 1955

Maine Landscape
Fairfield Porter (1907-1975), American
Watercolor on paper, 14" x 11" (w x h), 1973
Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine

2
Spruce, Soli Deo Gloria (Skowhegan)
Ashley Bryan (1923-2022), American
Oil on canvas, 24" x 48" (w x h), circa 1950
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME

3
Mørk granskog / Dark Spruce Forest
Edvard Munch, Norwegian
Oil on canvas, 24" x 36" (w x h), 1899
Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway
And a conversation spruced up, eh?

4
Deer Isle, Maine
John Marin (1870-1953), American
Watercolor and charcoal on paper, 14" x 18" (w x h), 1923
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

5
Kuusi / Six
Aimo Kanerva (1909-1991), Finnish
Watercolor on paper, 22" x 26" (w x h), 1981
Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Finland

6
Maisema, mustia kuusia / Landscape, black spruces
Magnus Enckell (1870-1925) Finnish
Watercolor on paper (Part of a sketchbook), 1894-1895
Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Finland

7
Sunset Spruce
Jill Hoy (1955- ), American
Oil on canvas, 22" x 13" (w x h),
$2,200, Portland Art Gallery, Portland, ME

8
The Red Rock
Werner Drewes (1899-1985), American
Watercolor and graphite on paper, 12" x 15" (w x h)
Private Collection

9
Young Spruces: Maine Coast
Kent, Rockwell (1882-1971), American
Oil on canvas, 44" x 28" (w x h), 1955
Entered the Hermitage in 1964 as a gift from the artist
The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

This is likely on the east side cliffs of Monhegan Island, perhaps overlooking Burnt Head. The irony is that it's in the Russian Hermitage Collection. Kent gave it to them. He was an idealist, a Socialist, who took a Russian trip in the 1930s that never showed the millions dying from Stalin's Ukrainian famine. He was in effect kicked off Monhegan Island due to his politics. He sold his house to his painter friend James Fitzgerald, and they remained friends. Today that house is part of the Monhegan Museum of Art and History.

Spruce Up Atop Whitehead
on Monhegan Island, Maine on July 24, 2023,
Bruce McMillan (1947- ), American

Spruce Up Atop Whitehead

Spruce Up Atop Whitehead

on Monhegan Island, Maine on July 24, 2023, 11" x 14" (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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$650, SOLD

Exhibited at the Art Guild of the Kennebunks Awards Show, August 18-20, 2023, Community House, Kennebunkport, Maine where it sold.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
How I Painted This

I paint with transparent watercolors, so I paint light to dark, layering colors over each other. So, I start with white, the white of the paper, the only white available with transparent watercolors. Note: I often sketch with ink, going bold; you can't erase this like you can with graphite.

1
I lay down yellows where I'll end up with green.

2
By layering various blues, light to dark, Cobalt Green, Prussian Blue, and Payne's Grey Blue, over the yellows, usually letting each layer dry, but sometimes mixing wet on wet on the paper. I don't do much mixing on my palette, rather on the paper.

3
More blues and then other colors.

4
Here comes the line of rocks offshore, once again light to dark. I paint with flat brushes. And I use the biggest brush possible. For this painting I used a 2" flat and a 1" flat.

5
Ah, adding the bright accents, to make it all come together, always keeping in mind the lone spruce and its shadow. Purples help pop that.

Done
I don't try to paint an actual representation of the subject, a camera can record that. My previous career was pure photography, been there, done that. My watercolor painting is an interpretation of the subject. And in the words of my then ten-year old Grandson Teague when painting a watercolor with me: "Grampa Bruce, it's a painting. You can do anything."

Seeing Burnt Head in Sun

Seeing Burnt Head in Sun

looking south from Whitehead on Monhegan Island, Maine painted plein air on July 15, 2023, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and graphite on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

The plein air setup...

...as I continued to paint in fog...

After hiking back across the island with my gear, Óskar greeted an exhausted hot me on the porch of the Monhegan House with a glass of red wine... and the fog, with sun up there, somewhere.

 

That Whitehead Overlook

That Whitehead Overlook

from foggy Whitehead Cliff on Monhegan Island, Maine painted plein air on July 15, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Plein Air Up There Where Igneous Rocks... between the fog... on Whitehead, Monhegan Island, Maine

Looking Down Atop Whitehead

Looking Down Atop Whitehead

high on this cliff on Monhegan Island on July 15, 2023, 14" x 11 (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and graphite on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$500

My plein air setup atop Whitehead on Monhegan Island, Maine as fog rolled in and the only view was straight down...

