Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, from Brooklyn Bridge Park

I have been having a great time painting watercolors in New York over the past month and now I have some time to post up the work. For this study of the bridge connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan (July 29th; afternoon) I set up on some protective rocks that breakdown large vessel wake from entering Brooklyn Bridge Park, very close to the Manhattan Bridge and about 20 feet away from the East River, looking due North of the direction the river is named. The light was high above the middle span of the suspension bridge and doubly creating backlight and highlighting the atmospheric smog / water vapor hanging around the bridge.

Uncategorized

August 6, 2013

Leave a comment

A Break in Continuity

I like to see paintings that are either unfinished or in progress. I think process outweighs progress in almost every aspect of creation.

It is easy to see the more finished extent of mark-making, the palette used, most clearly it is plain to see that there is underdrawing. After observing the subject, strong architectural lines were made with a palette knife and a mix of burnt sienna and french ultramarine blue to compose the underdrawing. These lines really help precision in depicting perspective. The contrast is high with the sun almost directly on top of the boat’s bow, which helps give the vessel a positive look, almost making way through the light, and undefined aspects of the work.

Some rain had begun to sweep, and I felt that I had a good hand on the painting so far so I did not want to try to finish it quickly while it soaked in, scrambling the two concentrations together to finish in the rain.

Uncategorized

June 18, 2013

Leave a comment

Still Life with Sunflowers

Uncategorized

June 13, 2013

Leave a comment

Lowell oils on paper

It is easy to make cheap painting surfaces for quick immediate observational paintings/drawings. For these quick 10-15 minute oil sketches of the canal locks and gates I saved a surplus of cardboard cases and cut them to prepare for glue sizing or gesso application. If you want the painting to have a hard backing, it is my advice to size the board with Gamblin rabbit skin glue onto de-tempured masonite, creating an almost glassy painting surface, but for these, gesso was applied to single sheets of cardboard so they would be pliable. Another benefactor to using no backing is that you can go out and use them all on a single drawing pad and use clothespins to protect the painting while it dries and you paint another. Just like anything, painting involves warming up.

Hint- Apply from nose to tail and rail to rail to ensure protection from the oil to the board and also give a rough texture to the underpainting.

Uncategorized

June 12, 2013

Leave a comment

‘Ebb Tide, Seabrook’ oil pastel June 9th, 2013

Uncategorized

June 9, 2013

Leave a comment

Memorial

These paintings were completed in one sitting each on two separate trips to Washington DC.

The first was painted to the right of the stairs that lead to the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in the Reflection Pool, while the Capitol building is in distance.

In the second painting, the subjects are reversed. You can see the monument in the left corner. The Capitol Building was painted two days before the election in 2004, while under repair.

 

 

Uncategorized

May 25, 2013

Leave a comment

Hair of the Dog

I’ll have a number of paintings and sketches up at the Essex Art Center for the 9th Annual Hair of the Dog Wine Tasting & Art Show to benefit the MSPCA at Nevins Farm on Friday, May 3rd 6PM-9PM.

Good company, good wine, good welcome make good people. -WS

Uncategorized

April 16, 2013

Leave a comment

Hope Lynn, Flood

March 12th, watercolor painted from the West side of the Yankee Fisherman’s Co-Op, in Seabrook, NH.  I started the sitting after high tide, before the rain had started on this overcast, not-yet wet day, 42 degrees, not a lot of wind, an hour and a half study of The Hope Lynn skating on its mooring in the Hampton River.

Uncategorized

March 14, 2013

Leave a comment

Nevins Farm #1

Presently, I am working on a continual series of paintings at the Methuen MSPCA / Nevins Farm area.

I will be working on oil and watercolor paintings through the 55 acre animal farm / non-profit focusing on plein-aire views of the of the New England architecture and its “ever-changing assortment” of wildlife. The farm also serves as an embassador of rehabilitation and adoption services as well as almost living museum worthy equine-rescue services and humane-education workshops.

To visit their homepage please visit

http://www.mspca.org/adoption/methuen-nevins/

Uncategorized

February 27, 2013

Leave a comment

Sazuki in Sumi Ink- Process

This is one of my favorites, a 30 inch striped bass caught from the shore in 2008. The fish was cleaned and dried in salt and then rubbed from tail to head to flake out the scales, making the scale cavities more susceptible to hold traditional sumi ink. I then put some red gouache inside the gill plate to match the fishes color. After the side and complete body was inked, I moved it to a clean printing table, where the fish was laid out to give its body more of a gesture of a heavy fish getting ready to strike.

When the paper (this image was printed on 140 Lb cold pressed arches watercolor paper) and fish are ready, it’s time for the mono print, which is done by hand from the center out, making sure that once contact is made, the connection of fish to paper stays put to prevent ghosting. I am very careful to exit the paper in the reverse movement.

You can visit a nice section about my work by Diandra Mintz in Beautiful Decay’s Art Direction and Design website at http://beautifuldecay.com/2011/11/22/stephen-silk/

Uncategorized

January 17, 2013

Leave a comment