Monhegan: Here and almost Here

Here and almost Here

with two Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum)
on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on September 25, 2013
6"x 4" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: WH in Black and BH in White

White Head in Black
and Black Head in White

seen from the water at Monhegan Island, Maine on
August 20, 2013, sketched on September 23, 2013

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

This promontory
Black Head
is featured in my
Daily Paintworks Challenge,
The Paint Monhegan Challenge
HERE

 

Monhegan: Pulpit Rock

Pulpit Rock

seen from the sea at Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 20, 2013, sketched on September 22, 2013

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Farmer's Market Ready

Farmer's Market Ready

at the Farmer's Market by the church on Monhegan Island, Maine
where all produce is grown on the island,
seen on August 18, 2013, sketched on September 21, 2013
6"x 4" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Black Rock at the Base...

Black Rock
at the Base of White Head

on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 19, 2013,
sketched on September 20, 2013 

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Mary and Cassatt...

Mary and Cassatt
Strolling by a Shipwreck

the rusting tugboat D.T. Sheridan on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 19, 2013, sketched on September 19, 2013
9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Shipwreck Still Rusting

Shipwreck Still Rusting

the D. T, Sheridan shipwreck that ran aground in dense frog in 1948
at Lobster Cove on Monhegan Island, Maine
as seen on August 20, 2013, sketched on September 19, 2013
9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Outside the Library

Outside the Library

on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 19, 2013,
sketched on September 18, 2013

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping 

Monhegan: Before the Night

Before the Night

looking south on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 18, 2013, sketched on September 17, 2013
7"x 5" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping
 

Monhegan: The Grass is Mowed and Dry

The Grass is Mowed and Dry

at the cemetery on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 19, 2013, sketched on September 16, 2013

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Lobster Cove from the Water

Lobster Cove from the Water

on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on September 15, 2013

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Dodge Ball

Dodge Ball

in front of The Monhegan House on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 18, 2013, sketched on September 13, 2013 

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Black Head

Black Head

with minimal deliberate brush strokes 
on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on September 13, 2013

9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Black Head
is featured in my
Daily Paintworks Challenge,
The Paint Monhegan Challenge
HERE

 

Monhegan: Down Below on the Rocks

Down Below on the Rocks

of Gull Cove on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 19, 2013, sketched on September 12, 2013
6"x 4" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Standing in the Sea

Standing in the Sea

a self-portrait below Whitehead
on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on September 11, 2013
6"x 4" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Curious Bruce

Curious Bruce
Self Portrait as a Boy

in the Camden, Maine area from
a photo taken by my Dad, Frank H. McMillan, Jr.,
circa 1952, sketched on September 10, 2013

6"x 8" unframed, NFS

The prompt for this sketch was as an entry in the Daily Paintworks
Paint Yourself Young Challenge HERE

My father was a member of the Boston Camera Club. I remember going to the juried shows, which he entered and did well, beautiful large black and white prints, toned in blues or sepias. We'd sit at the back of the room and the three judges would look at the prints put up in the center light easel and raise their kitchen spatulas, one side and X and the other an O, and the print would remain until all the had raised their spatulas; then the print would go into the appropriate pile for further review and discussion by the judges.
        Dad was a non-confrontational person. He was a strong man, though of course as a youngster I never realized it. His photos of people almost always showed people looking away. I have many large prints of me looking away in Camden, on Lincolnville Beach, in Boston, on Prince Edward Island. We went camping in Camden and Prince Edward Island. He was always asking me to look over there, or in there, or simply follow me or my sister around with his 120 roll film twin lens Rolleiflex camera. It was no problem for curious me; it's always been my nature and has served me well.
        I sketched this watercolor from one of the large prints that was spatula rated at the Boston Camera Club, though I have no recollection of the result. But I remember the color of my high top basketball sneakers.

-Bruce

 

Four Icelanders on a Maine Beach

Four Icelanders on a Maine Beach

Þorbjórg, Erla, Sigga and Íris Björk with Erla taking
a photo of Sigga and Íris Björk while reflecting in the
wet sand at Laudholm Beach, Wells, Maine on
September 3, 2013, sketched
on September 8, 2013
9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Before 
© 2013 Bruce McMillan

Before the paint brush touches
its tip to paper, before
any color is let loose
upon the white, while flicking
my brush, I have a simple
conversation with myself;
I say aloud four plain words
to set the tone for the now,
"Okay Brucie, loosen up,"
before wetting my brush in
water and my adventure...
begins.

