October Garden, Studio & Lagoon

 

 

It’s been a fine month to paint outdoors, notwithstanding the recent blast of cool weather. I’ve been working from the model in a garden setting and continuing the landscapes around Neary’s Lagoon. The color has shifted a bit, sometimes settling on neutrals, other times turning to the primaries—it all depends on the quality of the light. Even so, many of these images were restructured in the studio. The studio-changes were mostly a matter of strengthening color, since acrylics can lose intensity after drying; however, a few images were essentially transformed.

“October Garden 1” uses the contrast of warm reds and bright paper white. This time I painted straight into the light, and the glare comes across in the unpainted areas.

"October Garden 1"- acrylic on paper, 11" x 11"

 

Switching to panel in “October Garden 2,” the central image is a bit more definite. The background and figure are woven together by the rhythm of the brushstrokes, but there isn’t a lot of depth to the painting; it’s more like a an intricate piece of decoration.

"October Garden 2"- acrylic on panel, 12" x 12"

The drawing “Tunic” is include here as an example of the sources used in the paintings. Each outdoor session begins with some brief drawing time to warm up and to try out poses. Once in a while, these warm-ups go well enough that they deserve to be shown.

"Tunic"- tempera on paper, 9" x 12"

“October  Garden 3” has some quality that I’m still trying to figure out. Rather than being made by someone and presented to an audience, here the image feels like a collection of isolated movements joined together as the viewer focuses.

"October Garden 3"- acrylic on panel, 12" x 10 1/2"

The Garden series may have more entries. “October Garden 4”  & “Sling-Back Chair” were both started and completed indoors. In “…4, ” the garden was invented from memory. In the context of the garden series, “Sling-Back Chair” retains some of its predecessors’ light and air.

"October Garden 4"- acrylic on wood, 9" x 10"

"Sling-Back Chair"- acrylic on panel, 10" x 9 1/2"

Out at the lagoon, fall continues to accentuate the yellows.  If I were back in Manhattan, looking out my window at endless gray, these are the kind of paintings I’d put on my walls.

"Lagoon Waterside"- 9" x 10"

"Lagoon In Sunlight"-acrylic on panel, 9" x 10"