Eden Compton Pastels and Oils

Painting Lobster Boats

2012-01-13T16:49:00.001-05:00

"Newport Lobsterman", 9 x 12, pastel on sanded paper

We spend a lot of time in the summer watching the boats go by when we are anchored in Newport, RI. I've always loved watching the various fishing and lobster boats go about their daily routine. Each boat seems to have a personality. They really are all very different in size, color, age. The big fishing trawlers look imposing and ancient with lots of rust and peeling paint and the huge machinery stacked on the decks. The lobster boats are much smaller and more colorful. They are usually painted a bright color but also have bright buoys festooned along their side like colorful balloons. And, of course, there always at least two or three lobstermen (and women) in their bright orange coveralls hauling in the catch. I have many reference photos and sketches of these boats but it has taken a long time to figure out how I wanted to paint them. I like the way this pastel came out. The focus is on the figure but you still get a sense of the boat without having to add too much detail. I also like the color harmony: the neutral grays help emphasize the orange overalls. I'll see if I can keep it going.

New York Cityscape

2012-01-07T08:01:00.000-05:00

"Downtown Windows", Pastel on sanded paper, 9 x 12

This is a study for a larger oil pairing that I have already started in the studio. I have two cityscapes that I am finishing up before I head down to the tropics for a couple of months. There are a couple of things that I really like in this piece and hope to keep in the larger painting. I pushed the colors in the windows to achieve the grey harmony in the building colors. I also tried to avoid being too "architectural" in my edge work. I like the loose quality of some of the edges even though some of the lines are not quite in alignment! The challenge will be to keep those qualities in a larger painting.

Directions for the New Year

2012-01-03T08:52:00.001-05:00

Study for "Saratoga Lights", 6 x 7 pastel on paper

As the New Year races off I am trying to define my goals for the coming year. The number one goal, of course, is to continually work on improving my painting skills which is a lifelong endeavor. My second goal is to make my paintings more expressive which is in part a result of the first goal but also a function of selecting subject matter. I am drawn to rainy scenes, night scenes and figurative scenes which would explain why I am often not satisfied with my plein air paintings of rural morning landscapes! Sounds obvious, doesn't it? So my main practical goal is to be more selective in choosing my subject matter and more expressive and less literal in translating that image or scene to paper and canvas. Simple!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

9 x 12, "Downtown Stroll", oil on linen

Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve! My resolution this year is to paint a LOT more than I did last year. My travel schedule and other obligations made it difficult to get much painting done in 2011. Hopefully 2012 will be a more productive year! This is another of my New York City scenes which I love. I really like the colorful grays in this. I think I making some progress in my ability to mix the specific grays that I want without getting that dirty, muddy look. I spent more time actually thinking about which colors to mix and slowly adding complimentary colors to achieve the desired effect. I also made a concerted effort to keep my brushes clean (not my strong suit!). Happy New Year to you all!

"The Cookie Party" Version 2

2011-12-30T09:53:00.000-05:00

9 x 12, "The Cookie Party" pastel on sanded paper

Here is the pastel version of the last post. As you can see, I changed both the composition - 3:4 ratio instead of square - and the color scheme. The colors are actually richer and deeper than what is seen here. I like this version better but am still struggling with the shape of the figure on the right hand side. It is a difficult perspective issue. She is leaning over so the shape of her back doesn't really read well without adding detail which I am trying to avoid. It's a fine balance between suggesting a shape and too much detail. I may go back and try another oil version but I will let this sit for a while. Hope everyone has great New Year's plans ahead!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-27T08:21:00.002-05:00

Study for "The Cookie Party", 6 x 6 oil on panel

Hope everyone is having a great holiday! Christmas festivities have cut into painting time. I did this little study last week. I loved the shape of the little girl's dress and her hair falling over her face as she was intent on her cookie decorating task. I am working on a pastel version as well and will post tomorrow if I am satisfied with it.

Below is a picture of my nephew with his favorite toy from Christmas. He got some wonderful toys and stuffed animals for Christmas but this was the one thing that caught his fancy all day . . . my cell phone!

"Block Island Marsh"

2011-12-18T11:54:00.001-05:00

6 x 8 oil on panel.

I have been working on a several larger pieces in between all the requisite Christmas activities like shopping, decorating, wrapping and baking! It's amazing how fast Christmas comes every year. Remember when Christmas seemed like an eternity away from Thanksgiving? It's hard to get a solid amount of time in the studio but I took a couple of hours yesterday to do this little study of a scene in Block Island from last summer. I like the paint handling in this. Now I just have to remember how I did it! Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!

