"House On Orchard Street, Bennington, Vermont"

Feb. 27, 2012 - Sycamore Tree and Wallomsac River, North Bennington, Vermont

Sycamore Tree and Walloomsac River, North Bennington, Vermont. The large, old sycamore on the far side of the bank, with its branches reaching out over the river were the main attraction for this sketch although the river dominates most of the sketch. The color palette for this work reverted back to the winter colors, I’ve referred to so often in these posts.  Certain subjects call for a palette that respects the local color.  This one almost required it, if only to bring out the cool blue shade on the surface of the sycamore tree.  In considering it, I suppose that the subtlety was part of the attraction of the scene.
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. 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. 25, 2012 - Logging Site at the End of Carpenter Hill Road, Pownal, Vermont

Logging Site, West Carpenter Hill Road, Pownal, Vermont.  West Carpenter Hill Road winds its way along one ridgeline, down into a deep hollow and then back up onto a high ridge where it dead end’s at a point where there is a spectacular 180 degree view, east, south and west over the Green, Berkshire and Taconic Mountains.  I ventured out this morning with the idea of getting a nice sketch of this view with the newly fallen, light snow on the fields.  Instead, at the point where the road ends, I found that some timbering had occurred and the harvested trees were neatly stacked and waiting for transport. The topsides of the logs were dusted with snow. Early morning sunlight was catching part of the snow and leaving other in shade.  Rather than getting the vista, I sketched the stacks of logs, and the subtle changes in the color of the shade and shadow on their snowy tops.
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 22, 2012 - Winter Farm Scene, Pownal, Vermont

Winter Farm Scene, Pownal Vermont.   This started out to be a more traditional sketch like “Marie Hill Farm, Andover Vermont” on Feb. 15, or Taraden Barn, North Bennington, Vermont on Feb 18, but a desire to get away from the winter palette that’s been mentioned so often in these posts lead to a different interpretation of this scene with a different palette of color.  The light on this early morning was creating stark and bold shadows that were being cast across the road.  That single element became the catalyst for thinking and creating this sketch in a much simplified way.  In laying out the pencil layout, the farm buildings were simplified by paying more attention to their defining planes, and to whether a particular plane was in full light, in shade or perhaps catching a shadow.  The idea of simplification also led directly to the notion that a vignette  – or leaving large portions of the paper untouched – might be a way to  emphasize the long, stark shadows.  Working with the positive and negative space seemed a way to further enhance design over realism

The scene as it appeared on this sunny morning was very much in the manner of the other winter scenes I’ve created during the course of this series with grays, tans and browns dominating.  Since this sketch became an exercise in simplification and design, the color palette was selected with simplicity in mind while also enhancing the overall theme. The brilliant light created deep blue shadows on the ground suggesting something other than the normal “winter blues”.  It didn’t take long to decide to use thalo blue – a deep, dark, very cool and intense blue – for the shadows. In keeping with simplicity, a good complement to thalo blue was needed, so that there would be the capacity to mix some good darks and neutral grays.  The choice for the complement was cadmium red light, a warm, slightly orange, red that works well to neutralize the intense and staining thalo blue.  Along with these two, three other colors were included on the palette: cerulean blue – another cool, but light and very sedimentary blue,  raw sienna – a trusty color from the “winter palette” and great for mixing light neutrals, and permanent rose – an somewhat intense cool red that, when mixed with cool blues, creates low intensity, dusky violets which are perfect for the shady side of a red  barn.

The sketch developed rather quickly. The initial focus was on creating an acute “horizontalness” by essentially painting positive shapes from the left to the right border.  This included the snow shadows at far left, the shaded side of the barn at upper left, distant mountain and dark foliage in the middle left, the “main” barn complex and silos in the middle right and the small dark piece of mountainside and lightstruck building to the right. At the same time, the horizontal sense was somewhat offset by tilting the large horizontal, positive shape slightly to the right.

