Entering the Harbor

Entering the Harbor

 

a lobsterboat at Cape Porpoise Harbor
in Kennebunkport, Maine on November 10, 2020,
painted December 3, 2020
10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

Dinghy Pair Study 2

Dinghy Pair Study 2

in late afternoon
sunset light of dinghies tied up at the
Cape Porpoise pier on Bickford Island
at Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport, Maine
on November 10, 2020, painted November 27, 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

Dinghy Pair Study 1

Dinghy Pair Study 1

in late afternoon sunset light of a dinghy tied up
at the Cape Porpoise pier on Bickford Island
at Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport, Maine
on November 10, 2020, painted November 27, 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 Art of Color in Marine Sunsets

How do other artists catch that sunset light?

The Art of Color in Marine Sunsets
Eight by the Masters

Blackman, Homer, Hopper, Monet, Puigaudeau, Renoir, Signac, and Turner, all of these paintings were painted more than 110 years ago.

1
Gloucester Harbor
Winslow Homer (1836-1910), American
Oil on canvas, 22: x 16" (w x h), 1873
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri

Gallery note:
The colors in this painting are grounded in an eerie combination of pink and blue that glows with reflected light. The seagull in the distance contributes to the spatial depth of the design, which is carefully calibrated to create a rhythm between solid shapes and open spaces, light and shadow.

2
Boats on the Nile River at Sunset
Walter Blackman (1847-1928), American
22" x 16" (w x h)
Private Collection

Research note:
Walter Blackman, born in New York in 1847 received his formal training from Jean-Leon Gerome. He was drawn to Paris's three ateliers that were established at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1863, under the direction, respectively, of Gerome Cabanel and Isidore Pils (1813-1875). It was Gerome who was most popular among American painters. His consistency of rigorous academic style and durability as a teacher made him a significant resource for dozens of American students; Thomas Eakins, Fredric Arthur Bridgeman, Edwin Lord Weeks, Kenyon Cox, Julius L. Stewart, Mary Cassatt and Walter Blackman.

3
Étretat, Cliff of d'Aval, Sunset
Claude Monet (1840-1926), French
Oil on canvas, 1885
Private Collection

Research notes:
During the 1870s Monet was working from Argenteuil. 1875 was the year Renoir painted Monet's portrait. It was the year that Monet painted his notable painting, Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son. Between October and December 1885, Monet made nearly fifty paintings of the Normandy coast. This work shows the Porte d'Aval, a naturally formed arch, and a freestanding needle-like rock that attracted tourists and artists alike to the town of Étretat.

4
Pêcheurs À Pied Au Couchant /
Fishermen on Foot in the Sunset
Ferdinand du Puigaudeau (1864-1930) French
Oil on canvas, 20" x 26" (w x h), circa 1910
Sotheby's London Auction 2019 sold $101,760 USD

Catalogue note:
In this work, Puigaudeau uses his knowledge of Impressionism to benefit his love for light. He manipulates all the elements of his painting to accentuate the sun, a star that pulls all depicted elements towards it. Serving as the work's vanishing point, the sun exudes a Pointillist aura that captures the eye of the viewer through its brilliance. With this work, Puigaudeau contemplates the infinite possibilities of nature with the help of a sublime ocean and dazzling sun.
    Ferdinand du Puigaudeau was born in Nantes, France in 1864. As a young boy, his uncle encouraged his artistic pursuits. His education was traditional and he studied at various boarding schools from Paris to Nice. In 1882, he travelled to Italy, then to Tunisia, and taught himself to paint.
    In 1886 the year he visited Pont-Aven where he befriended Charles Laval and Paul Gauguin with whom he decided to travel to Panama and Martinique. But he was unable to do so as he was called up for military service.
    In the beginning of 1907, Ferdinand de Puigaudeau moved to a new home in Kervaudu along the French peninsula of Guérande, where he painted the landscape before him until the end of his life: his garden, the marshes and mills, the sunsets over the sea, and the poppy fields.
    Between 1910 and 1914, he devoted his work to the countryside, endlessly painting sunsets on the sea and windmills. And on Sundays, he welcomed local artists and intellectuals to his home. As the artist's daughter remembers, "There were meetings of educated people who tried to break the monotony of a small fishing harbor by creating the cultural diversions it did not offer.

