May 21 - The Lodge At Crandall Park 2, Tolland, CT

It was a brisk day as the TCAA Tuesday painters made their way to Tolland, CT. This weeks choice was The Lodge, a natural setting on the backside of Crandall Park. The strong wind almost kept us away, but a good group did come by for a few hours of sketching or painting.

The day started undecided as to clouds or sun. At mid morning, the sun came out to stay, which helped us all get a predictable light. The crew today consisted of Peg, Georgiana, Lynn, Jane, Kathy W. and me. Thanks to all the hardy souls who decided to spend the morning. I had my doubts if anyone would show, and was pleasantly surprised to see all of you.

The Lodge, for those who have not been there, has a number of flowering bushes, flower gardens, some nice views of Crandall Pond 2, and lots of lovely trees of every shape and size. Occasionally a blue heron will wade through the water to fish, but not today.

It is also a nice place for a rowboat or kayak, and dogs love to swim around in the water. There are lots of trails around the park which yield more views of streams, small waterfalls, and a marsh pond that blue herons nest in every year. At last count, there were about seven active nests. Of course the lodge itself has a wrap around rustic porch and matches the landscape perfectly in color and construction.

As we walked around to choose a subject, Jane settled on a

natural bridge that crosses a small brook. She liked the compositon of the rocks and how they contrasted with the bridge. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to see what medium she was working in, but maybe she will share her sketch/painting and I can post.

Georgiana chose the waterview, as did Lynn and I. A bench was conveniently located at that particular spot, so Georgiana settled down with her pencils and charcoal, to work on a lovely sketch. One of our premier sketchers, Georgiana has done some beautiful pieces. She works pretty fast, too. How she gets such exacting detail is still something I am far from discovering. I try.

Speaking of trying, I decided to try my hand at using charcoal for my compositional lines, then using oil pastels to create a very quick sketch. It was amazing how the light changed. When I began, there was very little reflection in the water. As the sun moved through the sky, the reflections became stronger, and at one moment the reflection had a decided purple tint to it. I tried capturing it, but almost as quickly the shade was gone. That is the unique quality of plein air. The light changes, colors change, and you hope you catch that one instant when it all comes together. It is something that you cannot catch

with a camera, that play of light and color that makes plein air so exciting and challenging. So admittedly I have far to go in plein air techniques, but I honestly believe I am improving. It just takes lots of practice.

Lynn's choice of medium on this day was colored pencils. Lynn is very versatile in her many different mediums. She has done some stunning pastels, and her colored pencil drawings show the same sense of color and shape. She has many different greens to create the numerous variations of trees and landscape. Wh

en it comes to colored pencils, or pastels, the more greens you can acquire the better. Colored pencils will blend, but it isn't always easy to get around the shine that many layers of colored pencil create. In Lynn's case, she was able to avoid that decided shine.

Peg stayed up in the sunshine at the lodge. There was a patch of flowering bushes nearly in full bloom. Azalea's and rhododendrons were in bloom along with some other trees and shrubs. The light and shadow was strong, so it was difficult to capture with a camera. Peg used watercolor pencils to do her painting. When I happened to check on her, she was struggling with getting a really deep green.

There are a few different ways to use watercolor pencils. Some people will put the pencil directly on the paper, then blend it with water and a brush. Others will wet the paper first and then apply the pencil, which will bleed as it hits the water. This allows the artist to create a very liquid and soft painting. For her dark green, Peg used different combinations of pencil dropped in water. She took a bit of blue, a bit of green, and probably a bit of brown to try to get it dark enough. You can see her combination of color in the container of green she mixed the pencils in. I did not get a picture of her composition, but perhaps if she finishes it, Peg will share it so I can share it with the group.

Kathy W. found her subject at the top of the walkway to the lodge. She chose watercolors on this day. She was drawn to the walkway going down toward where Peg was sitting. As she painted, people walked down the path, and one captured her attention. A person dressed in a red jacket and blue jeans seemed a natural fit for her painting. The people are only visible briefly, so you need to work quickly to incorporate them into your piece. As I looked at her painting, my eye was immediately drawn to the figure. The trees and rocks Kathy included framed the person perfectly. Her shadows were done in shades of purples, which was the unique color of the day.

One does not realize how much purple there is on a spring day in May. That is why we paint plein air. We are given that gift of amazing shades that we would ordinarily miss. Each day you go out, the colors of nature are different. Spring, summer, fall or winter, to capture those everchanging colors is something that every artist wishes to achieve, but you never know when it will happen. Early May compared to late May, the composition and color is different. If you have not ever done plein air, just sitting and watching the color shifts will allow you to glean some of those incredible shades that nature gifts us.

   CANCELLED due to weather. We will try again on June 4.
Our next plein air outing will be May 28, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. We will be heading to Coventry. We will meet at 1141 Main St. It is a converted church which is now primarily antiques. There is a parking lot there, and across the street is Coventry Arts and Antiques.

The area is historic with lots of different architecture. Behind the parking lot is an old mill with a stream and waterfall. Many of the TCAA members love this particular part of Coventry. Hope to see you there.

The gallery of our day at Crandall Park 2 follows. There may be several angles of the same scene in case some of you might want to try your own sketch or painting.

   GALLERY