Steve Fleming

Artist Studio

Steve Fleming

In The Studio: Another Day in Rockport, Maine

The Artist In The Studio

This was a really quick painting I did to warm up for my workshop.  All I was trying to do was have fun with the light on the rocks, really expressing the fun fall foliage without getting sappy, and to quickly get the water reflection.  You will see from the photograph that I played pretty loose with the subject matter but that is the way I approach watercolor.  I try to find one thing to focus on for a center of interest, in this case the rocks and contrast at the rocks and then I wanted to minimize the contrast every where else.  I know that the image is not very focused but this is a painting blog not a master photography site.  IMG_0682I like the cool shadow under the rocks against the crisp white paper this creates a nice focal point defined by a wonderful white piece of paper.  I learned this from Matt Smith in an oil workshop to keep in mind warm light cool shadows so the shadow is definitely cool and the light feels warm.  DSC_0107You can see that I really played with the subject matter and absolutely exaggerated the fall foliage.  Try to express yourself through the subject matter and have a concept going in to the painting.  If not you will just frustrate yourself trying to copy photographs, and if you succeed the painting will just be a rendering not a creative work.

2 Comments on “In The Studio: Another Day in Rockport, Maine”

  1. Love this! What has always attracted me to your work is the loose style you have and your ability to really focus on the center of interest-often it is too easy to get “lost” when painting a landscape and before I know it I almost forget why I started it in the first place. Thank you for your posts-I look forward to them.

  2. I love how you interpret the scene. By seeing your photoof the scene, I’m going realize what you want to teach us. And the painting is full of light with interesting contrast and it’s very reminiscent of fall. I like it very much, I’ll intend to try it. Thank you Steve for sharing your knowledge so wisely. Respectfully Mercedes

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