5
Study of a Sunset
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Wax crayon and graphite pencil on paper,
5" x 3" (w x h), 1895-1899
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Research note:
Hopper was a teenager, 13-17 years old, when he drew this study. By his teens, he was working in pen-and-ink, charcoal, watercolor, and oil. He drew nature as well as making political cartoons. In 1895, he created his first signed oil painting, Rowboat in Rocky Cove, which he copied from a reproduction in The Art Interchange, a popular journal for amateur artists. Hopper's other earliest oils such as Old Ice Pond at Nyack and his circa 1898 painting Ships have been identified as copies of paintings by artists including Bruce Crane and Edward Moran.

6
Sunset (?) off Margate Pier
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) British
Watercolor on paper, 14" x 10" (w x h), circa 1840-5
Margate Beach Scenes
Tate Britain, London, UK

Gallery note:
Throughout his life Turner peppered his sketchbooks with notes of striking sunrises and sunsets, generally in pencil rather than watercolor. Despite their apparent immediacy, many of his watercolors were actually painted in the studio. Turner is supposed to have preferred sunrises as they allowed him more time to observe a greater range of effects. However, the sunsets in several of his major paintings have encouraged us to think chiefly of Turner Sunsets.

Research note:
Margate is a seaside town on the southeast coast of England in Kent, 15 miles north-east of Canterbury.

7
Sunset
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), French
Oil on canvas, 24" x 18" (w x h), circa 1879-1881
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Gallery note:
Renoir would have called this work an impression, a finished painting of a dramatic atmospheric effect rather than a sketch of a specific site. The sea is heavily worked with layers of color, the sky is painted in broad, rapid brushstrokes. The elevated viewpoint looks out across the water, where a small boat suggests a sense of scale and an indication of human presence.

8
The Port of Saint-Tropez
Paul Signac (1863-1935), French
Oil on canvas, 64" x 52" (w x h), 1901-1902
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan

Gallery note:
Signac was greatly shocked by the death of Seurat who had joined him in defending and extolling the spread of Neo-impressionism. Thanks to the efforts of his friend the painter H. E. Cross, a year after the death of Seurat Signac left on a yacht voyage around the Mediterranean in 1892. He discovered the small fishing harbor of Saint-Tropez and for the next ten years he traveled between Saint-Tropez and Paris to paint. Over these ten years there was a softening of the linear rigor of his compositions, followed by an increase in size of the distinctive dots of pigment that characterize the Neo-impressionist style. In this later change, he strengthened the characteristics of the individual touches and the contrast between them, surpassing the optical mixture that had been the Pointillists' first objective. This work depicting the port of Saint-Tropez in its entirety is one of his most monumental works of this period, providing an expression of these formal changes.

Maine Coast Artist Quiz

Artist of the Maine Coast Quiz
Eight Paintings / One Artist
Can you name the artist?

Eight of the artist's sketches, oils, and watercolors.
The only clue, other than the painting,
is the painting's location. (And the
artist's signature, if there,
has been removed.)

1
Ogunquit, Maine

2
Pulpit Rock, Monhegan Island, Maine

3
Pulpit Rock, Monhegan Island, Maine

4
Ogunquit, Maine

5
Monhegan Island, Maine

6
Portland, Maine

7
Rockland, Maine

8
Monhegan Island, Maine

Well?
Look again... then...
scroll down for the answer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
V





The Maine Coast
by Edward Hopper (1882-1967)

1
Cove at Ogunquit
Oil on canvas, 29" x 25" (w x h), 1914
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

2
Study of Rocks at Monhegan
Lithographic crayon on paper, 16" x 11" (w x h), 1916-1919
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

3
Rocks and Waves
Oil on composition board, 13" x 10" (w x h), 1916-1919
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

4
The Dories, Ogunquit
Oil on canvas, 29" x 24" (w x h), 1914
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

5
Sea and Rocky Shore
Oil on canvas board, 13" x 10" (w x h), 1916-1919
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

6
Portland Me
Chalk on paper, 13" x 11" (w x h), circa 1927
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

7
Harbor Shore, Rockland
Watercolor, 1926
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas

8
Rocks and Sea
Oil on wood, 16" x 12" (w x h), 1916-1919
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

For a quick read fine essay about this posting enjoy Carol Douglas' Watch Me Paint blog posting "Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..." HERE.

