"Seneca Lake From Lisa's Cottage"

"House On Orchard Street, Bennington, Vermont"

Feb. 26, 2012 - Neighbors House And Yard From Den Window

Neighbors House and Yard From Den Window.  Quick sketch done looking out the den window.  Sunny winter afternoon – strong sunlight and shadows. I used the more colorful palette as with recent sketches in this one. In several of the recent sketches, I’ve mentioned using cadmium red and cerulean blue.  This combination is a personal favorite of mine.  Mixed fairly equally, the combination produces a light gray, delicate in color, but – due to the heavy opacity of the cad red and the large, sedimentary pigments in cerulean blue – the mixture can be dense and and rather opaque. The combination is best used in light washes.  The shadow area on the house is done with this combination.  Note that the colors tend to separate in a fluid wash – this is one of the things I enjoy about this particular combination.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Feb 24, 2012 - Farm On Middle Pownal Road, Pownal, Vermont

Farm on Middle Pownal Road, Pownal, Vermont. Seems that I’ve been visiting Pownal, VT a good bit recently.  This small quick sketch was done looking at another farm in Pownal, this one along a dirt road known as Middle Pownal Road.  Like my previous two sketches (Feb 22 & Feb 23), this one takes a minimal approach and puts more emphasis on the effect of light and overall design than it does on capturing reality.  The color palette for this sketch is a return to the one from Feb 22 with cad red and thalo blue dominant and the addition of cerulean and raw sienna.  Although this is a much less finished work than many others in this series, it’s simplicity brings focus to the main theme which is the bright, winter morning light striking the side of the barn. The sketch is built with all of the elements supporting that single theme – light struck trees, long shadows and snowy fields also capturing the bright sunlight.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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Feb 12, 2012 - Neighbors Sun Porch In Morning Light

Neighbors Sun Porch in Morning Light.  This view is out the window on the west side of my studio which looks into my neighbors back yard, the back of their house and their sun porch.  On Feb 6, I sketched the view out the large picture window on the eastside of the studio, which gives me a view of the back of our house and some other neighbors homes.

In the interest of full disclosure, this sketch is actually a continuation.  Based on the notes in the sketchbook, it appears I began this work some time in March of 2008.  Not sure if I decided to abandon it at that point or thought it was finished.  In looking at it again this morning, it appeared to be unfinished, even for a sketch.

So, I picked it up again and began to work on it.  The first thing I noticed were the number of important elements I had left out of the initial start: the shadowy shape of the tree trunk at the far left; the curvy branch that sweeps diagonally down across the middle of the composition, the tops of trees and branches that stand above the rooflines; and, not least, the in-through-out effect of the sunporch windows at the far right.  Certain of these missing elements were sketched in with pencil, some were simply rendered with brush and paint.

This sketch is on Canson Montval paper.  Like the Aquabee paper, Montval is described as “cold press’, but is not quite as toothy as most cold press papers.  It is also a “slick” surface – meaning that it is not very absorbent – so both the water and the pigment sit on, rather than being absorbed into, the fibers of the paper.  It is a surface I enjoy painting on anyway, although I use it exclusively for sketches, not for studio paintings.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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"Rose is Rose"

This painting was begun during a recent class as a demonstration of the wet-in-wet technique, sing a bouquet of various colored roses as the “model”.

To paint a realistic looking rose is a challenge, due to their intricate and tightly bunched petals.  It takes a great deal of studied observation and skill to realistically render this beautiful flower.

As an alternative to a realistic depiction, one can work to capture the character and impression of the rose a few with simple techniques, starting with a wet-in-wet application.

