Sunburst over Ragged Ledge, 5x7", oil on panel.

This piece was done on Monday. The wind on the east side of the island was brutal, so I had to resort to doing some jumping jacks to stay warm, even though the temperature was a very un-Decembery 60 degrees. This was painted from the same vantage point as Kettle Island and Great Egg Rock.

This week on Tuesday I headed out to do some painting. The weather has turned colder here in the last couple of days, with lows dropping into the 20s overnight and daytime highs barely hitting the upper 30s. In fact, it was so cold and clear today that when I stopped at Niles Beach to see if there was anything worth painting there, I noticed you could see the Boston skyline on the horizon. That’s clean air! When I started to paint last March, I experienced the same kind of paint-handling problems as I did this time, I just was inexperienced and didn’t realize that it was because of the cold that my paint would curdle up on the panel as I brushed it around. Between the curdling paint and the staccato tremors in my hands due to the cold, I ended up with a less than satisfactory painting, which you can see here:

Good Harbor Beach, 5x7, oil on panel.

You can see a close up of the sandy, lumpy texture here:

Good Harbor Beach, detail.

So, the next day I decided to minimize weather considerations and paint from the relative warmth and comfort of my car. I also switched to watercolor, in order to not leave a mess on the front seat. So, it wasn’t a total loss. I have to find a small dropper bottle to carry some denatured alcohol with me, as Richard Schmid claims that this will help keep the paints fluid in cold weather. I’ll report back when I know if it works or not.

Folly Cove Waves, 9x12", watercolor.

Jones River Landing, 5×7″, oil on panel.

Well, this painting is a cautionary tale about not letting the sunlight hit your palette and canvas. While this painting looks great in the bright morning sun on an early spring day, it looks miserable under the studio lights used to photograph it. All of the depth and color is sucked out of the blue, and generally it looks poor. Lesson learned.

Tomorrow is another day.