"October Fishermen -- Kent Lake" -- plein air oil study -- 9x12" stretched canvas -- Margie Guyot
I don't know why, but I seem to be attracted to zig-zaggy patterns this year! Notice the water ripples in the lower left? I've done lots of still lifes using a zebra-patterened fabric as well. And when I go plein-air painting I wear my zebra-print cowboy hat. Hmmm.... Must be all the oatmeal?
Anyway, my friends & I were out at Kensington Metropark yesterday morning, painting the beautiful fall colors. Of course this particular painting shows no bright oranges, yellows or reds, but what I loved was the bold, angular composition. I have a horror of painting bland, trite scenes of water and fluffy foliage. Maybe because I've painted hundreds of that type of thing already. So when I saw this wooden fishing dock and ziggy-zaggy ripples with cloud reflections and distant shoreline, I knew I had to paint it. There were a couple fisherpeople out there and I threw them in (into the painting, not the water -- ha ha!).
The wind was ferocious, I might add! Had to hang onto my hat. 2 of my friends had their easels blow over & left in a huff. But the worst wind I'd ever painted in was so bad, I had to tie my easel onto a tree to keep it upright. All in suffering for one's art.....
The distant shoreline reminded me of something that Rockwell Kent used to do. He reduced much of his northern landscapes to bold, simple shapes. I happened upon his work last year and really love it. I'd love to visit his stomping grounds up along the Newfoundland coastline for a painting trip! In fact, all last year I read just about anything I could find on the Arctic, Baffin Island, Newfoundland, Greenland and that general area. Since I just bought a house up near Charlevoix, I don't have the $$ to take any trips for a while. But it's a goal!
Also -- I decided to drop my website (margieguyot.com) and change the name of this blog to margieguyot.blogspot.com. The website was an expensive beast that never paid off for me. But I love this blog --- and it's FREE! Thanks for looking!
Anyway, my friends & I were out at Kensington Metropark yesterday morning, painting the beautiful fall colors. Of course this particular painting shows no bright oranges, yellows or reds, but what I loved was the bold, angular composition. I have a horror of painting bland, trite scenes of water and fluffy foliage. Maybe because I've painted hundreds of that type of thing already. So when I saw this wooden fishing dock and ziggy-zaggy ripples with cloud reflections and distant shoreline, I knew I had to paint it. There were a couple fisherpeople out there and I threw them in (into the painting, not the water -- ha ha!).
The wind was ferocious, I might add! Had to hang onto my hat. 2 of my friends had their easels blow over & left in a huff. But the worst wind I'd ever painted in was so bad, I had to tie my easel onto a tree to keep it upright. All in suffering for one's art.....
The distant shoreline reminded me of something that Rockwell Kent used to do. He reduced much of his northern landscapes to bold, simple shapes. I happened upon his work last year and really love it. I'd love to visit his stomping grounds up along the Newfoundland coastline for a painting trip! In fact, all last year I read just about anything I could find on the Arctic, Baffin Island, Newfoundland, Greenland and that general area. Since I just bought a house up near Charlevoix, I don't have the $$ to take any trips for a while. But it's a goal!
Also -- I decided to drop my website (margieguyot.com) and change the name of this blog to margieguyot.blogspot.com. The website was an expensive beast that never paid off for me. But I love this blog --- and it's FREE! Thanks for looking!
Labels: Fishing, Lake Boat Dock Morning Michigan, October, zebra
posted by Charlevoix Sax Quartet at 7:28 AM
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