Captain Jack's Wharf 2009...

A trip to Provincetown would be incomplete without a painting of Captain Jack's... so I did it again. This 7x9.5 version was painted when the sky was starting to pick up some pink hues from the approaching sunset. The shiny low tide made for some nice muted reflections. The Marsha Savage pastel collection I brought worked nicely for this last painting on our last day on the Cape.

The first time I saw Captain Jack's was twenty-five years ago. Since this was before the self-isolation days of the iPod, you were carried along the dock by music played from an LP. The speakers were set up discretely among all sorts of groovyness. We didn't stay there, but I do remember the music being the type that would make any pirate want to come to shore with roses for his mate.

Incoming....

About five o'clock one afternoon, I walked over to the Moors to see what I saw. It had been a cloudy, rainy day so I was pleased to see that the lowering sun was making a presence as it prepared to go rest. When the tide comes into the Moors, it comes in fast!... so, with no easel this time, I stood with paper in hand to do this 6x9, Pastel/Sanded Paper. About a half hour into it, a fine mist of rain started leaving small pock marks on the surface of the paper. I had the basic info I needed to pull it together, so I packed up, went back to the cottage and finished it at the table.

Painting In The Dunes...

Photo-Ken Tackett

Since I decided to pack light for this vacation to Cape Cod, I took a set of Terry Ludwig pastels that I thought would work best for the local terrain, 60 Deborah Paris' Plein Air. This collection has a great assortment of sandy and grayed colors plus a nice. limited range of greens. I found I was getting frustrated by the tones I was seeing versus what I was putting on my paper. It wasn't until I finished this 7x12 on Sanded Paper that I realized I had packed a different set!... the 60 Marsha Savage Southeast. This is a beautiful collection, nonetheless, and in hindsight, I see my mistake took me literally out of my box and made me look for accurate values using what was on hand.

Plein Air, Cape Cod

SOLD

We are in Cape Cod for the week. I am traveling light this year with only a box of pastels, a few sheets of sanded paper, and no easel! I actually thought it might be a vacation where I would do everything except paint. I am having a great time with my friends, running into old acquaintances and making new ones, but I started getting a little on edge with the "not painting idea". I took about an hour this morning before lunch and walked over to the Moors to do this 6x9, pastel/ Sanded Paper. This is a spot I have painted at many times before, and was only too happy to be here again looking out toward the dunes and painting...

Plein Air, Bonnet House...

I got an early start painting today with my friend Janet, at Bonnet House. I did this 6x8, Oil/Linen Panel, Raking Light. We both walked away from my painting spot a few times during the process and found it extremely funny how my painting seemed to keep getting smaller and smaller each time we came back upon it.... My plan had been to do several small quick 6x8 studies today. Instead, I got captivated by the Banyan-like tree... probably a ficus, of sorts... with its multiple trunks and the glowing yellow trim of the Bonnet House as the morning light crept up on the bank and across the lawn. Next time we are setting a timer to limit ourselves to an hour for each 6x8 canvas ....