New Territory, Design

You can paint a lifetime in your back yard they say.  Probably true when you get to the point of seeing.  However, there is the excitement of new territory that quickens the pulse.  Yesterday was such a day.  We painted for the first time in Rockwood.  We've been threatening, but finally did it.  It turned out to be a guy's day out.  Ladies tomorrow.

Dick Caressing His Soltek

You would think that adapting to new geography would be easy, but the more different the more adaptation required.  I had a difficult time settling into Maine last month.  Dick got down to business.  He was on home turf.

Dick's Painting, Early Stage

I decided to paint some water.  Partly this was to facilitate adaptation, partly to reduce the greens.

Pochade Heaven

Here is the start of the painting.  You can see that I decided to leave a lot of things out.  That simplifies, and reduces the number of shapes.  I am staying away from the landscape trap of 3 parallel ribbons running across the canvas.  I use as big a brush as I can.  This helps me relax and paint the big picture again simplifying.  The third simplification tool I used was squinting.  This shows me the values of the shapes, the edges, and rids me of clutter.

Coffee Time, 12x12, Oil on Canvas