"Ice House" Water Color Study 9" x 8" |
Yet no matter what medium you chose nature always confronts us with a myriad of challenges before we even place brush to paper. She has changing weather patterns, shifting shadows, cold or the hot sun and of course our ever present friends, bugs ! Through all of this we are asked to hone in on powers of perception to create a composition from the landscape scene we have chosen, a view which may have taken us countless hours to find. I get tired just thinking about it and I know the drill all to well, perhaps it is easier to stay in the studio? But, Nah that would not be any fun.
"Croft Farm Tree" Water Color Study of a Tree 9" x 6.5" |
"Bay Head" Water Color Sketch 5.5 " x 9.5" |
of the building but the one above is the first I have really liked in all that time. The building itself is an octagon with this fantastic roof and wonderful copula. To really know an area you need to visit it over and over at different times, seasons and sometimes for years before it begins to speak to you.
It's the same thing with " Croft Farm Tree" I have looked at this tree for many years in summer, winter, fading light and morning sun. From every conceivable angle I can think of and I am just beginning to hear what it has to say. The sketch is not even that wonderful, it was one I did with my students this last summer, but it has its moments and it may very well grow up to be a painting someday.
The last painting , " Bay Head", I love the beach in early morning and late evening with all the wonderful light bouncing off the ocean. I have a passion for surf fishing but if the fish are not biting I can always do a quick sketch while I wait. It is a simple composition of the early morning in Bay Head where my sister has a place, hence the name. This was before the storm a couple of summers ago and the beach sloped gently down to the water where now there is a very steep drop at the end of the sand to the surf. It works well with all the complementary values of violet / blues and yellowish reflections from the rising sun. Someone once said to me that great paintings have a light from within, I am not sure if this is a great painting but I am pretty sure it has a voice. This is an image that I am planning a larger oil for and am mapping out its size as I write . It is also one that will most certainly become a how to dvd I am going to film this year for water color and oils.
In all plein air painting is as much about the adventure of finding something that you want to paint as it is about creating the painting itself. It does not matter whether you produce a wonderful image it is about gathering vital information that can be used at a later date. My time spent in the field hones basic skills of observation to better understand the way nature works while listening carefully to its voice to hopefully make us better painters.
Philip Carroll is an artist, teacher and conducts classes in oils and water color through the Perkins Center for The Arts in Moorestown, NJ and his workshops at various art centers.
For more information about the artist or to inquire about having him conduct a workshop for your organization you can visit his web site at www.philipcarroll.com to see more of his works and new how to DVDs.