meander

Landscape Study IX

watercolor

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

This is painted from a scene of the coastal marshes on Edisto Island, SC. There's something about the meandering waterways reflecting the sky that keeps me coming back to these watery landscapes.

sketchbook :: a bright spot

Yesterday we went on a short sketch outing to a nearby park, the Greenway Trail, that runs through town. Although it was a sunny afternoon, it was breezy and cool. I settled on a bench where I could see an old farm across the river. Although there were other structures in this scene, the cold breeze encouraged me to simplify and focus on only those necessay shapes, values, and color to compose a scene on my sketchbook page. Beyond the trees I could see the bright yellow of a forsythia in bloom, a welcome sign of spring when warmer days can't get here fast enough.

housekeeping

Misty Morning

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

I have had a busy time lately creating new watercolor paintings. So much so that I am beginning to run out of storage space for them all. So I am doing a little housekeeping, here on my blog and in my studio, with the intention to free up space for new art to be created.

Mountain Spring

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

In my cleaning frenzy I discovered that I had never posted these two paintings. They had been sitting in my file waiting their turn so it was time to bring them out. The top painting is a view of my neighborhood in the early summer morning. And this one above was inspired by the colors of spring along the Blue Ridge Parkway. They are both now available in my newly re-opened Etsy shop. I have quite a few other works that I will be adding to my Etsy shop, priced to sell, so if you are over that way please do drop in for a visit!

Following along

Following Along

watercolor on 140lb Kilimanjaro cp

7.5 x 9.5 inches

 ©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

 

Another watercolor inspired by photos snapped from the van while on our last trip to Edisto, SC. The colors of the marshes in spring were glorious. Maybe it's because I live in the mountains, but I just love the wide horizons of the Low Country, with so much sky over a watery landscape.

Across the way

Across the Way

watercolor on 140lb Kilimanjaro cp

7.5 x 9.5 inches

 ©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

 

 The marsh grasses, the water reflecting sky, and bright sunshine illuminating the other shore. I wonder what is over there, who lives there, on that side across the way?

Loose Ends

Hillside
watercolor pencils and colored pencil on paper
7 x 9 inches
copyright 2008 by Ann Thompson Nemcosky



Here is what I have been working on this past week. It is an image that I revived from a drawing I began last summer but never completed. This scene is from a photo I snapped on one of our hikes. Not one to be happy when something is left unfinished I dug it out and started again. I don't know that I achieved exactly what I was after with this one, but I feel better having completed it and am now ready to move on to the next thing.

At The Water's Edge, a Work In Progress

I know, I know, I have been slack about posting here lately. But not without good reason. After our little beach break we were with house guests for a few days.

Just to show that I have been working, however slowly, I thought I'd post what I am working on now, as is, in progress. This drawing is 6 x 6 inches on pastel board. I began with an underpainting using Neocolor II watersoluble crayons and have now begun working my way from the top left corner outward using colored pencils. I am finding that I really like the strong intensity of color the Neocolors provide for an underpainting. And that when coming back over with the colored pencils, which are somewhat translucent, the colors seem to sing. I am having fun with this little piece. I intend to do a small series of these, what I am calling 'macro-landscapes'.

At The Water's Edge, WIP copyright 2007 by Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Looking Up

Looking Up
colored pencil and Neocolors on pastel board
6 x 12 inches
copyright 2007 by Ann Thompson Nemcosky





It's the end of my month for studying the art of John Constable. So, what have I come away with? I learned that place mattered very much to Constable. The subjects that he chose to paint were landscapes familiar and full of meaning to him. Weather was also important in his landscapes, the feel of the sunlight, the stiffness of the breeze, the foreboding clouds, were all a part of his work's content as much as the fields, farms and trees. This is where I find an affinity to the landscapes of John Constable. Place has always factored largely in my work with the associations I have for a particular location. From reading The Power of Place by Winifred Gallagher I discovered my sensitivity to certain places is more real than imagined. Where we are, and everything about that environment including color, light, and temperature, matters a great deal to who we are inside.

The image above is one such place, looking up Thunder Hill, which is along the Blue Ridge Parkway. One of my favorite spots along the Parkway, and one of the few where you can view the mountains falling away on either side. Hiking to the top of Thunder Hill gives you this view, almost like being in an airplane or perched on top of the world and everything else, as far as you can see, is below.