It was a conscious decision to leave the few strong verticals – tree trunks and utility pole to the left and treetop in the middle right – unpainted, negative space, in order to create balance for the overall composition.

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. 21, 2012 - Deep Woods Near Chester Vermont

Deep Woods Near Chester, Vermont.  In traveling from one place to another and with a full schedule, it was difficult to find time for a sketch today.  This scene presented itself so I pulled over and made a quick go of it.

I’ve always been attracted to sunlight filtering through the tree canopy and spilling onto snow pack.  The contrast of deep gray shadows against the patches of light along with tree trunks displaying various conditions of light, shade and shadow is so appealing that I usually have difficulty not stopping everytime I see something like this.

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. 20, 2012 - Neighbors House and Street Light

Neighbors House & Street Light. Of all the sketches done for this project, this is the first one I’ve hesitated to post. The scene looks out our front windows toward the street and our neighbors house across the street at night along with the street light that sits at the corner of his property. I knew it would be a challenging scene, with most of it in dark, or very dark values. Even so, I’m afraid this one has missed the mark. The street light is one of those that casts a distinct orange glow.  The orange light infuses everything so that darks become browns and lights are low intensity versions of the street light.  Despite my misgivings and in the spirit of doing what you say, I’m posting anyway and will look to redeem myself with another “nocturne” in the future.

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. 19, 2012 - Tree Trunks in the "Y" Woods

Tree Trunks in the “Y” woods.  Today is the second day of my Wet into Wet Watercolor workshop and rather than try to start another sketch during lunch, like yesterday, I did this work in the morning before leaving for the class.  Our neighborhood has the great benefit of having a preserved stand of woods in its midst.  Called the “Y” woods, for reasons that I don’t know, it is a great place to walk the dog, ride a trail bike, XC ski (when there is enough snow to do so) or just stroll through.  It is home to all sorts of wild critters, from the mundane – rabbits, mice, squirrels, deer – to the somewhat exotic – bear, moose, fox, coyote and even, according to one neighbor, Canadian Lynx! It is common to hear the call of owls emanating from the woods at night.  In fact, while out walking the dog just a couple nights ago, we both heard the call of a Great Horned Owl low and rumbling through the trees!   This little scene presented itself near the edge of the woods as the morning sun caught the standing and fallen trees and cast gray-blue shadows.

For the first time in this series,  I used Fabriano Aquarello paper fitted into a home-made sketch book.  Being a slick paper, it works in a very similar way to the paper in the Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook.

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. 18, 2012 - Taraden Barn, North Bennington, Vermont

Taraden Barn, North Bennington, Vermont.   I started this sketch during the lunch break of a weekend workshop – Wet into Wet Watercolor – which was being held at Taraden B & B, in North Bennington.  This view out of one of the finished barns toward the entry of another is familiar to me and I have painted it several time before.  Most recently it was painted last winter during another weekend workshop. This particular February day was un-typically sunny and snow-less – this whole winter has been sunny, snow-less and relatively warm.

Despite the lack of snow and the plentiful sun on this day, the winter palette – ultramarine and cobalt blues, raw and burnt sienna dominate this work as well.  The green of the barn shingles is created mostly with cerulean blue with some raw sienna.

This quick sketch was done in the Canson Montval Watercolor Field Sketchbook.

For comparisons sake,  I’ve also posted this sketch which was done just over a year ago, at another weekend watercolor workshop. The

Feb. 6, 2011 - watercolor demo for workshop of Taraden B & B, barn, North Bennington, Vermont

most notable difference between the two is probably the depiction of the weather conditions.  In very stark contrast to the current winter, the winter of 2010- 2011 was very cold, snowy and gray.   While the vantage point is the same in both works, this one focuses on the structure of the building and the deep snow cover piled on it.

This sketch was not done in a sketchbook, but on a piece of 140 lb.  cold press, Kilimanjaro brand watercolor paper.
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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