Lobsterboats Two

Cape Porpoise Lobsterboats Two

two lobsterboats in Cape Porpoise Harbor
one heading to the pier in Kennebunkport, Maine
on November 10, 2020, painted November 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, $200

One to the Dock

One to the Cape Porpoise Pier

a lobsterboat in Cape Porpoise Harbor heading to the pier, Kennebunkport, Maine on November 10, 2020, painted November 28, 2020, 12" x 9" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper framed.
$350 SOLD at the Kennebunk River Club's 65th Art Show and Sale, August 13/14, 2022

Dinghy Stern

Dinghy Stern

in the afternoon of a dinghy tied up at the Cape Porpoise pier on
Bickford Island at Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport, Maine
on November 10, 2020, painted November 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

Docked for Tonight

Docked for Tonight

at the public dock for the Cape Porpoise pier on
Bickford Island at Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport,
Maine on November 10, 2020, painted November 23, 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

Dinghy Pair Docked

Dinghy Pair Docked

at the public dock for the Cape Porpoise pier on
Bickford Island at Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport,
Maine on November 10, 2020, painted November 23, 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

Stern Seats Docked

Stern Seats Docked

at the public dock for the Cape Porpoise pier on
Bickford Island at Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport,
Maine on November 10, 2020, painted November 22/24, 2020
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 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $300

The Painter

On this November short daylight day, there was only time to take reference photos around Bickford Island of the Cape Porpoise harbor surroundings to paint from, including a selfie or two using the timer of my small camera. -Bruce

Dinghy Docking Space

Dinghy Docking Space

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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Art of Dinghies
a visual essay of fine art by fine artists

1
Four Dinghies at the Dock
Angela Ooghe, American
Oil on canvas, 22" x 17" (w x h), 2012
The artist's website is HERE.
She lives and works in Miami.

2
Teal Morning
Brian Cameron (1952- ), American
Acrylic on linen, 22" x 30" (w x h)
The artist's website is HERE.

Brian Cameron works from his studio beside his oceanfront home on the beach just north of Gearhart, Oregon where he lives with his wife Leslie.

3
Boy in Boat, Gloucester
Winslow Homer (1836-1910), American
Watercolor, opaque watercolor, over graphite
on rough-textured, ivory paper,
14" x 9" (w x h), 1880/81
The artist's painting is at
The Art Institute of Chicago
website HERE.

"Homer began Boy in Boat, Gloucester while staying at the lighthouse on Ten Pound Island in the harbor of the fishing town Gloucester, Massachusetts. During his time in Gloucester, he frequently depicted local boys playing on boats, fishing, and waiting for their fathers to return from the sea. In this watercolor he began experimenting with scraping, revealing the white of the paper to create highlights in the large rock at right. Furthermore, he was developing his skill in transparent watercolor, which he used to great effect for the reflective surface of the water." - Art Institute of Chicago notes

4
In Waiting
Ken DeWaard, American
Oil on linen, 18" x 24" (w x h)
The artist's website is HERE.
The artist lives with his family of
four children in Hope, Maine.

5
Three Boats on a Beach
Margaret Griffith, American
Oil on birch panel, 40" x 30" (w x h)
$1,200 USD
The artist's website is HERE.

The artist has a summer home on Little Cranberry Island. "This piece is based upon a photo of mine. The boats were all lined up on the beach where they had been pulled up to avoid the tide." - MG

6
White Dinghy Bow
Bobbie Heath, American
Oil on panel, 7" x 5" (w x h), 2019
The artist's website is HERE.
The artist lives in Massachusetts with
a summer home in Maine.

7
Waiting for a Crew
Philip Frey (1967- ), American
Oil, 2014
The artist's website is HERE.

Philip Frey is the only artist in this group who can call himself a true Mainer, born in Portland in 1967. There is a wonderful book of his Maine art, Philip Frey: Here and Now, on amazon HERE.

8
Dinghies Resting on Fish Beach
(Monhegan Island)
Carol L. Douglas, American
Oil on panel, June 2016
The artist's blog is HERE.
The artist lives in Rockport, Maine

Painted on a Monhegan Island trip with Bobbi Heath and Mary Sheehan Winn in June, 2016. "We woke yesterday with the sun pouring in our windows at 4:30 am. This far north and this close to the summer solstice, days are deliciously long. Bobbi was interested in the breaking skies; I didn't care much what I painted as long as I got outdoors. We decided to work at Fish Beach in the morning and the lighthouse in the afternoon." - CD

I've had the good fortune to paint with Ken DeWaard, Bobbi Heath, and Carol Douglas here in Maine.

Breeze from a Cape Porpoise Sunset

Breeze from a Cape Porpoise Sunset 

moored lobsterboats in Cape Porpoise harbor at Kennebunkport, Maine on November 10, 2020
painted November 17-19, 2020, 14" x 11" art (w x h), 22" x 18" (w x h) framed, Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $700 - Sold, Kennebunk River Club Exhibition August 2024

Maine Artists
Paint Lobsterboats Using Oils

1
Six Boats, Vinalhaven
Connie Hayes, (1962- ) American
Oil on panel, 12" x 9" (w x h), circa 2013
The artist's website is HERE.


