Pennyfield Lock

Pennyfield Lock is Lock 22 on the C&O Canal in Maryland. Pennyfield's Inn stands guard over the lock, and the inn still operates today. You can rent it for a night or two from the National Park Service, as long as you don't mind having no electricity or running water. As it happens, two nice travelers named Steve and Jennel were staying there while I was painting the house, and I added them to the picture; they're hanging out at the fence. They liked the painting and bought it from me off the easel.

Geoff Watson, "Pennyfield Lock," oil on panel, 9" x 12," 2017.

Lake Needwood

I gave my new Soltek easel a spin! Together the easel and I visited Lake Needwood, in Rockville, Maryland. The easel was great, but my sun umbrella broke and floated into the lake. I waded in after it before it sailed away. Kinda comical!

I had planned to put the focus on a fisherman standing on the spit of land in the front right, because he looked cool and would have helped establish scale. But the flies started biting, so I omitted the fisherman and fled. The resulting study was rushed; I hope to go back and improve it.  In any case, a good start. 

Geoff Watson, "Lake Needwood," oil on canvas panel, 11" x 14," 2017.

Anglo-Dutch toy store: a kid's-eye view

Over the past couple weeks, I've been painting the storefront of Anglo-Dutch Pools & Toys, a wonderful toy store in the Westwood shopping center in Bethesda, Maryland. I've been buying toys for my kids from this delightful store since they were little. I decided to paint a zoomed-in, "kid's-eye view" perspective of the storefront. (I'd also like to paint the whole storefront from further away, but this will be tricky because I'll have to set up in a busy parking lot.) Soli and the other proprietors of the store were very welcoming to me. You can learn more about the store here: https://www.anglodutchpoolsandtoys.com/

Geoff Watson, "Kid's-eye view of Anglo-Dutch Toy Store," oil on panel, 11" x 14", 2017.

Small falls on the Potomac

Today is my birthday, and it was a glorious day of warm sunshine here in the D.C. area. I celebrated by spending the day painting a bend in the Potomac River. 

Geoff Watson, "Small Waterfalls on the Potomac," oil on panel, 8" x 10", 2017.

Laundry day

In this painting, I was trying to convey the warmth and steaminess of a laundry room. Hence the warm colors and soft edges.

Geoff Watson, "Laundry day," oil on panel, 11" x 14", 2017.

Walnut oil & solvent-free painting

I paint primarily in oils, but I don't use turpentine or mineral spirits to thin my paint or clean my brushes. Paint thinners give me headaches. I've even tried soy-based substitute-thinner, but these too induce long-lasting migraines. Even Gamblin's solvent-free gel bothers me. One alternative is water-miscible oil paint, and indeed I have many tubes of Holbein Aqua Duo and other brands, but I prefer the consistency and choices in traditional oil paint brands. (My favorites include Winsor & Newton, M. Graham, Rembrandt, Michael Harding, and Maimieri.)

Fortunately, plain old walnut oil does most of what I want. It cleans most the paint off brushes, so it's useful during paint sessions (to clean brushes when changing colors) and afterwards (for clean-up). It also makes a perfectly nice medium for thinning paint. The only downside is that it's not ideal for laying down a ground or a thin wash before starting a painting. But one can use water-miscible oils for that, or just a thin couch of walnut oil. I'm still experimenting. If anyone has thoughts on how to make a solvent-free underpainting, I'd love to hear them.

M. Graham's artist-grade walnut oil.

Clara Barton's house

Clara Barton's house is a national historic site at Glen Echo Park in Bethesda, Maryland. Barton lived in the house for a number of years, and the building served as one of the first headquarters of the American Red Cross. The park used to give tours of the site, but it's closed now; I don't know if there are plans to reopen it. It could use a bit of sprucing up, frankly.