New Pastel Painting: "The Conversation"

2011-12-09T23:09:00.000-05:00

12 x 12 on sanded paper

I posted a study of this painting last week and just now finished the (slightly) larger version. I liked the lighting in this scene. It reminded me of many of the Vermeer paintings with that little sliver of window in the left hand side of the painting. I deliberately kept the palette low keyed and limited in color range. I like the effect. My next challenge is to see if I can translate the same qualities into an oil version.

Color Studies and Thumbnails

2011-12-02T07:52:00.000-05:00

Fog Color Study, 5 x 7 on wallis paper

I have written before about the value of color studies and thumbnails. I did two quick color studies for the piece featured in yesterday's post "Cape Cod Fog." I like both these color studies but ended up doing a kind of mix of both for the final piece. I also violated one of the basic rules of doing thumbnails (not that there are really any "rules"): use the same surface for your finished piece that you used for your thumbnail. That should be obvious but I ignored it.

Fog Color Study 2, 5 x 7 on wallis paper

I used wallis sanded paper for the two studies and my homemade sanded paper for the finished piece because I wanted a little more texture. The two surfaces are very different both in texture and pastel application. It's kind of like the difference between fine portrait linen and rough textured cotton or other material. I do like the finished piece but I think I would have preferred the more painterly effect from the first study that was done on the wallis paper. All of these pieces are available at the Mark Twain Show until next week. The little color studies are sold unframed.

Christmas Shows

2011-12-01T08:21:00.001-05:00

"Cape Cod Fog", 12 x 16 pastel on sanded paper

The Christmas season is officially in full swing. I have work in two holiday shows for the next couple of weeks. The above painting will be part of the Mark Twain Libary's Annual Christmas Show and Fundraiser in Redding CT. There is also an assortment of twenty small works available in the portfolio section of the show. These are small works sold unframed and include landscapes, cityscapes and a couple of figurative pieces. The show will be up from Dec. 3rd to Dec. 12th so please stop by if you are in the area. More information can be found at the Mark Twain Library website.

"Cloudy Day in Rockport", 6 x 8 oil on linen

In addition to my regular work hanging in the Sorelle Gallery in Albany NY, I also have several pieces in the Christmas "Small Wonders" Show. There is a lot of work to choose from there so please stop by if you're in the Albany area. This show will be up until Dec. 31st.

Cows in Hazy Newport

2011-11-27T17:24:00.001-05:00

6 x 6 pastel on sanded paper

Finally getting the hang of the pastels again! This was a misty day in Jamestown RI last summer. The background water and sky are a little blown out here. It's not quite that light. I like the broken color effect that I get with the handmade sanded paper. It makes it very lively. I just finished another painting on Wallis paper today and the difference in pastel application and visual effect between the two papers is quite pronounced. Using a soft pastel on wallis paper is like using a fully loaded brush of oil paint. You can get wonderful painterly effects with the Wallis paper. On the other hand, the sanded paper lets you build up layers of color for a rich tapestry like effect. You really have to decide which type of paper and technique you want to use when you are planning a painting. It's as important to the end result as color harmony and composition. I wish someone had told me that when I first started painting in pastels. It would have saved me a lot of time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:08:00.000-05:00

"Sunday Brunch Newport", 6 x 6, pastel on sanded paper

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Hard to believe it's that time of year already. I just returned from several busy weeks in the Caribbean where my husband and I are were working at the charter boat show in Tortola. It was hard work and HOT. I'm happy to be back in snowy New England and working in my studio. I'm also happy to be back in the pastels again but it took a couple of days to remember how to use them! The above painting is a study for a larger version which I have already blocked in. I toned the paper an orange/burnt sienna color which helped emphasize the warm temperature of the light streaming through the window. This was basically an analogous color scheme (red orange, red, red violet) but I will shift the shadow colors in the larger version. While the red violet in the shadows is cool relative to the red orange it doesn't provide enough contrast to the light areas in terms of temperature. I will post the larger version in a couple of days. Meanwhile, have a great holiday!

"Evening Stroll"

2011-11-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

9 x 12 oil on panel

I am still working on the domestic interior scenes but wanted to take a break and get back into the cityscapes. This isn't a very good photo of the painting but I wanted to post since it's been a while! I will try to get a better shot tomorrow. My main interest in this scene was the glow of the sunset against all the colorful grays of the buildings in the background. I really like the mood of these "dusky" scenes. I find the contrast in color temperatures between the sky and the buildings against the glow of the interior lights to be really interesting.

Back in the Studio!

