(brace yourself) Boathouses!

My first--and greatest--student teacher was in town and she wanted to have an art-geek morning and go plein air painting! How could I resist?! We set up camp at non other than the Canandaigua Boathouses! Wendy ended up selling one of her pieces almost right off her easel! 


[oil paint on gessoboard panel, W+N oil paints on an allaprimapochade.com box]

Wendy's setup

More of her setup

action shot

finished painting

both of our finished pieces!

Not the boathouses--but close

If you've read any of my past posts you will notice that I like to sketch or paint the historic boathouses in Canandaigua. This particular day was too nice of a day to sit inside, so I made the trek down to the boathouses but instead of drawing them I sketched a lazy sailboat just opposite them.



[TWSBI Diamond 580, broad nib, w/Rohrer & Klingner Document ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook-softcover]

Finger Lakes Plein Air

The FL Plein Air Festival is a fairly large art festival here in the finger lakes. There are 40 some juried-in artists that compete for a grand prize after painting all week. Their subjects are all taken from the finger lakes and range from creeks, to lakes, to barns, to ice cream shops. The artists travel around and set up shop in various locations and for 6 days you bump into them like a giant where's waldo book. I met a few artists and hit it off with a bunch of art-geek conversations. Keith Grunderson and Janet Howard-Fatta were two that I kept bumping in to! 

While the juried in artists are painting away there is a community quick paint event. We have 2 hours to paint and all of us are confined to a small location with a similar subject. This year was the boathouses that I paint and sketch on a weekly basis! 


I decided I should paint the boathouses without actually painting the boathouses. I found some cool buoys and set to work! 

the sketch

the final

my setup

our sketch group participants!

Boathouses

If you have read any of my posts before you will have seen that I have attempted to draw the boathouses on Canandaigua Lake many times: 

http://reddout.blogspot.com/2015/04/canandaigua-boathouse.html
http://reddout.blogspot.com/2014/12/painting-woes.html
http://reddout.blogspot.com/2015/05/canandaigua-boathouses-part-73.html
http://reddout.blogspot.com/2015/08/plein-air.html

While searching for some ideas in my classroom I came across an artist that drew these little fictitious scenes of buildings. The buildings were small, detailed and painted in watercolors. So I thought what a cool technique, I want to try that but I just need a subject...

[my girlfriend's (*edit* fiancee's) micron pens and D+S watercolors on either Stillman & Birn Delta loose sheets or Strathmore watercolor paper]

Canandaigua Boathouses part 73

I've tried and tried to get these historic boathouses drawn well a few times now. I think they keep getting easier and easier, but this time was no different. 

I scheduled a meetup and had a few artists meet me out for an afternoon of drawing on Canandaigua's City Pier. I plopped myself down and tried to capture the beauty of these crooked, well-loved floating homes. They are so unique, and old, with a ton of character. I especially like all of the wire hanging from pole to pole. They are an interesting tangled mess. For temporary homes, they seem to have a lot of need for wires! 

Drawing 1:

-I used a pencil to plan out my attack and a thicker nib Lamy Safari for my lines. I added some watercolor as well--trying to be patient and not have my sketch turn to mud. 

Drawing 2:

-Same subject but I tried a "single line" drawing. I started on the left and cruised to the right with only one line. If I missed something, so be it--keep on going! 

Drawing 3:

I parked myself under a shady tree with some may flies and people galore. There was a bench situated right in front of me and people would come and go making perfect models! 

[pentel pencil, namiki falcon (and all of my pens!) with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a S+B Zeta sketchbook]

xmas presents

here is a pic of the painting i made as my parents christmas present. i did a sketch a while back of the boathouses on canandaigua lake and my mother exclaimed "i want a painting of that for the spare room!". voila. 

you can also a hyper lapse video of me in action painting most of it.

[16"x40" canvas with acrylic paints and paint markers]