Stonington Sunset, 20 x 16, Pastel Premiere, 400 white

I am back from a 2.5 week trip to the West with John, driving from Utah to Idaho, Montana, Canada (Waterton Lakes), Wyoming, and Colorado.  It was a great trip with good weather, interesting scenes, and lots to paint from!  But today I went to the studio to finish the painting of Stonington, Maine at sunset that I began before I left.  I did the underpainting with watercolor and probably filmed it, but at this point, I have no idea where the image is!  So I’m just sharing the finished product.

This was a pretty straightforward painting with not a lot of changes made from the photo. I loved combining the trucks and pilings from the dock with the beauty of the sunset and water. I love Stonington because it is a working harbor and not completely a tourist destination. There is no beach!

I pretty much used the colors I was seeing in the photo: dark violets for the darkest areas, blues, violets, and grayed greens for the sky and water, with the addition of pinks and oranges.  I went back and forth with violets and blues and used my new Blue Earth blue violets a lot.  And I used my fingers a lot in the water!

I have another painting of this that I did in 2015 from a mid-day photo. It has the same truck in it!  I think that they use this as a storage facility.  Anyone who has been to Stonington, Maine, will know this view immediately.

I’ll be focusing on the West for awhile, but also have to get some new images for next year’s Insider’s Washington show in Rockville.  Meanwhile, I’ll be doing a lot of workshops in Aug. and Sept. before beginning the regular class schedule in Oct.  I want to enjoy August. We were very fortunate to miss the hottest weather and this past weekend’s deluge!  Looking forward to corn and peaches and dinners on the screen porch.  Hope you are all having an enjoyable summer.