Comfort Cottage

Dreaming of Paradise

It reached 78 degrees here in Pennsylvania today.  I pulled up the shades, threw open the windows, and dreamed of faraway places again.  My art reflected my mind's wanderings.  I pulled a photo of Lake Erie from my archives and was instantly transported to sandy beaches and churning surf.

 

 

I could almost feel the sun and the sea spray on my face!

 

A few notes on today's painting:

 

 

As you can see from the shiny areas, I used a masquepen to block out areas I wanted to remain white: seafoam and spray, and beach grasses and shell fragments on the beach.  I washed in the sky with a pale wash of Cobalt Blue mixed with a touch of Pthalo Blue (green shade).  I painted around the cloud areas and then wet the inside edges of the clouds to allow the sky mix to bleed into them a bit.  I used varying mixes of chromium oxide green and Pthalo Blue on the lake.

 

 

The fence posts we're added with a mixed of raw umber and payne's gray.

 

 

For the sand, I used a variety of techniques to produce the texture: splattering, stippling, varied washes of burnt umber and french ultramarine with burnt sienna.  After removing the masking from the grasses, I stroked them in with a 10/0 liner using a variety of mixes of sap green, raw sienna, cadmium red and burnt sienna.  I left some of the tips white to suggest sun sparkle.  The cast shadows from the grass were applied with weak payne's gray.   I used sepia acrylic ink and a fine nib dip pen to add details on the fence and sand.  The grasses were detailed with sap green acrylic ink.

 

 

 

For the rocks of the breakwater, I applied a wash of payne's gray.  While it was still damp, I placed crinkled plastic wrap over it and left it in place until it was almost dry.  This gave me a rock-like pattern.  I then added washes of raw umber and payne's grey and burnt umber.

 

 

At the base of the breakwater, I had forgotten to mask in areas for sea foam.  It can still be created after the fact.  I used a sharp razor and gently scraped the areas that I wanted to be white.  It makes a fairly convincing seafoam.  I did the same where the water meets the beach.  On the edges of the grasses on the far left, I wanted to suggest sun sparkle, so I used the razor to gently scrap away a little of the color.

 

 

We're still two months away from kayak season, so I'll just have to settle for painting the water!  I know many of you are taking the Strathmore Online Workshop with Cathy Johnson too.  How's it going for you?  I'd love to hear from you. 

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

Maine From My Brush Tip

Strathmore's second online workshop began yesterday.  Our workshop leader is Cathy Johnson.  Cathy has published a number of books over the years about painting in watercolor.  Her book Creating Textures In Watercolor was the very first book I purchased  on this wonderful medium.  I decided to make my trip to Maine last summer the subject for my art journal for the workshop.   I wanted to express my emotion for this amazing place in a more visceral way than I could with the camera alone.

 

 

Cathy is encouraging us to paint from life, but unfortunately, a congenital abnormality in my vision prevents this.  I don't see with both eyes simultaneously-my vision continually switches between the right and left eye.  My brain can't fuse the two.  Consequently,  when I try to draw from life without surrounding visual cues, such as the edge of a photograph, I end up drawing from two different perspectives.  Alas, I must take plenty of accurate photographs and paint in the studio :)

I'll share a little of my process with you, so you can follow how I arrived at the finished product.

 

 

I began with a very light pencil drawing and then started laying in color.  I did a gradated wash of cobalt blue, and then blotted out some of the cloud areas.  I used payne's gray for the dark areas at the top of the lighthouse, and cadmium red medium for the small roof peak.  I mixed the red with payne's gray for the lamp.  I mixed cad red, cobalt blue and raw sienna for a muddy gray to shade under the eaves.  It initially looked too red, so I glazed a bit of payne's gray over the shadows.

 

 

I worked the branches with raw sienna and raw umber.  I tapped in the foliage with hookers green and leaf green.  I toned down both greens with a bit of burnt sienna mixed in.

 

 

I splattered in more color for texture in the foliage.  I laid in a wash of raw sienna for the ground, and then splattered and blotted to give texture.  I used the same green mixes for the ground.  Very pale dry brushing and washing was added to the walls of the building with raw sienna and burnt sienna.

 

 

I deepened my colors and then began inking in the details.  I used a black Sakura Pigma Micron 02 pen to add a bit of line work around the windows, walls, and roof.  I used a dip pen with a fine nib for the rest of the line work.  I worked the details in FW acrylic inks:  sap green for trees and grass, sepia for branches and ground texture and cool grey for hints of brick work and siding on the building.

 

Bass Harbor Head Light

8" x 10"

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

 

I'm looking forward to sharing more of my watercolor interpretation of the Maine coast as the workshop progresses.  I hope you'll join me for the adventure!

Until next time,

 

 

 

A Break From Christmas

I've been spending so much time working on my Christmas Journal and winter digital art lately!  I've kind of missed my watercolors.  I've had this painting on the table for awhile, and I decided to finish it.  Right about now, when the weather is drizzly, damp and cold, I'm really starting to miss Maine.  It's way too early in the season for that - not even officially winter yet.  Now, I have the next best thing:  a painting of Maine.  I used a photo I took in August of a scene in Stonington Harbor on Deer Isle.

