Rustic Arbor - Prospect Park

Rustic structures - shelters, arbors and bridges - were an integral part of Olmsted and Vaux’s original design for Prospect Park. The Lullwater shelter is a one hundred foot long arbor that was reconstructed in 2002.

Cleft-Ridge Span - Prospect Park

Olmsted and Vaux designed numerous paths and trails for both horses and pedestrians, requiring the construction of many small-scale bridges. The Cleft-Ridge Span is the first concrete arch bridge in the United States. It contains no iron or steel reinforcing and is an example of precast artificial stone construction.

The span is only 20 feet in length but has a width of more than 60 feet; more like a tunnel than a bridge. The detailed gothic and classical ornamentation cast into the surface of the artificial stone is clearly visible. Precast artificial stone served as an important precedent for the later use of concrete as a vehicle for ornamentation.

Boathouse finished?

Trying to decide whether to crop this painting

Uncropped - the left side is somewhat boring and the composition seems off. Not particularly happy with the blob of reflected green in the water on the left.



Portrait cropped - creates a better focus on the boathouse



Square cropped - emphasizes the symmetry of the reflection

Boathouse day 4

Tennis House - completed

Designed by the architectural firm of Helmle, Huberty and Hudswell, the 1910 Tennis House was intended as a shelter and locker room for the era’s popular sport of Lawn Tennis. In the Park’s early years, there were up to 300 lawn tennis courts spread over the Long Meadow,

Tennis House Day 2

Tennis House Day 1

At the end of the day - 3 1/2 hours of masking and prep work for 10 minutes of energetic throwing of paint.

Sketch

Masked and splattered

Paint on the wall, my laptop screen, my glasses, my notebooks - the second time I was smart and did it outside on the patio.







The palette I used to throw the paint.

Sketch - Tennis House - Prospect Park

Passaic Bridge completed

The pivot point for a rolling lift bridge across the Passaic River. Below are some photos of the bridge.

Textures

Playing with an absorbent media that I can use to build up significant physical texture on the paper. Combined with some splattering and drybrush work it makes an intriguing rusty texture. This is an unusual painting for me as I am working from a black and white photo using my imagination to "colorize" it. I've also restricted myself to basically four colors - the primaries and burnt sienna which is creating some nice color harmonies.

The image is of an old tilting draw bridge across the Passaic river around Clifton that I took when I was bike riding last summer. Still have a couple of things to add before its done.

Commission

Hickory corner progression.

Finished painting

Painting outside today - was out in Hunterdon County taking reference photos for a commission piece. I passed these run down out buildings at a cross roads. There was an adjacent sign telling me that the tavern at Hickory Corners was a stop on the stage coach route along the Kings Highway. So I thought I would do a preliminary sketch for a later painting.


Subject chosen, followed by initial sketches and masking 10:31


Set up

Masked roofs with tape,
Initial washes for sky and trees
10:50 AM


Add wash for grass
Masking tape removed
windows put in while washes dry. Oops - smudged one.
10:58 AM -

Windows completed
doors and trim added with dry brush,
Begin adding weeds at base with dry brush
11:08 AM


Washes for roof added
Dry brush to indicate slate tiles
11:28
Begin adding vines on the fronts of the buildings
Add shadows under the eaves
Dry brush building sides it imitate peeling paint

11:39 AM (about 1 hour after starting)


Add washes to darken the value of the trees in back and to create defined tree shapes. Starting to balance values.

11:43AM

The light's changing quickly and I'm having a hard time catching the values I want. Its getting cloudy.

Additional vines added
Shadows darkened

11:44


More washes glazed onto the grass in the foreground, and a feeble attempt at some rusted farm machinery added for interest.

12:06 pm



There is too much foreground for the composition, I'll crop the final piece. Not a bad preliminary painting for an hour and a half stretch of time.

Montclair State Progression Day 3 final

Finished this house - I'm very happy with the clarity of the colors and the quality of the light. It was exactly what I wanted to capture. I'm also happy because I incorporated much more of my own vision in the composition.

The image is composed of elements from a series of sketches and photographs. Although the tree exists, its further from the house and it was summer when I did my initial sketches and photos so all of the fall colors are imagined.

Here's some background on the house - I'll need to find some more about the family that built it.

The Victorian house was constructed in 1872 in the Italianate style. It was one of the prominent houses that formed Speertown, an early Dutch community in the area of present-day Upper Montclair. The house was built and owned by Thomas Van Reyper. Van Reyper, who died in 1909, married Catherine Speer, with whom he had three children. In 1952, the Van Reypers sold the property to George and Bertha Bond, who owned the house until 1966, when they bequeathed the house to Montclair State College.

Purchase Info

Montclair State Progression Day 2

Montclair State Progression

Progression of photos showing the start of a new painting

1

3

4

5

6

7

8

Venice Day 6

Finished the commission. Will touch up a couple of areas in the reflections and at the back of the canal.

Venice Day 5

Basically all that's left is the reflections in the water, always a big challenge for me. This whole piece is about the reflections so I'll need to approach them carefully, but not timidly.

Venice Day 4

Finished the upper windows and balconies and added the door and a couple of windows. I wasn't sure about adding the window grills, but they add texture. It was fun lifting the bars out of the wash with a clean, wet brush. It gives them dimension.

Venice Day 3

Started working on the windows and balconies on the building on the left. School is taking up a lot of time - but I find that being busy actually forces me to focus and keeps me productive in short bursts.