"On The Point"

This watercolor painting depicts the gradual and subtle changes that occur as winter changes to spring.  During this time of the year the light is slowly becomes brighter and warmer, earth that has spent weeks under layers of snow begins to reappear and streams thaw and begin to visibly run at the surface again.

This scene is late in the day with bright slanting light and it’s associated long shadows.  Like many of my works, this watercolor painting emphasizes warm/cool contrast in its color scheme – perfect for depicting the everchanging balance of cold and warm weather.

 
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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"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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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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"Equinox Road"

This painting was posted shortly after it was completed in April 2008.  In that post, I talk about this work being metaphorical and composed just to communicate the way I sense the change of season between winter and spring – more about this painting can be found here.  A large cool shadow area covers most of the bottom third of the painting. Below are some other newer and older works that feature similar compositions.

"Deep Autumn"

"Winter Light"

"Cape Time"

"October Blues"

So, how come?  Why does this compositional convention show up so often in my landscape paintings.  The answer I gave during the demo is true – it works well as a compositional tool.  Beyond that, I have an affinity for the play of light in nature.  In a painting, the only way to convey light is to contrast it with shadow or shade – meaning that there must be some variety of darker values near the lights.   As I alluded in the earlier post, and as I try hard to convey to students in my classes, the composition of value shapes is what provides structural strength (or weakness) to a painting.  Personally, I like a solid visual step at the bottom edge of a painting, which is the reason that I so often include it in my work.   What would Sigmund Freud think?  Something deep, dark and troubling no doubt!    I prefer to think it’s just my best efforts at good composition. That said, perhaps I’ll mix things up in work to come – stay tuned!

"Park-McCullough View"

"Breaking Light"

"Afternoon Farm"

"Golden Afternoon"

"Rural Route"

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

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“Light Dusting”

10″ x 14″

This scene could depict either the early time of winter when light snows begin to cover the fields, or late winter when the snow cover is receding.  The title gives a hint that it is early winter and in fact that time of year is the inspiration. Unlike most of my work, this painting has a very limited and muted color palette – necessary for a realistic depiction of the terrain as it looks in early winter.

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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“Farmyard”

9″ x 13″

This is one of what I often describe as one of my “drive by” paintings.  Most of my paintings are the result of series of sketches and studies that culminate in a so-called finished painting.  Sketches completed on location are usually the starting point in this process, and I very much enjoy the “en plein air” painting experience.  Although I always have sketching gear with me when I am away from the studio, I don’t always have the time to stop and sketch.

That was the case with this work.  I spotted the scene as I was driving by, back in early December.  Late in the afternoon, with only a small amount of snow on the ground at the time,  I passed by this forlorn looking building surrounded by fields that looked as if they had not been tended in quite some time.   Along with the building was a single tree – sapling really – casting a long shadow across the yard.   My car flashed by as I did my best to commit the scene to memory.   Within a day or so, I had sketched out a composition on paper and begun to paint.  After several sessions of studio work – this painting emerged.

This and other works on this site are available for purchase. 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.

"Woods Edge - Afternoon"

5″ x 7″

Private Collection

This small painting  begun as a quick sketch study for a larger watercolor work. The painting itself has a nice feel on its own and so became a more finished work.

This and other works on this site are available for purchase. 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.

This work, with its final details and adjustments made only a few days ago, represents the final statement of a series of explorations in paint. It’s title, as well as the painting itself is more metaphorical than literal. The idea began with a quick color sketch in early February. That sketch, show below, was created on the fly focusing on composition and color rather than subject.

"winter sketch" - thumbnail sketch for studio painting 3" x 4"

Although the idea was to explore a winter theme, once completed, the sketch appeared to feel more like the the time between winter and spring,

where winter hangs on in patches of snow while the brightening sun spreads warmth over the cold landscape. A few days later, after having considered the initial sketch, and mulled over the image, I created another thumbnail sketch, shown below.

winter sketch #2 for studio painting

This sketch was created specifically to explore a color scheme that would better convey the contrast between gathering warmth and retreating cold. There are more warm hues and warmer mixtures of the cool hues and a stronger play of direct light.

After completing this sketch I decided to do a larger study to help work out composition, color and color mixes. This work, shown below, is the result. It was compelling enough to be given a title. More importantly, it was invaluable in discovering where I would encounter problems and showed where the the composition would need adjustments.

"Equinox Time"

This work is available – contact me for more information

"Equinox Road"

In earlier posts I have talked about the process of creating a painting. The question is often asked and it is a struggle to answer because, for me at least, so much of the process occurs in thought and consideration rather than in action. This post includes four physical works completed between Feb. 4 and March 30 – almost two months. While these were

not the only sketches and paintings started, worked or completed in that time, the question could be asked as to whether these four couldn’t all have been completed in just a few days. The answer is both yes and no and has to do with the internal, non-linear, often wandering, parts of the process.

Thanks for taking a look at this latest work. Enjoy the coming of spring!

Well, the work is finally finished and is presented below – or I should say one version is finished. More on that below.

This watercolor painting is titled “West of Tinkham” and is 9″ h x 13″ w. It is so named simply because the original pencil sketch, made in November 2005, has a note “On Myers Road, west of Tinkham”. This place in Shaftsbury, Vermont is a favorite sketching area of mine. The area is very rural with both a great deal of forested land as well as many open, rolling fields. I enjoy the look of rolling fields in winter. When one thinks of a blanket of snow, the tendency is to think in terms of the whole surface of the earth covered in a uniform layer of snow which covers everything. Even in this snowy part of the world, unless there is a substantial amount of the stuff, the earth generally shows through here and there. For the painting, the task was to create the feeling of those rolling fields and forested hills while also creating a well balanced, well designed watercolor painting.

My earlier post indicated that I expected to finish the work within a week. As often happens, the work took longer than expected. While working on this a painting, there are many short burst of intense “brush and paint to paper” work, and many longer periods of staring at the work while evaluating it – such as it was at each level of completion.

As mentioned above, the point was to create a feeling and mood, in the context of a well designed work. Winter scenes always present a unique design challenge in balancing the values of the various passages – for the most part, winter landscape paintings will always include both whites and very dark darks along with the mid values. As I see it, there must either be more white or more dark with enough mid-value areas to stabilize the value structure. The sky, distant background and dark areas that represent forested land all went in quickly. Then came the non-snow covered fields. Initially, only the immediate foreground, the middle-left field and a small patch of visible earth on the distant far-left field were painted in. The remaining snow-covered fields appeared very stark and empty. I added some subtle, light washes to the snow covered areas in order to tone them down and unify them with the rest of the work. While it helped, it was not enough. Over the course of the past week, I have continued to carefully place additional areas of brown earth – starting first in smaller areas – first the distant field in the upper right, then the closer field in the upper left. Finally, touches of earth showing through on the far distant middle field were added along with some dry brush work in the foreground field on the left. Compare the treatment of these areas to the color sketches in the earlier post.

At the beginning of this post, I remarked that this painting is one version of the painting. It is often the case that a sketch or series of sketches will inspire more than one painting. This is likely the case for this particular series. As mentioned, this is a smaller work. I had in mind the idea that this composition was a good basis for a larger work. In addition, in working through the sketches, several different color schemes seemed to work as well as this one. While the next version is not on the board at the moment, there are likely others to come.