Boston Common Carousel

Boston Common Carousel Scene

Two hours on the meter - go!  I like the new lightweight easel and palette, but I still dragged the large tote on wheels.  Too cumbersome but good for a wind weight anyway.  I stood downwind from the Charles Street T station in the Boston Common where I had partial sun.  There was a walking path entering from the right of the scene and it led directly to the small carousel.   Beacon Street buildings including the old brick faced buildings and the State House formed the backdrop, and took the most time to sketch in.



Boston Common Carousel - Stage One

Boston Common Carousel - Stage Two

It's not easy to keep it simple when a scene is this complicated.   I decided to spend time ensuring the angles of the roof lines against the sky were accurate, and since the trees along Beacon Street were budding, they formed a muted backdrop of pinkish  green hues - no detail needed there. 

I had three favorite elements in this scene.    1) The brick buildings in the background with "played up" red and weathered green copper trim, 2) the carousel with the blue and white striped top.  3) The State House dome.  I hadn't established the priority of the three, but I shall before the painting goes out to the website and shop.


 There was no shortage of visitors and tourists stopping by.   I love when children stop and look.   To them the most attractive part of my set up seems to be the palette itself with all the pure tube color.



Gold Leaf for State House Dome


A giant Frisbee game got started immediately to my left with at least a dozen players.   Two near misses got me packing and it was a good thing because I returned to the car with two minutes left on the meter.   I hadn't finished the Massachusetts State House gold dome.   It was the biggest issue I needed to correct back in the studio.   The photo of the gold dome as a color reference was virtually unusable.   It looked white yet my memory of the dome color was bright cadmium yellow with a green yellow highlight.   My resolution to this dilemma involved a little book of gold leaf.   But how to apply a highlight?  More experimenting...





Boston Common Carousel

Horse Barn Harrison St Duxbury

Stage One

Last year I noticed a beautiful farm on Harrison Street in Duxbury where two horses were enjoying a large grassy area that was located just below an old farmhouse and barn.   On this day I set up hoping that the horses would appear at some point (they never did - unfortunately).  

It is the first week of May and there is no green brighter than the initial buds and blades this time of year.  In fact it was so green that I hesitated to paint it as (fluorescent) green as it was;  it would not even seem quite right -I think. 



Stage Two

Another thing I did today was to time myself (executing a typical 9x12 painting) in preparation for the "quick draw" competition I'll be doing in a couple of weeks.  I seldom think about time when I paint; in fact everything drops away while in the trance. :)



Stage Three

For the quick draw I'll have 120 minutes to paint and frame my painting.  This painting took between 90 and 100 minutes to get it to a presentable point.




Here are the times in case anyone is interested:

Unload gear and set up easel:                                         4 Min
Line sketch:                                                                  10 Min
Refine Drawing (paper towel wipe out                              11 Min
First layer  (cover sky, treeline, barn, foreground)            42 Min
Second Layer (thick lights, middle tree, grassy brushwork)  26 Min

The total time then was 92 minutes.  That leaves 28 minutes for framing so I am more comfortable than I was!   I spent another ten minutes on it in the studio.

Horse Barn Harrison St Duxubury