The Miramar Retreat Center is across Route 3A from Bay Farm in Kingston, MA. The retreat address is actually in Duxbury. The campus is amazing with its trails, ponds and grottos. There are some very old structures and a mixture of new and old stonework. A pretty cartpath skirts the property to the south and was the perfect spot to set up on a quiet Sunday morning. The temperature was a cool and dry 55 degrees at the start.
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| Underpainting |
For my painting surface, I brought with me a less than satisfactory painting that I had then pre-treated with a splash of autumn colors. The previous painting had been a barn with a dark barndoor opening. As I strolled around with my viewfinder, I was having trouble deciding how best to use the spirit of the previous painting. I moved three times and was getting frustrated. I was
suffering for my soup. (Seinfeld fans will understand :)).
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| Miramar Easel Set up |
I finally decided on the spot in the picture to the right. The thick texture of the underpainting was perfect for designing the greenery. The barn from the underpainting was converted to the structure on the right, an old stone garage that had a patio on top of it. The steps lead up to and are perpendicular to the cartpath.
As I look as this photo, I can attest that the photo didn't record the reds, rusts, browns and golds that were present in person. Thus, the photo could not serve as a color reference (they never do) for the final studio tweaks.
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| Steps to Stonewall Path |
The photo did help to verify the structures. Also although the sunlight pattern was not an accurate color in the photo, I loved the lacy pattern of it and used the photo to add these lightest light highlights in the studio. One other adjustment I made in the studio was to paint a warm oxide brown glaze over the entire shaded stone wall which had been looking too blue, given the cool light/warm shadow temperature scheme.
This one is really thick and textured...everything about this one is me.
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