Powder Point Bridge from Duxbury Beach

Underpainting

It was a cloudless cobalt blue sky today with a cool gusty wind.   I drove my "plein-air-mobile" over the Powder Point Bridge to Duxbury Beach.   No beach stickers or parking fees this time of year, which makes it the perfect time to paint this lovely spot.    I parked the car so that it would block the cool Canadian winds present this day.



I set up facing west so that the Powder Point Bridge would enter the painting from the left, and end just past the midpoint of the canvas.   The furthest horizon on the left was South Duxbury with the Miles Standish Monument.    On the other side of the bridge, St. George Street begins, and where there is a small white house with a pseudo lighthouse structure (painted with lavender).   If you look closely, you can also see the small red boathouse (painted with alizarin/cobalt).

Stray Bristles

As I applied paint for the foreground grasses with one of my larger brushes - what I had considered a good brush - I noticed a couple of bristles coming loose.   Before I yanked them out, I used them to apply a few strands of dry grass along the shore.  Fine grass strands this small are totally unnecessary and usually evoke criticism, but I felt like doing it, so I did.

Powder Point Bridge from Duxbury Beach - Stage 1

For the sky, I blended prussian blue with cobalt blue to match the fair weather skies.    Although the sky above was a deep blue, the water was not the same intensity, probably influenced by the relatively shallow depths that cover mud and sand. To achieve the water color, I used the sky color but added a small amount of transparent oxide brown, which brought the intensity down a notch (more like a warm gray.)





Powder Point Bridge from Duxbury Beach - Stage 2

Large rocks line the parking lot perimeter.   Upon closer inspection, these boulders actually seemed to contain many colors, so I used my palette knife to scoop up some pale blue, pink, naples yellow and then thickly frosted it on the boulders.  Ribbons of these pastel shades are visible in the thick paint, and I left them that way.

Here is the "not quite finished" version.  Final version will be on my website within a couple of weeks.


Kick Start

Audubon in September

It's been three weeks since my last blog, the longest stretch without an entry since its inception in October 2011.       My list of subjects for paintings has just grown exponentially since returning from magical Ireland.   Expect an extended period of Ireland inspired scenes in the months to come.   Those images are screaming to be captured in oil.   Why I'm not jumping into it, I don't know.   Maybe the ideas
need to percolate for a bit.

Meanwhile, here is a small 8 x 10 inch warm up done "en plein air" at the Green Harbor Audubon a couple of days ago.   The light was bright and warm and the shadows were cool blue.  September's influence can be seen in the grasses that are tipping over and turning to straw.