On the Gulf of Mexico

When I am in Maine I paint harbors and villages along the Atlantic coast. I decided to spend the day sketching at the bay front park in downtown Sarasota along the gulf coast.  It was gorgeous and a great comfortable temperature.

I sketched a tiki hut restaurant and a few selected boats that were moored at the dock on the point. Watercolor 9x12 on 90 lb water color paper.

I set up under a small tree with a great view of everything. 

 A row boat was sitting at the edge of the small cove in front of me. Ink and watercolor on 90 lb watercolor paper.

I kept moving around the tree to stay in the shade but I didn't have to go to a new location - I could just turn my head and see a new subject to sketch.

Another row boat that sat quietly in the shallows.  There are no waves and little tide on the west coast of Florida. Ink and watercolor on 90 lb watercolor paper

This harbor is full of old hippies living on their sailboats. They moor out in the bay.  Here is a guy who was visiting friends and giving his dog a boat ride.

 I did a sketch of him heading out into the bay to the sailboats . Ink and watercolor on 90 lb on watercolor paper

The Ringling Museum & Mansion

During our trip we visited the the Ringling Museum collection in Sarasota, FL.  It is impressive.   The Ringlings were really into collecting huge major pieces.

This is one of a group of four Rubens that are hung together in one room.

 The Ringling's mansion is a short distance away on the water. I walked over there to sketch.  

The wind coming off the gulf was 25mph that day. The palm trees were feeling it.

Here I am tucked into a corner out of the wind with a new student from Bern, Switzerland (Jon one of my 5 brother-in-laws).   The other nice guy quietly watching us paint is another brother-in-law Tom, our 5 star tour guide. 

The furniture was clustered against the railing to prevent it from blowing away, the umbrellas were tightly closed.

The clouds were tearing through .  Ink & watercolor sketch on  90 lb. sketchbook paper

As you can see no wind touched us where we sat.  It was the only place where we were protected. People were surprised to find us there. They could barely walk the wind was so strong and there was surf on the gulf ! 

   

Another watercolor sketch of a blowing umbrella on the plaza.  90lb sketchbook paper. 

The Stars at Night in Sarasota

It was a great tip from my friend Robert Simone that got me over to the opening at Gallery M. It was the opening for Scott Burdick and Susan Lyon.  They were doing a demo from 6- 9 pm.

Two tango dancers performed for us before the demo started. They were great! 

For the view she wanted Susan sat up on the platform with the model. She wore a visor so she could see while sitting in the bright lights that were on her model.

It was a warm evening. The model held the pose under 100 degree lights.  It was cookin...

Scott worked in oils.  Here is the start of his painting . The place was a mob scene. Everyone wanted to see the action and the paintings.

Susan worked on her drawing in pastel and pastel pencil.  It was great to be there and see their paintings  and demos.  

Plein Air & Custom Sketchbooks

I cut a bunch of 100% cotton paper and divided it up into 1 inch thick stacks, took it to Fedex/Kinkos and had it bound into sketchbooks.  I got the idea from a discussion on Plein Air Artists .

They have coil binding and simple black covers.  The paper is Rives BFK 140 lb, Somerset 140 lb,

and Fabriano Aquarelle 90 lb. 

The sizes range from 6x12 to 9 x12 depending on the paper I had around.  I had 7 of these bound for about 5-6 dollars each not including the cost of the paper. 

Here's a sample of what I did on one of the pages. Its a 6x12 sketch on the Rives.

 

Here's what the sketch would look like if I decided to cut it out of the book and frame it. These books make it so easy for me to just pick up and go paint something.  It keeps it casual and immediate and I might just end up with a sketch I like.

And as for what is happening in plein air ...these blooms are right outside my studio, this is what has happened these last few days after warm weather came to Maine !  

Wet Paint & Thick Paper

I am trying out new materials to see how they behave.  I am used to doing watercolor sketches on cheap 60 lb. paper.  I liked these papers so much I just had 7 sketchbooks made out of stacks of my paper at Kinkos. So great!   So I will be sketching and painting on cotton this summer.  Here are a few tests I did on 140 lb. and 300 lb. Arches, Somerset & Rives BFK paper.  Paints are Daniel Smith watercolors.

Rocky coast & pines, Schoodic, ME. on Rives BFK 140 lb.

Catching some wind on the Damariscotta River, Damariscotta, ME. on 300 lb.Arches.

Golden grasses & scrub pines on Drakes Island, ME. on 300 lb.Arches.

Rain clouds at sunset, N. Berwick, on 300 lb. Arches. 

Bright sail on John's Bay, South Bristol, ME on 300 lb. Arches. 

Spring Training

I was in Sarasota, FL last week sketching and painting landscapes that are a bit of a change from my local harbors, ocean and mountains.  I went to my first base ball game !  What a change of scenery.  I discovered I loved sketching baseball players in action.

It was a night time game, brights lights, big sky, and fat clouds blew over as a full moon rose. 7 fly balls tried to hit us where we sat behind 3rd base. I almost got hit by one ball but I ducked and my brother in law was happy to catch it.  

  

It was a Yankees & Orioles game.  This is a one minute sketch of Yankee Nick Johnson #26.

  

Yankee #2 Derek Jeter paused for 3 seconds for this one.  #13 Alex Rodriguez  on the third baseline & Yankee #29 Francisco Servelli waiting for the pitch. 

Yankee Alex Rodriguez did not hold this pose for me I remembered it. #27 of the Orioles paused before he pitched that ball.

 

My sketching got so fast and furious that I began to forget to write down their name and team number.

  I loved the Yankee pitcher huddle on the mound my only "large mass" and it lasted for a long time- maybe a whole minute!   

I saw many hand signals and body language that were intriguing...  a special secret baseball code. In the end these guys - the best of them reminded me of ballet dancers and were gorgeous to watch in motion, especially when hitting the ball.     

A Hint of Color

On this trip I sketched and painted my way across Massachusetts, part of New York state right along the Mass. border and up into Vermont from Williamstown. If I had more time I would have continued north on Route 100 inVermont . I used to live in that area, it is gorgeous.

This farm in western Mass was perched on the the top of a ridge that over looked a valley filled with old farms. Its pasture was filled with ledges of granite poking through.

On the way north into Vermont from Williamstown you instantly know when you are in Vermont. The place has a different feel. I pulled off on a dirt road that ran into fields near the race track and the view of the surrounding mountains was beautiful ,quiet and peaceful.

The valley opens up to long views of the mountain range that runs north to south to the west. There were spots of early trees turning yellow and orange.

The field grasses were all that golden color and you could feel fall in the air.

The road would rise and twist as it made its way through the valley.