Mill on the Housatonic River

Climbing up to the Road

Painting Riverside

Lee, Massachusetts was the location of this paint out and it is with a small degree of pride that I present this painting.  My painting partner and I both spotted this spectacular scene as we drove along - passing it by at first.   Twenty minutes later after not seeing any scenes nearly as striking, we returned.  It was no trivial matter getting set up on this painting spot because it was situated at a sharp curve in the busy Route 20 at an overpass over the Housatonic River.



Mill on the Housatanic River - Stage One

There was an old rusty chain blocking a car path down to the river and just enough space for the Cube to nestle in next to it (love this car).  The road was about 30 vertical feet above the river.   We scaled down the embankment to a scene where the river rapids passed in front of an old red brick mill.    There were blue mountains in the background and it was completely overcast.    The clouds made the red brick look even more stunning and certainly the central point of interest amid all the muted early Spring underbrush.



Mill on Housatonic River - Stage Two

Rather than sightsizing, I used my viewfinder (two cardboard "L's") to frame the picture.  I placed the brick stack first and based all my other placements around it.   The moldy/mossy green at the base of the rusty brick buildings was reflected in the water as well.   Three areas of brick were lighter in value, the farthest building, which was on a different angle, the side of the biggest building, which was not in complete shadow, and the right side of the stack.    Each time I worked on the building elements, I used the remainder of the color below in the water.

I decided to finish the foreground trees and branches back in the studio using my photo reference.   I'm glad I did because I had so much thick paint in the sky and water that the branches were pulling in too much white.

Mill on the Housatonic River