The wet-into-wet watercolor technique is really quite simple to do and imparts a loose, free-flowing base that allows the color to remain fresh.  At the same time, it is a technique that many find scary and intimidating, mostly due to the fear of losing control of the wash.  While some control is lost, in the form of lost and indistinct edges, by employing the “dry on wet” techn

This painting was begun by wetting the entire sheet with clear water and letting that stand for a few minutes.  This is so that the surface could dry a bit by both absorption – by the paper – as well as a little bit of evaporation.  It’s possible to tell when the surface is ready by looking across the paper – there should be a good sheen but no appearance of any standing water or puddles.

I chose not to draw the shapes of the roses with a pencil, but used a 1″ flat brush to ‘carve’ the shapes out of the wet paper.   As mentioned before,  the wet-into-wet technique will result in lost edges.  It is possible to maintain recognizable shapes, even with their soft edges, by mixing your colors with a high proportion of pigment on your palette, picking up the color with your brush, and then “blotting” excess water from the bristles of the brush. (see images below).

Use a high proportion of pigment in your color mixes when painting wet-into-wet

Remove excess water from the brush by pinching the edge of a paper towel on the bristles at the edge of the ferrule

These two steps will help maintain a little bit of that desired control.

The main shapes of the five roses were painted in and then the paper was allowed to dry.  I continued with the 1″ flat brush through the remainder of this painting, using its sharp edge to twist impressions of the curvy shaded areas that define the edges of the petals, and to add the stems and leaves below.   The painting was finished up with application of some loose washes in the background.

My 2011 Class Schedule is set – download a class schedule and registration form here.
Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

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"End Of Season"

My latest landscape painting  began as a demonstration for my current “Landscape Painting in Watercolor” class. The class focuses specifically on the most efficient and effective techniques needed for painting watercolor landscapes.  Since the class is held indoors, we are working from photos.  The two reference photos  are shown below.  In this particular class, we combined images from the two photos while simplifying the subject and focusing on large shapes and in applying three basic kinds of watercolor washes – flat, graded & variegated.  By the end of class, the large foundation washes had been applied. I finished the painting in my studio principally by adding the touches of value, color and especially the textures needed to depict that time in autumn when the fields have been harvested, the leaves are gone and frost has removed the life and color from any remaining vegetation.

The reference photos are from scenes that are near but across the road from each other.  The sweeping, quiet rhythm of the fields from the left photo was attractive to me but I felt it needed more focus.  Adding the farm buildings and road from the right photo added the point of focus needed.

As is my tendency, the color in the finished painting has been enhanced with additional “chroma” or intensity and the field shapes along with the road enhance the feeling f movement.  I’m attracted to both the rhythm and contrast of open fields – both cultivated and uncultivated.  As mentioned above, farm fields – after the harvest – and open fields in the time after frost have unique textures.  Suggesting these textures is a visual cue as to the season – despite the color that is more expressive than realistic.

The content of the current class, plus some additional information, will be offered again in “Watercolor – the Essential Techniques” on the weekend of November 6 & 7, 2010.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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"Under The Canopy"

This painting began as a demo for my recent “Painting the Autumn Landscape” workshop, held last weekend.  On Sunday, the second day of the workshop, we decided to set up on the grounds of the historic Park-McCullough House in North Bennington, Vermont.  The grounds have many paintable scenes, but this one which included these three old trees attracted our attention.  The day was mostly cloudy with sunshine breaking through now and then.

The twisted, gnarled and rough trunks of older trees, deep shade with bounced light, and the filtered sunlight found under the branches of  tall trees are all attractions for me.  The composition was a bit difficult due to the separation of the trees.  For an artist, it is always appropriate to change visual reality.  In this case, the biggest compositional decision early on was where to place the trees in relation to each other. The decision was to leave the proportional spacing nearly as it really exists, mostly because I wanted to capture the foliage of the largest tree in the middle – specifically, the different areas of  that were back lit against the areas that were shaded, along with the large “U” shaped branch on the left side. I wanted un-obscured views into these areas so knew that I couldn’t move the left hand tree much closer to the middle tree.   Because of that, I decided to leave the right hand tree pretty much in place as well – actually, it has been moved a bit closer to the middle tree to keep it in the picture plane. This decision left two large,un-interestingly shaped background spaces on either side of the main tree.   To add interest to the areas, I made sure to provide activation  – graded washes in the deep background and the shapes of some shrubs along the low stone wall.