Architecturally, the structure is unusual: it has a facade of stone towers with pink caps, giving it a palatial appearance, but behind this is an ordinary wood-frame house. It proved to be a challenge to paint, all the more so because of the intervening foliage. I'm not very happy with this first effort, but I'll give it a try again later.

Geoff Watson, "Clara Barton's house," oil on panel, 11" x 14", 2017.

Waiting for the mules

I spent a couple more days at Great Falls National Park in Maryland, and this time I painted the "towpath boat," which historically was towed along the C&O Canal by mules walking on the path to the right. The Park Service still operates the boat this way Friday thru Sunday, which meant I had to try to finish today. I didn't finish; many things still need work. But it's a start. 

Geoff Watson, "Waiting for the Mules," oil on panel, 9" x !2", 2017.

Tavern at Great Falls

Plein air painters love The Great Falls National Park, and for good reason: there's no shortage of interesting subjects. I visited the Maryland side of the park today and started this painting. This old tavern stands guard by a lock on the venerable C&O Canal. The picture needs work; the only question is when I'll revisit the park. maybe later this week.

"Tavern at Great Falls," oil on panel, 9" x 12" (2017) (work in progress).

Two ocean views

Today my daughter Maddie and I painted the same beach, though from slightly different vantage points, and with two decidedly different moods. Hers is upbeat and sunny; mine is somewhat darker. Hers is especially impressive because it's the first oil painting she's done since she was about 9 years old.

Maddie Watson, "Windy beach", oil on panel, 8" x 10".

Geoff Watson, "Surf at Cape Henlopen," oil on panel, 8" x 10".

Boat on the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal

Actually, the full title of this picture should be "Boat on its Rack on the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal." I liked the way the sun lit just the boat and not its dock, and I also liked the slightly ramshackle look of the boat and its storage rack. in fact, there was an upended chair on the dock, but I omitted it because it was so distracting. it deserves its own picture!

Geoff Watson, "Boat on the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal," oil on panel, 11" x 14", 2017.

Herring Point

We're at the Delaware beaches on holiday, and I painted this scene overlooking Herring Point in Henlopen State Park. I experimented by using the palette knife, mostly. It left some ridges I need to,fix. I also forgot to paint the little squares that were covered by my easel's panel supports. I'll fix that too.

Geoff Watson, "Herring Point," oil on panel, 8" x 10", 2017.

"Doomed" buildings of Bethesda?

One of my ongoing projects is to record for posterity the many buildings in Bethesda, Maryland that may soon be torn down. I posted a painting of one supposedly "doomed" building, the Westbard Citgo, in my first Plein Air gallery. Here are a couple others. They're both quick, unfinished studies, but in both I was trying to convey a certain ominous mood.

This is the Westbard Giant and other shops. Supposedly this will all be torn down, and perhaps rebuilt as something snazzier; I'm not sure. Thunderstorms were passing to the north as I painted this last month. Oil on panel, 8" x 10".

And this is the stately Woodmont Grill, a nice restaurant in the Bethesda Triangle, downtown. Again, I'm not sure whether it's really doomed, but supposedly it sits on the site of a new hotel headquarters going up soon. I did this today. I had lots of nice passersby comment, and I gave away a few of my spiffy new business cards. Oil on panel, 8" x 10".

Copy of Sargent's "Lady Astor"

I just posted this picture in my "Master Copies" gallery, but I thought I'd say a bit more about it here. This is a copy of a small part of John Singer Sargent's "Lady Astor" (1909), which hangs in Cliveden, the former Astor estate in southern England.  As I noted in the Master Copies gallery, Lady Nancy Astor was, among other things, the first female member of the House of Commons. She argued politics frequently with Winston Churchill, once saying that if she were his wife, she'd put poison in his coffee. Churchill supposedly replied: "Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it."

I embarked on this copy to learn more about how Sargent made his portraits look so three-dimensional. I painted this in several sessions, spending about 10-15 hours; I didn't do much glazing, more just fussing with proportions and color temperature. Did Sargent paint this alla prima, or did he glaze?