  

The Three Graces of Iceland

The Three Graces of Iceland

in Maine, left to right, Erla, Sigga and Þorbjórg at Blowing Cave
overlooking the President George Herbert Walker Bush
summer home compound in Kennebunkport, Maine
on September 2, 2013, sketched on
September 8, 2013
9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
NFS

Monhegan: Seaside Barnacle Low Tide 30 Minute Details

Seaside Barnacle Low Tide
30 Minute Details

sketch of the east side of Monhegan Island, Maine as seen from the water
on August 20, 2013, sketched on September 6, 2013
9"x 6" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Seaside Barnacle Low Tide 3 Minute Form

Seaside Barnacle Low Tide
3 Minute Form

sketch of the east side of Monhegan Island, Maine as seen from the water on August 20, 2013, sketched on September 6, 2013
6"x 4" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Preening Mallard

Preening Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

in the harbor off Fish Beach on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 19, 2013, sketched on September 5, 2013
7" x 5" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: The Front Side of the Back to the School

The Front Side of the
Back to the School

of the one-room school house on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 20, 2013, sketched on September 3, 2013
9" x 6" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

This is posted on The Daily Paintworks "Back to School" Challenge HERE.

It's also posted on Leslie Byrd Saeta's "30 in 30" Challenge, day 3, (thirty paintings in thirty days) HERE.

 

Monhegan: Gold at the Door

Gold at the Door

in the village on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 19, 2013, sketched on September 1, 2013
9" x 6" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Jamie Wyeth's Kent House

Jamie Wyeth's Kent House

seen from the water aboard the Elizabeth Ann at
Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on September 1, 2013
9" x 6" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping 

Update January 21, 2015

Why did I buy this at the MFA, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston?

Yes, it was on sale with the Jamie Wyeth exhibition over. Yes, it would fit in fine with my grocery bags that I keep in the car. But . . .
 
. . . it was the familiarity of the art. I knew this view, though it didn't have the dormer that was later added, as seen in my August 2013 painting. Yes, I'd seen, painted, and posted this view before I ever saw Jamie's painting. I'd posted it here in 2013. It's the view from the boat when I departed Monhegan and the captain took the long way around the island by the Kent House.

Early in his career Jamie Wyeth purchased the Kent House on Monhegan Island, Maine with money he earned from his painting sales. The two exchanged letters in 1970, Jamie first buying one of Kent paintings and then Kent House.

"About the situation of the house," Kent wrote, "you will be interested to know that when I built it so very close to the sea, I was warned by old Monheganers that it would never stand up against stormy weather. But since there was grass growing in the scanty soil on that site, I was certain the sea would never reach it. But for a year or two after I built the house, I had nightmares over its being washed away and of myself swimming about in the wreckage."

Rockwell Kent and Jamie Wyeth never met. Kent died in 1971, the year that Jamie painted The Kent House.
 

Monhegan: The Workshop Critique

The Workshop Critique

with Todd Bonita and students in front of the Island Inn
on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on August 31, 2013
Todd Bonita's web site HERE.
Todd Bonita's art blogs HERE and HERE.
Todd's studio at the Button Factory HERE.

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Buoy Buoyed by the Monhegan Ferry

Buoy Buoyed by the Monhegan Ferry

in Port Clyde, Maine on August 18, 2013, sketched on August 29, 2013

Why is this full color in the top half and then black and white in the reflection below?

It was painted for The Daily Painters Challenge, The Notan Challenge. Notan is a Japanese word, harmony of dark & light. It is the simplification of pattern and design to it's black and white basics, a fundamental arrangement of shapes. The challenge is to create a notan drawing using just black and white and then use it as the painting guide. See it and other submissions on the Daily Painters Challenge page HERE.

