Roadside Buoys

Roadside Buoys - Stage One

Roadside Buoys - Stage Two

The southern portion of Duxbury Bay in Massachusetts is visible from many old hidden roads that dead end at the water.   I drove down a couple of them and decided on Harden Hill Road, one with space to park and a boat launch at the water's edge.   Since the road sloped down to the shore, the angle of my painting was more downward and a wider span of the water was visible.   The sun was high in this late May sky causing the color of the water to look lighter.   The furthest water was a blueish green, the mid distance water had more yellow (from sandbar?) and the closer shallows were lighter bluish green.   On the side of the road there were three old "No Wake" buoys waiting to be set in place out in the bay.  These were certainly the center of interest as the brightest and highest contrast elements in the scene.   Two oak tree trunks closer to the edge of the water looked very dark against the bright blue bay.  



Roadside Buoys - Stage Three

Roadside Buoys

I began with the sky and water which I applied with a palette knife.  I liked fresh, loose look of it and didn't touch it again.   The trunk and leaves of the dark oak were painted with a mixture of Ultramarine blue, transparent brown and viridian.  All the fresh spring growth was bright green.   I felt like the green I mixed to match was accurate on site. (Back in the studio, it looked unnaturally white.  I warmed up these greens with cad yellow.)  The many shades of green benefitted from the use of golds and Indian Red to break it up.   I used the same Indian red for the rusty chains attached to the buoy anchors.  I simply could not get decent lettering on the buoys between the erratic wind and my shakes, so I also saved that detail for back in the studio.

It's great to have nice weather again!