High Over Monhegan

High Over Monhegan

the view from the end of the front porch of the Monhegan House painted plein air on July 17, 2023, 8" 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$250

Lobstertrapped Foggy Day

Lobstertrapped Foggy Day

painted on Monhegan Island, Maine, plein air on July 17, 2023, 14" x 11" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and graphite on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$1,100

My plein air setup on Monhegan Island, Maine, July 17, 2023

Between Manana and Monhegan

Between Manana and Monhegan

painted on Fish Beach, Monhegan Island, Maine plein air on July 14, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Iconic Monhegan Lighthouse View

Iconic Monhegan
Lighthouse View

on Monhegan Island, Maine painted plein air on July 14, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$250

Fair Weather Clouds Shape Up

Fair Weather Clouds
Shape Up

Over Goat Island in Cape Porpoise Harbor on June 11, 2023, painted on July 9, 2023, 8" x 10" (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 lbs. Arches cold press rough 100% cotton watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Lobster Car No Wheels

Lobster Car No Wheels

in Cape Porpoise Harbor near Goat Island, Kennebunkport, Maine on July 9, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

History of Lobster Cars

Lobster cars float in coastal Maine harbors, mostly submerged. A lobster car is simply an enclosed pen that holds lobsters in seawater. Commercial buyers assemble the catch from individual fisherman in a car before shipping to market. Cars are constructed from wood with some flotation from plastic foam or barrels.

After 1885, lobster pounds gradually replaced canneries, and fresh shipments became the rule. There were two types of lobster pounds, both allowing tidal circulation, fenced coves and lobster cars (floating crates). Enabling water to flow through the lobsters, the lobsters were safely stored until the market was ready to buy them at a high value.

Most holding cars are floating docks with several doors that access a holding pen underwater. Under the float is the wire mesh holding device, similar to a trap, but without a way in or out. It's all about safe storage and fluctuating market value.

Goat Island Light Twilight

Goat Island Light Twilight

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023 painted July 4, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$200

Sun Setting at the Goat Island,,,

Sun Setting at the
Goat Island Boat House

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023, painted on July 1, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Sun Setting at the
Goat Island Light Shed

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023, painted on July 1, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Goat Island Sunset Study 1

Goat Island Sunset
Study 1

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on July 1, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Orange Bright Blue and Green - Other Artists

Orange Bright Blue and Green
How other artists use this palette...

1
Cape Cod Pier
William J. Glackens (1870-1938), American
Oil on canvas, 33" x 28" (w x h), 1908
NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Source Museum notes edited:
In 1908 Glackens turned away from his usual palette of dark, earth-tones and adopted the sun-drenched colorism of French art (Renoir and Matisse) and American artists, such as Maurice Prendergast. This painting's site is a pier that extended into Cape Cod Bay from a beach on the grounds of the famous Nobscussett Hotel in Dennis, MA

2
Sea at Ogunquit
Edward Hopper
Oil on canvas, 29" x 24" (w x h), 1914
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

3
Gamma Delta
Morris Louis (1912-1962), American
Magna on canvas, 153" x 103" (w x h), 1959-1960
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

4
Blue Green Red
Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015), American
Oil on linen, 100" x 73" (w x h), 1964
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Marginal Way Study Unstudied

Marginal Way 1 Study

rocks along the shore in Ogunquit, Maine on June 25, painted June 25, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Marginal Way 2 Unstudied

rocks along the shore on June 25, painted on July 6, 2023,
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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Red, White and Blue in Perkins Cove Too

Red, White and Blue
in Perkins Cove Too

Ogunquit, Maine on July 1, 2023, painted on July 3, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

The Art of Gallery Chat

The Art of Gallery Chat

at the Barn Gallery Open Juried Show 2023 in Ogunquit, Maine on July 1, 2023, painted July 2-3, 2023, 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 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Composed - Photo Essay

Composed
at the Gallery Opening
Photo Essay by Bruce McMillan
at the Barn Gallery Open Juried Show 2023 in
Ogunquit, Maine on July 1, 2023

1
Thoughts Expressed

2
Color with Wine

3
The Bjarneyjar Four Framed Again

4
Observation Looking Up to Fall

5
Flowers Flowering in Color

6
Those Two Framed Green Works of Art

7
Gallery Focal Point

8
The Art of Conversation

I was fortunate
to have two watercolors
included in this juried show,
October to Fall Study 2 HERE
and The Bjarneyjar Four HERE.