The overall effect works fairly well, capturing the look of tall, old trees in early autumn with their glowing leaf canopies, deep and luminous shade on their trunks and dark shadow on the ground underneath.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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Plein Air sketch - Hillside tree line

Three sketches completed during my weekend class “Painting the Autumn Landscape in Watercolor”.    On Saturday, the first day of the class, we climbed a hillside behind the Taraden Bed & Breakfast in North Bennington, VT to paint the the visible from that spot.  It was a beautiful early fall day – just warm enough and with bright sunshine interrupted periodically by one of the fluffy and fast-moving clouds.   From our spot, it was possible to view the a great deal of the  peaks of the Green Mountains – from the north east to the south.  To the south and west, the distant Taconic Range was also visible.  I did these sketches during the day.

The first sketch was done earlier in the day, when the sky had relatively few low clouds that cast their shadows over the mountains. Because they were moving, we could watch the shadows race over the surface of the hills and mountains.  One of the biggest challenges when painting “en plein air” is handling the constantly changing conditions, especially the light and shadow conditions on the ground.  The solution is to sketch, in pencil, the main forms and then watch for an attractive pattern of shadow. Once it appears, quickly add the shadow shapes in pencil.  Once you start painting, you can refer to the light areas of the mountains and hills to get the local color, and watch for more cloud shadows to get that color.

Each of these sketches is about 6 x 8 in size and each was completed in less than10  minutes.  For me, the key to lively plein air sketches is working quickly.  The other advantage is that it will train you to see both the shape and color of the scene you are painting very quickly, which translates to greater skill as an artist.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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"Armstrong Road"

Another painting done during the Billsboro Winery Plein Air Festival – and my personal favorite from the weekend.    For a plein air work, it is large – 14″ x 21″.  Generally I work at quarter sheet size, or smaller, when I paint outdoors.   I chose a larger size for this work mostly because of the nature of the landscape.  The geography of the area around Geneva, NY is mostly flat with some rolling hills and very large farm fields.  Unlike my home state of Vermont, this area features roads that stretch out straight toward the horizon, hardly broken by curves and turns.   The format of a half sheet of watercolor paper emphasizes the horizontal and seem particularly appropriate for this scene.

I wanted to capture the road stretching into the distance and the expansive fields of crops interrupted only by a few farm structures that, though vary large in reality, are dwarfed by the rest of the landscape.

The painting would suggest that it was a rainy day.  It wasn’t rainy, but the sky was moving and moody.  The puddle to the far left was not actually there.  The ditch was, but I felt that the ditch without a pool of water would be a bit uninteresting so I added the puddle and reflections.

It was also very breezy – I had one hand on the easel for most of the painting session.  During those times when I stepped back to take a look – I had also to be prepared to sprint to catch the easel from being blown completely over.   Just to show that plein air painting can be hazardous, it once blew over and whacked me upside the head while I was looking away – a week later, I still have the wound on my temple to show for it!

Why is it my favorite from the weekend?  Not totally certain but it came out fairly well given the trying conditions and the mild headache delivered by my easel halfway through the session!  This kind of subject always appeals to me – rural landscape, moody sky, the contrast of color and value.  This work was especially fun and challenging because of the variety of greens needed to separate one field from another.   I completed three other works during the weekend – “Lady in the Park” was posted earlier this week and the other two works “Balmanno Glass” & “Rose Hill Afternoon” can be seen on my facebook page.

Contact me if you have an interest in this or any other paintings on the site. Email me at tc@tonyconner.com or by phone at 802-375-5548.

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my Studio Gallery. It is open by appointment – please contact me to arrange a visit.

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