 

 

Stonington Afternoon

Watercolor and pen and ink on 140lb. cold press paper

9 x 12

 

I can still dream!

 

Until next time,

 

It's About Me

For the past nineteen years I've been Mom.  I've loved living that role, and as any Mom  will tell you, when you have kids, life becomes all about them.  I've never regretted a day of it (well, almost...).  Lately, as my son has begun spreading his wings, I've been working on defining who I am and what I want my life to be about.  Too often, women do not appreciate the depth of their souls and their lives.  I spent some time thinking about the life I've been given, and rediscovering my heart and soul.  Now, before anyone gets nervous, this was actually an extraordinarily enjoyable experience that I've been able to translate to my latest collage.

 

 

I primarily used my own art and photography.  Some of the words, I did in Photoshop, some were borrowed from free downloads, and the rest were gleaned from my rather sizable magazine collection.

 

A collage artist's best friend:

 

 

I adhered everything to a 16 x 20 canvas board.

 

 

 

 

So tell me, what is it that makes your heart beat a little faster?  What is it that calls your name or inspires you?  Let me hear from you!  There is a unique and special heart that beats in all of us.

 

Until next time,

 

Stonington

I've been working on processing more of my photos from Maine.  I have some to share with you from Stonington.  I spent an entire day exploring this lovely harbor town.  I couldn't take pictures fast enough!  There were so many interesting things to see.

 

The Stonington Opera House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

 

On the hill is the opera house in Stonington.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

 

The center of town was bustling with activity.

 

 

There is an irresistible charm about the place.

 

 

 

 

I wandered along the waterfront, soaking up the character of this productive fishing port.

 

 

As the skies were clearing, fishermen returned with the morning's catch.

 

 

There were many cheerful cottages with gardens and window boxes bursting with color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were so many lovely touches that seemed to say welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

I featured this photo in a Pink Saturday post a few weeks ago, but I just loved the look of this inn in Stonington. I had to include it again.

 

Back down on the waterfront, I wandered about the docks, soaking in the character of this busy, productive harbor.

 

 

 

 

I was fortunate to capture this beautiful ship just as it was coming about in the harbor.

 

 

This is a sobering tribute to those who have lost their lives at sea.

 

 

 

 

There's no doubt about what is the major industry in Stonington!

 

 

 

 

 

 I hope you enjoyed my tour of Stonington.  This little town holds a special place in my heart.

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Maine

I'm a little late with my Texture Tuesday project, but better late than never!  By now, you all know of my passion for all things Maine.  I took three of my photographs and turned them into vintage, well-worn postcards.

 

The first one is the marsh across from Seawall on Mount Desert Island.  I used two layers of Kim's Nature's Beauty texture over the photo.  Both layers were set to Soft Light at about 70 percent opacity.  I used the Vintage Companion texture over top of a layer of off-white for the border.  The texture layer was set to Multiply at 80 percent opacity.  I applied a brown photo filter the Vintage Companion texture at about 80 percent.  The font is Cygnet Round set to Bevel and Emboss down.  I reduced the 0pacity to fade it.  To give the photo that grainy look that vintage images have, I added added CS5's noise filter and checked the Monochromatic and Uniform boxes.  To imitate the look of worn-off color, I used the Eraser tool with various grunge brushes on the photo.  I also reduce the saturation of the photo.

 

 

My method for the second one is the same. 

 

 

I took this photo at Stonington Harbor on Deer Isle.  My method was a little different.  I only used one layer of texture over the photo - Bent Edges, set on Linear Burn at 21 percent.  I reduced the saturation of the photo and set the opacity to 94 percent.

 

 

If you would like to enjoy all of the beautiful work of Texture Tuesday's participants, head on over to Kim Klassen Cafe.  Kim offers free textures if you sign up and wonderful tutorials to get you up to speed in the wonderful world of digital artistry.

 

Until next time,

 

Solitude

I hope all of you had a fabulous Labor Day weekend!  I spent most of it dabbling in my studio, of course.  Today is Texture Tuesday over at Kim Klassen Cafe.  I used one of my photos from Schoodic Peninsula for the challenge.  I love the idea of a story board, so I combined that with two of Kim's incredible textures for this week's challenge.  I created the composition with Photoshop CS5.  I've included a description of techniques, so if you're not a Photoshop or Photoshop Elements user, feel free to ignore it!

 

Techniques

I began by filling the bottom layer with a solid, weak gray.  I used two layers of Cracker Jack 2 under the photo layer.  I wanted the crackle to be well-defined without being overpowering, so I adjusted the opacity of the texture layers until I was satisfied.  I set the photo layer to multiply.  On top of the photo, I used two layers of Serious Magic set to screen.  I sized them to fit the photo.   To give the photo a more faded look, I reduced its saturation by about 10%.   The font is PegsannaHMK set to soft light. There are two layers and I used a drop shadow under one layer.  I reduced the opacity of the drop shadow by about 50%.  For the color chips, I used the rectangular mask tool to make a small square.  I then modified the mask to feather by 20 pixels.  I added the color using the pastel brush from CS5's dry media collection. I made four more copies of the color chip and used the eyedropper to select colors from the photo, adding a different color overlay to each chip.  I merged the color chip layers and set them to multiply.  Finally, I used the eraser tool and a grunge brush to get rid of the photo's hard edge.  I condensed the whole composition using the merge visible command.

