Late Light Bog in Winter

Late Light Bog in Winter

 

 

This bog is just down the road from me so I pass it all the time.    I've painted it before and I think I had become blind to how pretty it can be.   In winter, the cranberry plants become dark alizarin in color, which is part of the crimson/purple color family.   Dramatic long shadows were cast on the bog from the western trees.   Last week's snow was still piled up in a few low-light places.   All of this created an interesting scene, and the fact that it was a balmy 55 degrees made it perfect.    Since I was losing the light to early sunset, I painted quickly and somewhat wildly and was happy that I ended up with a very usable color study.

Two Megs - 2

I like all things "fish."  I'm a Pisces; I truly am "that" in a lot of ways. Ha ha. I eat fish often - usually 3-4 times a week.  I love to swim.   I crave being at the ocean, yet I am enthralled with all water related scenes.   

A favorite painting subject is fishing and fishing boats.  Does it stem from my being a Pisces or is it my ancestral Newfoundland fishing family roots?  Maybe both together?

Anyhow, I painted this exact scene a couple of years ago en plein air, and it sold right away so I decided to enjoy it again, this time from the photo.  The historic and enormous Boston Fish pier is the backdrop and the fishing boat called "Two Megs" in the foreground is picking up the sunshine.

Two Megs II

Frozen Feeder Spring

Frozen Feeder Stream

It occurred to me that one of the main reasons I like to paint sunny snow scenes is that it fulfills my desire to span the entire value spectrum (where value = lightness to darkness).  Whereas a foggy scene would have no super darks or super lights because everything is muted, a bright sunny day in the sun is another story,     Like in last week's Wilton Winter Mill, the darkest darks in the water occur because of winter's low sun angle, yet the snow can be brilliantly light because it is translucent.  

Of course the other reason I like to paint snow is that - usually - that is our reality for at least three months of the year.  Why not embrace it?!

Today's painting is a similar color palette, and has that same wide value range from darkest to lightest.   This painting is my favorite so far this season and was done on an aluminum panel.   On the painting's surface, the metal shows through and where it does, it looks a bit shimmery.  I also scraped off paint with the tip of my palette knife revealing aluminum to represent dry grasses.   

This is a New Hampshire scene along the edge of a pond where a little brook traveled under a footbridge.   Over to my left, there were people ice fishing and even a few vehicles sitting on the ice. Yikes, but this end looked melty and so picturesque!

Wilton Winter Mill

Winter Mill

This 7.5x7.5 inch painting captures a mid-February scene from last year's trip to New Hampshire.   The Souhegan River winds its way around the mill and on downstream.  It's mostly frozen but the water that is showing is a dark, rich, full chroma blue.  The icy edges are a muted chromium green.  I like that chatter of the underbrush on the bottom left balances the warm brick of this massive old mill.Although it looks frigid, I remember enjoying the "mild" temps while taking photos of the scene and the waterfalls (not shown).