2011-10-21T10:24:00.000-04:00

Study for "Scooty and Storm II", 6 x 6 pastel on sanded paper

At last! I am finally back in the studio. I feel like I have to relearn how to use my pastels and oils again! I am still working on this figurative series of domestic themed paintings. I was looking at paintings with similar themes done by some of my favorite historical artists as inspiration for this series. Below are a couple examples of the artists I have been studying:

The top painting is by Eduard Vuillard and the bottom is by Milton Avery. I admire both these painters very much. I love the design and composition of Vuillard's work. He uses patterns and interesting shapes to create very dramatic compositions. His mother was a seamstress and he was obviously inspired by the daily scenes of women working with all those textiles and patterns. While I will probably never be as abstract as Milton Avery, I have always loved his use of color and shape. I find his color palette particularly attractive.

New Figurative Series

2011-09-30T20:47:00.002-04:00

6 x 6 , "Scooty and Storm", oil on panel

This is an oil study for the first in a series of paintings that focus on a more domestic theme than I have done in the past. While paintings of babies can be overtly saccharine there are many artists who have tackled this subject with some amazing results. Vuillard, Bonnard, Cassatt and Sorolla are just a few of the great painters who featured babies and domestic scenes in their paintings. I will spend some time in the next few posts exploring more artists both past and present who have tackled this subject matter. Keep in mind that these paintings are not meant to be portraits! In this preliminary study, I was focused on the overall design of the painting and the values of the large shapes. I can see that I have to refine a few areas in this study both in color and value. I'll probably try a pastel version of the same study to see if the same issues are still there before I go on to a bigger version.

The Color of Rain

2011-09-26T20:56:00.000-04:00

"Late Summer Rain Newport"

I really do like these rainy day scenes. I did two color studies for this Newport street scene. I think I prefer the texture of my hand made sanded paper in the above color study to the other manufactured paper below for this particular painting. I'm still working out the color scheme on this and will probably have to do a couple more before I tackle the larger version. I'll keep you posted!

Wine & Computers Don't Mix

2011-09-18T13:15:00.000-04:00

"Jamestown Marsh", 6 x 8, pastel on sanded paper

A very big bummer this week. I knocked over a full glass of wine onto my one year old Macbook. It went instantly off never to come back on. The guys at the Apple Genius Bar gave me lots of love and sympathy but there was nothing to be done. So, many dollars later I walked out with a new Macbook. The new laptop has a permanent home on the nav table in a no liquid zone. The good news is that I actually backed up the entire system in June. The additional bad news is I didn't do it again and I lost all my reference photos of Maine and Newport that were taken over the summer. Lots of lessons learned this week.

The above sketch is a thirty minute plein air intended to capture color notes and major shapes quickly and with as little detail as possible. I love the contrast of the warm oranges and violets against the last vestiges of green. It sets up a nice vibration and is much more interesting than all green or all orange and red. I'd like to get a lot of these done in the next few days to use for bigger pieces when I get back into the studio.

Plein Air Newport

2011-09-10T18:37:00.001-04:00

"Early Autumn Grays", 6 x 8, oil on linen panel

A beautiful day in Newport! It was sunny and dry but definitely feeling more like October than early September. I meant to attend the plein air event in Newport this morning but we awoke to boat issues (again)! By the time we had sorted everything out it was a little too late to go over to the Cliff Walk where the event was going on so I painted on my own this afternoon. I was drawn to all the subtle shades of gray in the rocks and the distant trees in this field sketch. There is more color in the actual painting than what is visible in the jpeg. I've got to tackle these photo issues but at least it's good to be out painting again!

Sketching in the Rain

2011-09-08T07:54:00.000-04:00

Rainy Day on the Farm, 8 x 8, pastel on sanded paper

The rain continues in the Northeast. Has it really been raining since August? I actually like rainy day scenes but it is hard to paint pastel outside in the rain. It tends to melt those expensive little sticks and warps the paper. I managed to get about half an hour of painting time to get this little field sketch done. It's a beautiful scenic farm right in Newport with lots of painting potential that I will revisit . . . when it stops raining.

The Long Lost Summer

2011-09-05T16:41:00.000-04:00

Early Fall in Newport, pastel on sanded paper, 8 x 8

Wow! This is the longest period of time I have gone without painting in many, many years. My husband and I have been working round the clock since mid June. Our schedule was so busy that I didn't even have time to sketch which I usually do everyday. Thankfully, we have made arrangements for me to spend more time on my painting over the next several months so I can hopefully have a very productive Fall!

Summer was such a blur I don't even remember where we were on any given day but I know we went to Maine because I have the photos. I have several ideas for both figurative and landscape paintings that I am eager to pursue as soon as I am back in the studio in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I am trying to get my fingers used to painting again by getting back into the plein air work.