 

If you would like to see how all of our digital artists used Kim's textures, just click on the Texture Tuesdays icon in my right sidebar and it will take you to Kim Klassen Cafe.  Thank you, Kim, for hosting the challenge and for your wonderful textures!

 

Until next time,

 

More From Maine

I've been trying to process more of my photos of Maine in between working on art projects.  Sometimes it's hard to tear myself away from my studio long enough to post!

This is an iconic scene on Mount Desert Island.  The small building used to house the historical society here in Somesville.  There's a museum back further from the road.

 

 

Here's the view looking across the road.

 

 

I took this one from the trail running along a very high cliff.  It is a view of the beautiful Echo Lake, and beyond the lake is Somes Sound.

 

 

This is the beach on Echo Lake.

 

 

Another view from the cliffs.

 

 

This heavenly spot is on Schoodic Peninsula.  It is called Tidal Falls.

 

 

 

There was a flock of cormorants on the island.  Unless I wanted to swim, this was the closest I could get with my telephoto lens.

 

 

Further along Schoodic Peninsula, we came to Wonsqueak Harbor.  I love the name!

 

 

Many of the buildings on Schoodic Penninsula are more than a century old.

 

 

I would love to restore this one and use it for studio space.  In my dreams...

 

 

Isn't peeling paint wonderful?

 

 

 

The West Gouldsboro Library is a charming Tudor-style building, built in 1907.

 

 

 

Finally, for today, I'll leave you with a scene from Maine's magnificent coastline.

 

 

I know all of my east coast friends will be battening down the hatches for Hurricane Irene.  We've had quite a week between the earthquake and now the Hurricane.  Did any of you have damage from the quake?  I had a huge picture fall off of a shelf and it smashed into a million pieces in my bathtub!  Be safe this weekend.  God bless you all.

 

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,

 

Back Home Again

I've missed all of you!  We just returned from a camping trip in Maine.  I realized after we left that I neglected to let you all know we were going!  I'm sorry for going AWOL on you.  I guess my brain was too cluttered with trip preparations.  I brought back lots of pictures for you, and a few stories...

We camped at our favorite hideaway in Bass Harbor.  It's a lovely, working harbor town off of the beaten path.  Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is just a mile's walk down the road to the waterfront.  I love to climb out on the rocks and lose myself in the sound of the sea.

 

 

The lighthouse is now automated and maintained by the coastguard.

 

 

A day without fog or rain doesn't happen often.  When the sun was shining, I took advantage.

 

 

Even on a sunny day, the lighting changes on a dime.

 

 

The harbour is so colorful.

 

 

 

There are lobster cages piled everywhere.  Lobster fishing is the main industry here.

 

 

All of the waterfront properties are privately owned.  The owner of one of them was kind enough to invite me to access the waterfront from his backyard.  I think he was a fisherman.

 

 

He had the cutest cottage.

 

 

I'd like to live there!  Isn't the crab cute?

 

 

 

I wish I would have noticed all the lobster buoys on that building.  I would have gotten a closer shot.

 

 

A fisherman returns from the sea.

 

 

A well-worn vessel.

 

 

Beautiful flowers were in bloom everywhere.

 

 

 

 

The town museum is one of my favorite buildings.  I love the cheerful, bright red color.

 

 

 

This is probably the most photographed scene in Bass Harbour.  I had to stand in the middle of the road on a blind curve to get the shot.

 

 

The blue building on the left is a wonderful restaurant.  My hubby and I had an unbelievably delicious seafood dinner there.  We had a view of the harbor from our table by the window.  It was raining that night, and the scene was very different.  It looked like something out of an old novel about the sea...lonely and sad, but very picturesque.

 

 

 

A lone sailor makes his way home as night falls on the harbour.

 

 

I shot this one a few days before the rest of the photos.  There had been quite a bit of cloud cover that day, so I was not able to get some of the brilliant sunset hues I was hoping for.  Still, I love the ethereal look of this shot.  This view of the lighthouse did not come without a price.  In order to get a partial, frontal view, I had to climb part of the way down the cliff, and wait on a ledge for the sun to go down.  I was in good company, as there were three other photographers occupying the same four square feet of granite.  Climbing down wasn't too difficult.  The climb back up proved to be a bit more of a challenge.  It's easy to get disoriented and lose track of the best route back to the top.  On the lower levels, the rocks were still wet and slippery.  I was grappling hand over hand, finding any crack or crevice to hold onto.  It's a bit difficult to manage camera equipment while making the treacherous climb.  At one point, one of my lens covers fell eight feet into a crevice.  I debated for awhile whether or not to climb back down and retrieve it.  I decided to go for it.  Eventually, I made it back to the top.  Now I know why photographers do crazy things to get a shot.  It seems as though I've become one of them :)

 

I have much more to share with you later this week.  God bless you all, and again, I apologize for my unannounced absence. 

 

Until next time,