Nancy Boyle Art Blog

I spent a week in Rockland Maine for a watercolor workshop with Frank Eber, http://www.frankeber.com . Coastal Maine Art Workshops hosted and provided an indoor studio space for the 17 artists who participated. Several days were dry enough to paint outdoors in Rockland, Owl’s Head and South Thomaston. Frank started each day with a lesson in principles of design followed by a demo. We then worked from photos or outdoors. It was an excellent, well organized workshop and Frank was continuously teaching and working one on one with students. I came away with some fresh perspectives on composition, choosing a painting location; and  with some new palette colors- greenish raw umber (DS), cobalt turquoise, Indian yellow, and Verona ochre. Frank does a careful, but not overly detailed pencil sketch to start. He is able to keep a strong design the focus throughout the painting which is often done in three stages, drying between. He expertly edited elements from the scene that did n...

I have visited Lake Cochituate state park in Framingham, Mass. several times this summer for sketching. There is a lot of activity including the beach area with people on the sand or in the water, lifeguards under their bright orange and white umbrellas, the shapes of kayaks and sailboats from many viewpoints, the treeline across the lake and the small green boathouse in a pale green color that is challenging to capture.

This summer I have the opportunity to paint and sketch at a local working farm estate with a lot of history. There are many views and subjects including very distant hills and tree lines. Being up high is a benefit in this hot, muggy summer as there is always a breeze, and the many large trees make it possible to relax and focus while sitting in the shade. My goal with these sketches is to get the feel of the place, explore the different themes and locations. There is a lot of texture on a farm that is interesting to explore with a calligraphic style using markers and dry brush. Fence posts, wires, pasture grasses, horse and cattle tails swishing the flies away, many types of trees, broken bare branches of aging trees, aged barn board, clumps of earth. The distant hills and trees are opportunities to capture atmosphere with greys, blues and violets. In several I have experimented with new color combinations, including a new favorite - carbozole violet and yellow ochre. The ochr...