The piece above was done on Ocean Drive in Newport RI this afternoon. Last time I was out here everything was green, green, green. It seems to have turned into Fall overnight! It's actually my favorite time of year up here. The colors are soft and gray, the air is cool and, after today, the streets are uncrowded!

Small Studies of Life in Newport

2011-06-25T06:40:00.000-04:00

Cows in the Field, pastel, 6 x 8

The last two weeks have been busy with boat and non-boat related things like birthdays, visits with my baby nephew and trying to sell our RV (I'll give you a good price!). On top of that, I bought an ipad and upgraded my wireless connection to a Sprint MiFi package which I did not realize replaced our old unlimited data plan with a 5 GB limit. Word of warning: 5 GB is not that hard to reach when you look at a lot of art and videos on your laptop or ipad (we did it in a week)! A very helpful and competent Sprint customer service rep was able to reinstate our old unlimited plan without a penalty. Thanks Yolanda!!

The above pastel was done on a farm outside Ft. Adams in Newport that has cows, llamas and other assorted animals. They look like they lead a nice life. I love the look of those black and white cows. I don't usually paint animals so I was trying to capture the overall shapes in loose, quick strokes. I am also considering a series of lobsterman paintings. I watch them going out to work every morning as they go past our anchorage into Narragansett Bay. There are so many interesting shapes and colors and each boat is quite different.

The Daily Catch, oil on panel, 6 x 6

Steaming Lobster, 6 x 6, oil on panel

These are two different boats. The fisherman in the second study was standing in front of a lot of steam which was tricky to paint in terms of value. The values of the boat and the steam are quite close so there is little differentiation between the two. It's an interesting problem that I will keep working on.

Life in the Harbor

2011-06-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

Humid Day in Newport, 6 x 6 oil on panel

I meant to post several days ago but could not find my camera to download the pictures. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to those who know me. You would think it would be difficult to lose things in a 70 foot area but you would be wrong. It has been quite humid and overcast in Newport the past few days (though much cooler than the rest of New England!). I was trying to capture the kind of misty veil that covers the landscape during summer in this area. The sky is not really that pink so I'm not sure what's going on with the photo editing here. I'm also trying to get the shapes and colors right in the first or second pass and not go back in and fiddle around with areas. It's hard for me to leave something that doesn't look exactly correct but I think the effect is better overall when there is less fussing over details.

This little plein air was done in the Newport RI anchorage in front of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club. I love sitting here and watching all the boats go by. There is every kind of boat imaginable in Newport. As a matter of fact, one of the world's largest sailboats is on a dock here in the harbor. The Maltese Falcon is 289 feet long and worth about $150 million. We have seen it often in the Caribbean and actually just saw it sailing during the Bucket Race in St. Barths this past February. The first picture was taken a couple of days ago in Newport and the second was taken from St. Barths looking at the Bucket Race sailing past Ile de Fourche.

Painting the Atmosphere

2011-06-01T11:47:00.000-04:00

"Dusk on Duval" , 12 x 12 oil on linen panel

Hope everyone had a great holiday! I had a great time in Connecticut with my friends and family including my baby nephew (below). Lots of food and wine and no painting! I did this painting last week while we were fogged in. Although the reference is from Key West it is still an example of the kind of lighting situations I am exploring. I am focused on trying to paint the feeling and atmosphere of fog, rain, dusk, etc. rather than the literal appearance of it. I particularly like a couple areas of this painting: the bicycle reflection and light on the right and the shape of the distant trees. I thought I had more to do on this but I am trying to avoid getting bogged down in detail. So, I think I will let it rest at this point.

Cutest Baby in the World, Age 7 months

Cloudy Sunday in Newport

2011-05-23T10:16:00.000-04:00

6 x 6 oil on panel.

It looks like I will be painting a lot of fog and clouds this Spring! I actually like painting on rainy days but only if I have a dry comfortable spot. I like the way colors become more saturated on humid days. I hope I didn't overdo the red in this. I really like the different colors in the water. The color of the water on low light days is not very interesting. It's usually a flat steel gray. I thought I could add a little interest by creating several cool grays and running my brush through all of them for each stroke. It creates a kind of striated effect which is interesting. I'll do some more experimenting to see if it works for fog as well.

Brushwork Exercise: "Newport Meadows"

2011-05-19T18:29:00.001-04:00

6 x 6 oil on panel

Brushwork is one of the most important tools to communicate atmosphere and mood in a painting. Lost and found edges and a compressed value range are also commonly used to atmospheric landscapes. I am trying to make my work more expressive and brushwork is my biggest challenge. I find I can be much looser in pastel than in oil primarily because I have more experience with the dry medium. Sometimes I just want to let loose with the oil paint but my brush just won't do it! So, I am spending some focused time with the brush every day to get it to obey!