My likeness is pretty good but not perfect. My Nancy is a tad thinner, with a slightly smaller nose and mouth. It'd have taken me another 15 hours to get it just right, and the purpose of the exercise wasn't to make an exact replica. I also couldn't resist warming up her skin tone a tad; in Sargent's day, a pale face (with reddish ears!) was more in style. Anyway, at some point, I decided I'd learned what I was going to learn, and I declared victory. Of course, as soon as I posted it here, I saw imperfections that I'll have to fix: the shadows on her neck being a prime candidate.

Incidentally, when I was photographing this painting, I couldn't keep glare out of the right side of the black background, so I've photoshopped that bit to make it blacker. I'm going to try again with a better camera, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post what I have. Oil on canvas, 11" x 14"; comments and constructive critique welcome.

Another tree in Bethesda

I had grand plans for this plein air painting, but it was horribly hot outside, so I simplified the composition to give me time to finish before I melted.  It was still pretty rushed, so it's not the best thing I've ever done, but I like the soft background and the pretty tree.  I think it's a sweetgum tree, but I'm not sure.  Oil on panel, 8" x 10".

Also, with this post I have theoretically enabled comments. This site is still in the testing phase, so I haven't told many people about it yet, and thus I don't expect any comments yet. But in coming weeks I hope that will change.

A tree grows in Bethesda

I was going for a mood of mystery and isolation in this picture. I hope I achieved it.

I started this painting last week, but after my first session, I had omitted the tree trunk on the right, as it's a few feet out of the frame in real life. The artist who leads my landscape class persuaded me to put the tree in, and I'm glad I did! It adds interest, and it makes clear that some of the tree branches are in front of the house as well as behind it.

Gold star to anyone who can identify where the house is. Er, I know I haven't enabled comments yet; I'm working on it! I hope to have a comment system in place shortly.

House shrouded in trees. Oil on panel, 8" x 10", 2017.

Some 10-minute "Gesture watercolors"

I had lots of fun with the watercolors during "watercolor week." I did a few interesting little paintings on the train to and from New York; I may post some of those later.  I also did some 10-minute "gesture watercolors" in a tiny sketchbook.  A "gesture sketch" is a quick drawing intended to capture the general energy and proportions of a pose, not fine detail. So I suppose a "gesture watercolor" is a similar sketch but done with watercolors.

I did these at a one-hour short-pose life-drawing session at the venerable Art Students League in New York, on West 57th Street. Every time I visit New York, I drop by the League for a drawing session or two. The League has a storied history, and it's good to see it's still busy training artists today. Check it out here: https://www.theartstudentsleague.org/

Anyway, I  typically spent five or six minutes drawing and  the final four or five minutes painting.  The results may not be masterpieces, but they're interesting. 

Nude on chair, watercolor on paper, 6" x 6", July 6, 2017, at the Art Students League. I tried to capture the rather defiant expression on the model's face.

Nude with globe, watercolor on paper, 6" x 6", July 6, 2017, at the Art Students League. That's supposed to be drapery on the floor, but I had a bit of a mishap with my blue paint.  :)

Watercolor week!

I usually paint in oils, but when I'm traveling, as I am this week, I grab my watercolors and gouache. I'm taking a watercolor sketch book, as usual, but I may also bring a couple of Ampersand Aquabord panels. I'm still debating about whether they're worth the added weight.

On the one hand, there's an irrational part of me that seems to concentrate more when painting on a rigid support.  It's as if a panel is Art, and paper is a mere sketch.  On the other hand, there's a very rational part of me (my hernia scar!) that prefers to travel very light, which argues for paper. Plus, we all know from "rock paper scissors" that paper covers masonite, not the other way around.  (Ha!)

Anyway, if I produce anything of note, I'll post it in this space. At the very least, I hope to attend a figure-drawing session, so I may have a few gesture drawings to show off.

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