One at a time

Tide 2

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

This is the second painting in my Tide series and painting #60 of my 100 painting project. I still don't know how many of these little paintings of the surf I will do but I am enjoying the challenge of painting them. I am also enjoying the balance of alternating working in oil with colored pencil drawing. I don't know if I would ever settle on just one media as each has its own challenges and rewards. I suppose that if I had a larger working space I would have several projects going on at once. As it is, I paint one day, draw on another, and it's all good.

Tides

Tide 1

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

This is painting #59 of my 100 painting project and the beginning of a series within that project. This is the first painting in that series focusing on tides. I have mentioned here previously my obsession with photographing the water and waves every time we visit the ocean. So I decided to put that obsession to good use and do a series of small 6 x 6 inch paintings, each focusing on the surf. My intention is to then hang these as a grouping. I have no plans for any specific number of paintings, just to keep going until my obsession is satisfied.

I want to thank everyone for their interest in my Pear tutorial posts last week. I have been looking for your pear drawings, so if you have one to post please let me know! Here is one very successful pear from Freebird Drawing.

A New Light

A New Light

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Here is #58 of my 100 painting project. Another view of the marshes on Edisto Island, South Carolina. With the coming of summer my time is beginning to open up a bit. So I am thinking of ways to take the best advantage of the extra hours. What 'projects' do I want to pursue? Where do I want to put my focus? I already have enough ongoing projects to keep me busy for a very long time. But new ideas keep popping into my head as well. I suppose I need a better filtering system. How do you prioritize your various creative projects? Do you work on more than one at once or do you tackle them one at a time?

Marsh Walk

Marsh Walk

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Here is #57 of my 100 painting project. It is a another view of the marshes at Botany Bay on Edisto Island, SC. Remember when I did the thumbnail exercise? This is the first painting the sprung from that process. I have noticed that the further away I get from the original reference, the more I work in terms of color, as in color field painting. A move toward abstraction? I don't know. I may just have to find out though.

Marsh Song

Marsh Song

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Here is #56 of my 100 painting project. It is a view of one of the marshy areas surrounding Botany Bay on Edisto Island, SC. It is such a serene place to visit, unspoiled by development and with a very rich history. Many of my paintings have been inspired by this place, and I suspect there will be more. (Ironically, when looking for a good link to more information about Botany Bay, the best one I could find features a photo that looks to be taken in the same location as my painting above. So now you have to check that out!)

Quiet Day

Quiet Day

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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While I am working on my latest colored pencil piece, I thought I would go ahead and post another painting for you. This is #55 of my 100 painting project. It is a scene from a nearby walking trail, that follows a river that runs through town. It still doesn't seem right to me, calling these mountain streams "rivers", but they are. Rivers at their start. I guess I'll just never get used to that. They all look like creeks to me.

Fields of Gold

Fields of Gold

oil on canvas

5 x 7 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Here is #54 of my 100 painting project. It is a scene from one of those late summer/early autumn days when the goldenrod and asters are in bloom here in our southern mountains. I have always loved those colors.

The way back

You know I mentioned at the beginning of the year that I was stalled in my 100 painting project and was looking for a way to get back into it again. Because it is a project that I would like to see through to its completion. So anyway, about a week ago I was visiting the blogs of some of my favorite artists and I came across this post and this post on Barbara Newton's blog, Barbara Newton Art Journal. I have long admired her pastel landscapes and was fascinated when she explained her method of doing thumbnails to jump start her painting process.

Now, I have always known that doing thumbnails is a good idea, for working out things like composition and maybe even color relationships. It's just that I hardly ever do them. I do use my camera as an extension of my sketchbook, and tend to make a lot of adjustments in Photoshop to the images that I ultimately use as reference. And as a result I tend to skip the actual drawing of a thumbnail step. Which works okay, except that when working from a photo I can sometimes get all caught up in the details and lose sight of some of the qualities that attracted me to the image in the first place. So when I saw Barbara's post, it was an "Aha" moment for me. This may be just the approach I need to get back into my painting project and move it forward.

I opened one of my picture files, sat in front of my computer screen and scribbled with my Neocolor II water soluble crayons into six boxes I had drawn onto watercolor paper. I did these very quickly, wanting to only get my initial reaction to the images. Then I took the page to my drawing table and brushed on water, adding more color here and there, without looking at the original references. I was just reacting to what was already on the paper. Once it dried, I scanned my thumbnail page (shown above) and created a copy in grayscale (shown below).

Here you can see my first two attempts of painting directly from my thumbnails, as well as the original thumbnail page and the grayscale copy for value reference. I did make my thumbnails a bit larger than Barbara Newton's. After I try a couple more paintings from this set I would like to attempt this process again, making the thumbnails much smaller, in order to distill the imagery even further. It's a way back into painting with a process that may just work for me. I still have three more previously completed paintings to post before I get to this new group, but I'll keep you posted on how this method is working out.

Sunrise Noise

Sunrise Noise

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Here is # 53 of my 100 painting project. It is from a familiar walkway out to the beach from where we often stay at Edisto Beach, SC. I sure am missing those early morning beach walks these days. We have had a tough January here at Blue Bird Hill. I am celebrating this last day of January and happily moving on into February. And you know, February 2nd marks the half-way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Yay!

