M. Stephen Doherty

M. Stephen Doherty
The editor of Plein Air magazine at work

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Summer Hudson River Paintings

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so I thought I would recap what I have been doing this summer. I like painting in series as it helps me quickly decide where to go each time I go out to with my supplies, and I can pick up on the ideas that concerned me during the past couple of sessions. In the spring the theme was woodland streams, and once the warm weather arrived I turned my attention to cloud formations above the Hudson River. Here are a few of the 9" x 12" oil plein air paintings I've done over past couple of months.




And here's one I photographed while I painted it:




4 comments:

  1. Steve, your series is going well! I particularly am impressed with the personality-filled silhouettes you're getting of the distant mountains- no simple thing to do. Also really like the elaborate spaces in the clouds in your third image.

    I was able to see a lot of the Hudson recently- both in April and then again at the beginning of July I came up from Baltimore to do some paintings in the Edward Hopper House Art Center in Nyack.

    From Hopper's bedroom you get a great view of the Hudson a block and a half away. This great river inspired the 19th century landscape painters and Hopper as well. You're lucky to live nearby.

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  2. Very wonderful series of small works, Steve. You have a special way of creating atmospheric auraswith the crisp whites just touching the top of the cloud formations. Nice job.

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  3. Hi Steve - That's a great idea regarding painting is a series; that it reduces the number of decisions you have to make before you get down to painting. I like the warmth that you painted into the sky in these, and overall the effects of peek-a-boo light are stunning.

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  4. I like the first phase of the painting..it looks simple and direct.

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