7"x 5" unframed, sold framed
$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

 

Monhegan: Yellows Flowering High on a Seaside Cliff

Yellows Flowering
High on a Seaside Cliff

Seashore Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) and
Yellow Scale Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on August 28, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Monhegan Plein Air

Monhegan Plein Air

painter Caleb Stone with friends on Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 18, 2013, sketched on August 28, 2013
Caleb Stone's art web site HERE.
Summer Afternoon Monhegan Island (watercolor) HERE

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

 

Monhegan: Flowers View

Flowers View

behind the Monhegan Schoolhouse on
Monhegan Island, Maine on August 19, 2013,
sketched on August 26, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: View from My Room

View from My Room

at the Monhegan House looking back towards Port Clyde
on Monhegan Island, Maine on August 19, 2013,
sketched on August 25, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

I highly recommend the Monhegan House, web site HERE
 

Monhegan: Seaside Layers

Seaside Layers

seen from aboard the Elizabeth Ann ferry along the east shore
of Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013,
sketched on August 24, 2013

7"x 5" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Plein Air between the Dock and the Island Inn

Plein Air between the Dock and the Island Inn

on Monhegan Island among Todd Bonita's oils workshop on
August 20, 2013, sketched on August 22, 2013

7"x 5" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Todd Bonita's web site is HERE, a great guy.

Monhegan: Cliff Walking

Cliff Walking

an American Herring Gull (Larus argentatus smithsonianus) atop Whitehead Cliff,
Monhegan Island, Maine on August 20, 2013, sketched on August 21, 2013

7"x 5" unframed, NFS

Monhegan: Whitehead Cliff

Whitehead Cliff

on the east coastline of Monhegan Island, Maine on
August 19, 2013, sketched on August 20, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5.50 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Monhegan: Two Monhegan Gulls Conversing

Two Monhegan Gulls Conversing

in the calm water off Pebble Beach, Monhegan Island, Maine
on August 18, 2013, sketched on August 19, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

Gifted

Shoot and Leaves in Goldenrod

Shoot and Leaves in Goldenrod

in a back field behind my home on August 12, 2013,
sketched on August 17, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Holding On

Holding On

A mother and daughter walking on Laudholm Beach, Wells Maine on July 27, 2013,
sketched on August 2, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5 sales tax plus $10 shipping

The Grand Boys

Surf Jumpers

Grandson Finn McMillan and Grandson Teague McMillan
at Laudholm Beach, Wells, Maine on July 27, 2013,
sketched on July 28, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

Teague Jumping Waves

At Laudholm Beach, Wells Maine on July 27, 2013,
sketched on July 29, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

Grandson Teague Skipping Stones

At Laudholm Beach, Wells Maine on July 27, 2013,
sketched on August 12, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

Two Naturalists on a Ponds Walk

Grandson Teague McMillan (left), the photographer holding
a cattail, and Grandson Finn McMillan (right), holding his
sketch book for drawing nature, both wearing their
new Boston Strong Red Sox caps and new
superhero lighting bolt T-shirts on
July 26, 2013, sketched
on July 27, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

Grandson Finn Sketching
by the First Pond

On the ponds walk on July 26, 2013,
sketched on July 31, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

Grand Boys Rocking
on Horse Riding Rock

Grandson Teague (left) and Grandson Finn (right) at the
overlook on the ponds walk on Fort Ridge in
Shapleigh, Maine on July 27, 2013,
sketched on July 29, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

My Son,
the Apple in My Eye,
Heading Home

on the Laudholm Farm Beach Trail, Wells, Maine on July 27, 2013,
sketched on August 13, 2013

6"x 4" NFS

A Baker's Dozen...

A Baker's Dozen Outside
the Portland Museum of Art

Bustling outside the entrance with artist Susan Taynor's display
on July 27, 2013 during the First Friday Art Walk, sketched on August 2, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5 sales tax plus $10 shipping

Night Walker on the Dock

Night Walker on the Dock

A Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) on the Casco Bay Ferry Docks at night in Portland, Maine on August 2, 2013,
sketched on August 4, 2013

6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

$100 plus $5 sales tax plus $10 shipping

A Goldfinch on my Deck's Rail

outside my living room in Shapleigh, Maine on August 5, 2013,
sketched on August 9, 2013, 6"x 4" unframed, sold framed

NFS

The Raven

The Raven

This was a painted from a photo challenge on Daily Paint Works (www.dailypaintworks.com). The challenge was to paint this black Raven by mixing your own blacks, in effect using no true black but a mix on color. "The important thing is to have interesting values, reflective colors and some blacks to describe it." The raven reference photo was from Bryce Canyon, Utah in a photo by painter C. J. Roughton.

The Challenge with the original photo and art by various artists is HERE.

7" x 5" unframed, 8.5" x 6.5" framed

$100 plus $5 sales tax plus $10 shipping