Comfort Cottage

Painting The Barn

Yesterday's post about the barn got me  to thinking.  What a great page for Strathmore's art journal workshop! 

 

 

Pennsylvania Barn

8" x 10"

Watercolor and Pen and Ink on 140lb. cold pressed paper

 

I took a few photos for you as I worked.

 

 

I began with a light pencil sketch.  I washed in the first layer on the barn with a mix of alizarin crimson and burnt sienna.  Using a crumpled tissue I blotted to create some underlying texture.

 

 

I deepened the wash on the window side and under the eaves.  I mixed in a little raw umber and paynes grey to suggest shadowing.  Using a  masque pen, I masked out some blades of dead grass and then washed the ground in raw sienna plus DaVinci Mauve (a deep purple).  I deepened the wash in places and placed touches of burnt sienna, raw umber and burnt umber.  I also splattered some of the ground mixes and also did some stippling with a dip pen and sepia ink.  I mixed darker washes for the ground below at the level of the foundation.  The evergreens were tapped in with hookers green and sap green.  I mixed a bit of burnt sienna in with the greens to tone them down a bit.  It was overcast that day, so I used a weak wash of Idanthrene Blue and Davinci Orange to get the muddy gray color of the sky.  I further deepened the area to the left by adding a bit more blue and some burnt sienna to the sky mix to add a little bit of drama.

 

 

I wanted to show you a close up of the grass before I removed the masking fluid.

 

 

The masquepen is a great way to block out fine lines for things like grass.  It preserves the lightest tones and whites while you complete the details, such as repeated washes, splattering and deeper strokes for the blades of grass.  When you're finished with those, a clean white eraser rubbed over the dried masking fluid will remove it easily.  Just don't leave it on for more than a day or so.  It might be tough to remove.

 

I did the roof in Paynes gray, bruised the paper with the end of the brush to simulate the grooves in the metal and then deepened parts of the wash further.  For the wood siding at the top of the barn, I washed in a mix of sepia and payne's gray.  I followed with varying mixes of burnt umber, burnt sienna, paynes gray, raw umber and raw sienna, stroked in with a size 2 round brush.  I inked in the details with a fine nib and sepia acrylic ink.  The dead tree branches are a weak mix of raw sienna and paynes gray.  I did some inking with sepia ink.

 

 

I love this old barn.  I hope it's around for another one hundred years.  If you would like to see the original photos and read about it's history, you can click here.  That's all for now!

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

A Maine Pink Saturday

I'm just getting back to somewhat of a normal routine after our summer adventures, and I have some wonderful pink to share with you.  Yes, even in Bass Harbor, I found you some pink.  The thing I was most enchanted by as I strolled through Bass Harbor was the seaside cottages.  Of course, it's always fun to read about them in magazines, but it was fabulous to get out and photograph some of them myself.  Are you ready?  When I saw this one, I could hardly believe my eyes.  You can probably guess what went through my mind when I saw it.

 

 

Is this cute, or what?

 

 

 

There was a botanical garden of wildflowers in Acadia National Park.

 

 

 

I found lots of beautiful pink flowers on the islands.

 

 

These lovely geraniums were growing in the yard of a historic church.

 

 

I think these are nootka roses.

 

 

 

This beautiful garden was in Bass Harbor.

 

 

Another magical Bass Harbor cottage.

 

 

It's gardens were inviting.

 

 

On this trip to Maine, we explored a new place.  We went to Deer Isle.  Deer Isle is accessible by a very narrow, high bridge.  Though the ride over it is a bit hair-raising,  the island is a peaceful place to escape from the real world.

 

 

On the opposite side of Deer Isle is one of the most productive fishing ports in the country-Stonington.  I fell in love with this town.  It was everything I imagined a seaside town could be.   Street after street of shingle-style  cottages charmed me.  Like the brilliant hues in my paint box,  color dripped from window boxes and mingled together into a dazzling sea.

 

 

The fushia was such a deep pink, it was almost red.

 

 

 

I walked to the end of the main street and followed the road up a steep hill.  If I had stopped just a step to soon, I would have missed this storybook bed and breakfast.

 

 

 

 

These looked like giant zinnias but I'll bet some of you gardeners out there will know what they are.

 

 

I found bunches of these growing by the roadside.

 

 

It is called fireweed, because it is also commonly found growing in burned out areas.

 

Finally, for today, a few beautiful Maine sunsets from Mount Desert Island.

 

 

This one is from the marsh at Seawall.

 

 This is from the shore on the other side of Seawall.

That's all for now.  I hope you've enjoyed sharing the pinkness of Maine with me.  If you would like to visit all of the Pink Saturday participants, please click on the Pink Saturday icon in my right sidebar.  I want to thank Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting another wonderful Pink Saturday.

I have much more of Stonington to share with you.  I hope you'll join me later this week as we continue our tour!

 

Until next time,

 

Kentucky Farm

Today's painting was a bit of a struggle.  I ended up scrubbing most of it out and reworking it.  I experimented with a lower intensity color scheme, but the greens ended up too dull on the first pass.  This was the second attempt.

 

Kentucky Farm

Watercolor and Acrylic Ink on 140lb Cold Press

Photo Reference provided by Morgue File

 

I tried a higher intensity yellow to brighten up the green mix.  I have mixed feelings about the mix :)

I'll try a new one tomorrow!

 

Until next time,

 

Painting the Farm

After a busy weekend of blogging and photography, it was time to get back to the studio.  Recently, I discovered a wonderful watercolor artist- Lynn Frye.  Lynn has a fabulous photostream of her work on Flicker.  She has graciously offered several photos for artists to use as subject matter.  Today I worked a painting for my art journal, using one of those photos for reference.

 

Barn in Oxford, NC

Watercolor and acrylic ink on 140 lb. cold press

 

I love living in farm country and I'm hoping to get out again soon to photograph some of Lancaster County's beautiful farms.  It looks like the rain may keep me in my studio for a few more days, but I guess that's a good thing.  I've got plenty of painting to do!  If you would like to see more of my work, you can find it here.

I want to thank Lynn Frye for her inspiration and the wonderful photographs she has graciously allowed artists to use.  I also would like to thank everyone who came out on Pink Saturday and especially for signing up to follow me.  I had so much fun visiting and seeing what other creative souls are cooking up.  You really are an amazing community of talented people.  God bless you and have a wonderful day!

 

Until next time,