2
Wish You Were Here
Daniel J. Corey, American
Oil on canvas, 56" x 48" (w x h)
The artist's website is HERE.


3
At the Dock
Brad Betts
Oil on linen, 8" x 6" (w x h), circa 2013
The artist's website for his Wiscasset, Maine
Downeast Gallery is HERE.


4
Note: Same harbor as my watercolor
The Hues of Solitude (Cape Porpoise Harbor)
Bethany Harper Williams, Canadian, seasonal Maine
Oil on canvas, 16" x 16" (w x h), 2018
Maine Art Hill Gallery
The artist's website is HERE.


5
Sleeping In
Bobbi Heath, American
Oil on panel, 12" x 12" (w x h), 2016
The artist's website is HERE.


6
Underneath
Colin Page (1977- ), American
Oil, circa 2012
The artist's website is HERE.
The artist's Camden, Maine Page Gallery is HERE.

Strandir Valley of Fog

Strandir Valley of Fog

in the remote eastern West Fjords, Iceland
on July 8, 2009, painted November 12-13, 2020
17.5" x 13.25" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $750

On the Way to Látrabjarg

On the Way to Látrabjarg

in the southwestern West Fjords, Iceland
on August 8, 2006, painted November 9, 2020
15.5" x 13.25" (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, $750

Puffin Pair Looking Down There

Puffin Pair
Looking Down There

Artist's Note: Puffins, with their distinctive bills, almost become trite, so my focus was in painting a more graphic and design view, with motion for the eye, of this bird species that I've photographed and lived with for over a quarter of a century.

Two Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica)
high on a cliff in Látrabjarg, West Fjords, Iceland
August 8, 2006, painted November 9, 2020
13" x 15.5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness
and permanence, and Prismacolor waterproof fade proof ink
on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100%
cotton extra white watercolor paper
framed, $750

Autumn Sun Sets on Tidal Grass

Autumn Sun Sets on Tidal Grass

at the Royal River Conservation Trust
West Side Trail at Sandy Point Beach,
Cousins Island, Yarmouth, Maine on
November 3, 2020, painted November 7, 2020
1-" 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

Two Crabby Apples

Two Crabby Apples

Wild crab apples (Malus sp.)
at the ocean-view parking lot of the Royal River
Conservation Trust West Side Trail at Sandy Point Beach,
Cousins Island, Yarmouth, Maine on November 3, 2020
painted November 5, 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

Still Here Two

Still Here Two

at the public dock on
Littlejohn Island in Yarmouth, Maine
on November 3, 2020, painted November 5, 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

Still Here

Still Here

at the public dock on
Littlejohn Island in Yarmouth, Maine
on November 3, 2020, painted November 4, 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

North to Strandir

Norður Akstur á Strandir /
North to Strandir

English:
Driving on the way to the remote eastern West Fjords, in Iceland, a memory stays from a photo I took July 7, 2009. I painted this in October and November in 2020. 17" x 13" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, masking fluid, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper framed, $900 USD

For sale at the forthcoming watercolor show with Óskar Thorarensen and Bruce McMillan, Reykjavík og Víðar / Reykjavik and Beyond, May 28 - June 22, 2022, Ófeigur, Skólavörðustígur 5, Reykjavík. After that Bruce McMillan's watercolors online here if still available.

Íslenskur:
Á leiðinni til afskekktra austurhluta Vestfjarða er þetta minning úr mynd sem ég tók 7. júlí 2009. Ég málaði þetta í október og nóvember 2020. 17 "x 13" (b x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam og WinsFabriano eða & Newton vatnslitir, maska fljótandi og vatnsheldur blek. 140 pund. Fabriano Artistico kaldpressaður grófur 100% bómull extra hvítur vatnslitapappír. Innrammað, 120,000 ISK

Comment via Facebook by Bathsheba Przygocki:
Modern roads are so ugly, but you have made this one into a shape that sets off and anchors the sky shape, the cloud shapes, and the land mass shapes. The white line boldly guides the viewer's eye into the scene. Funny that the little yellow guideposts keep the viewer on track to follow the road. I don't know whether I am staying on the road because I am complying with the driving rules the guideposts suggest about staying on track or because they are actually causing my eyes to stay on track in some artistic way. They cause me to question how brainwashed I am in our society that I don't know my own mind. It's the same dilemma about how to pass people who are walking towards you on the sidewalk, do you stay to the right-hand side because that is the rule of the road or is it a natural choice. I wonder whether British people pass each other on the left side because they drive on the left. Nice that you haven't mixed the colors overly.