Now and Then

Now and Then

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Here is #52 of my 100 painting project. This is a scene taken from a sketch outing last August. Yep, I am missing those summer days. At the same time, I want to savor every moment of the right here that is right  now. Just every now and then during these cold and gray winter days, a walk in warm sunshine would be so nice.

Mountain Trail

Mountain Trail

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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This is #51 of my 100 painting project. It is a view from the trail near the Moses Cone Manor on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is a spot where we often return for hiking and sketching. There is something about the way the horizon unfolds from the undulating hills that makes this area very appealing to me. Living in the mountains you become acutely aware of the limited sky. Places like this, where the sky opens up, are my favorite.

Something warm

River Path

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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A warm scene to remember on a cold day like today here in our southern mountains. This is painting #50 of my 100 painting project, a view of the North Fork of the New River as seen from a nearby park on a summer's day. And boy is it cold here today! Up to 12 degrees F. And snowing. And blowing snow with winds gusting up to 55 miles per hour. This winter's blast has me wanting to curl up with a good book or my crochet projects. And I may have to bake some cookies. That's the thing about living here in the mountains. When the weather here is nice it is absolutely gorgeous. But when it's not so nice, it's brutal. I hope you are staying warm where you are. And that you have some cookies too.

Summer Blooms revisited

Summer Blooms

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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Remembering summer today. This is painting #49 in my 100 painting project. Just a few short months ago this was the view in our yard, abundant with color against the rich greens in the backdrop of the trees. Now all that remains is our memory of these glorious blossoms as we head into winter here in our mountains. And it has been cold these past few days. With snow blowing around. Remember our beans? Well here's a guy who really takes counting his beans seriously. I am just hoping he's more than a little off in his calculations this year.

Familiar Path

Familiar Path

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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This is #48 of my 100 painting project. It is a late summer view of the carriage trail at Cone Manor on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This old carriage trail is one of our favorite locations to hike and sketch. From here the trail dips under the parkway and then climbs up a hill where you can see Grandfather Mountain out across a mountain pastoral view. I wish I could take you there, you would love it.

Solitary Here

Solitary Here

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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This is #47 of my 100 painting project, a scene from Botany Bay at Edisto Island, SC. I was taken with this tree, or is it two trees, standing alone out in the marsh. Trees can exhibit such dignity and grace. All the more noticeable when out on their own, without the company of others for security.

I love what John F. Carlson had to say about trees:

"It is curious how one's feelings about trees change in proportion to one's appreciation of their importance and dignity as live beings. Trees are individual beings: they can be comic, heroic, tragic to the sensitive, practiced eye of the landscape artist."

Reclaimed Moment

Reclaimed Moment

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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It's always a little tough getting back into the routine of things after being away, even if it was for only a few days. But I'm not complaining, just easing back into my days of homeschooling lessons and making art.

This is painting #46 of my 100 painting project, another view of the marshes of Botany Bay at Edisto Island, SC. I have quite a backlog of paintings to post. Hopefully I will be able to maintain a more regular blogging schedule and get up to date before the year ends!

Some Hours

Some Hours

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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This is #45 of my 100 painting project. It is another view from Botany Bay at Edisto Island, SC., from our visit there last spring. As we were making our way along the boardwalk that leads through the marshes and out to the beach, I looked back and noticed this grouping of grand old trees. The way the morning light was softly falling among their leaves and branches happened to catch my attention. They looked so graceful and accepting of their position there at the edge of the marshlands.

Bid on this painting to donate to the NWF!

Venice LA

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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This is the painting that I did in response to the Gulf oil spill, and The Spirit of the Gulf challenge. It is also #44 in my 100 painting project. I have listed this painting on Ebay with 100% of the proceeds from the sale going to the National Wildlife Federation. This painting is a view of the marshlands in Venice, Louisiana, an area affected by the oil spill. I found this scene using Google Street View.

Even though some time has past and we tend to forget rather quickly when the news cycles on to the next big event, there is still clean up going on in the Gulf from the devastating effects of the BP oil spill. Wildlife in that area will probably be impacted by the oil spill for a long time. I admire the efforts of organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation to help care for our natural environments and its inhabitants as well as this organization's educational efforts, especially their publications for children. So if you can help me with this donation, head on over to it's listing on Ebay.

Drift

Drift

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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This is #43 of my 100 painting project. It is a scene from a nearby park where the North Fork of the New River runs along a walking path. Having grown up near the Ohio River, I always chuckle at the thought of these mountain streams being called "rivers". Yet it's true that they are indeed rivers. Up here, right at the Eastern Continental Divide, is where the rivers begin their journeys that eventually end at the sea.

Flow

Flow

oil on canvas

6 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

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We are starting to get the flow back into our weeks, with the change from our summer to fall schedules. It always takes a little adjusting, fine tuning this and that. About the time our routine fits comfortably, it will be time for changes once again.

This is painting #42 of my 100 painting project. Another scene from Botany Bay at Edisto Island, SC. A bit of marsh where the tide fills it up and then flows out again with a comforting rhythm.