NHIA - watercolor study

This is an 8" X 8" watercolor study of the New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA) building on Concord Street. I was just playing with colors.  I learned that I don't like drawing straight lines. I did them in pencil first, then ink (on 140 lb CP paper). I was thinking of doing this as a larger painting with acrylics on canvas, but I don't like it enough to continue.

I also learned that I really prefer painting with acrylics and I plan on preparing two canvases this morning with some undercolors, one very dark for a bright painting (possibly of the emerald green lizard I saw in Costa Rica) and another just of the standard neutral gray. That will probably wind up as another trail painting. I still have some larger canvases in my studio, but haven't decided what to do with them yet.

I am getting over my fatigue from all the Passover preparation (cleaning and cooking). It was wonderful celebrating with  family & friends again, but as I get older I find the preparation very tiring. Still love this holiday.

We watched a NH Public TV (Channel 11) "Windows to the Wild" program last night about hiking north of the notches in Pittsburg. Since we love going up there every few years, I think we will try some of those trails the next time, if not this year, then next year.  I bookmarked a website with more information.

Trail Series - continued

 Mount Morgan

I am going to take a break for a while from my trail series. I'm planning on experimenting with something more graphic for a large panel. I'll probably do my initial study with watercolor.  The panels are 4 feet by 4 feet. I haven't done anything that large yet. Should be fun.

Meanwhile, this painting and the others I posted recently are up on my website. This mountain is part of a two peak hike near Squam Lake in New Hampshire. It is easier to go up Mount Morgan first, then down a bit, then up again to Mount Percival and back down to the trail head.  It is a moderate hike with some steep areas.  There are beautiful views of the lake from both peaks.  I did a painting of Mount Percival in the past with campers on the peak.

We're expecting snow tonight in New Hampshire and I'm looking forward to it.  Spring is trying to get here, I found one crocus open and the birds are chirping away, but I would like to do cross country skiing one more time. Also, the snow covers up all the leaves that didn't get raked up in the fall. We'll have lots of spring cleanup to do soon.

Trails & Hiking Gallery
The link above should take you directly to the trail series and other trail paintings.

I have learned a lot from doing this series and will probably continue it in the future.  I have already picked out more photos to work from.  Doing the Mount Morgan painting I learned that I need to be much more careful with my original drawing from a photo.  This part of the trail was fairly flat, but my painting came out to look more uphill because I didn't have my drawing done accurately.  I'm o.k. with my mistakes, since I consider myself a perpetual student and I'm learning all the time. I decided not to wipe out my errors and start over, just crop the photo and enjoy looking at the painting anyway.

Sketches from Costa Rica

I did a little sketching while on vacation. These two were scenes from the porch at the lodge in the Tortuguero national park. It was a 2 hour ride on a boat to get to the lodge. The cabins were rustic, but comfortable. Beautiful flowers all around. I watched a hummingbird as I was sketching.  This park goes out to the Atlantic side and the turtle nesting area.

This sketch was done from the Pacific side of Costa Rica, at the Marriott, Guanacaste.  The wind was blowing and the tree was swaying. There were birds flying around too. I don't know the names of the different kinds of palm trees, but there was an interesting variety of them in the country.

Costa Rica photos

Sloth (oso perezoso) in Costa Rica. I had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica with a friend. I posted my album at this link: Costa Rica photos

We saw many animals along the river, learned about turtle nesting sites and the ecology. We traveled from coast to coast, the Rain Forest, the Cloud Forest, the Dry Forest. I enjoyed hiking in the Arenal area on the hanging bridges.  Best of all was swimming in the hot mineral pools.  A great trip.

Also, I got to practice my Spanish.  I had taken a review course in the fall and I enjoyed using it.  I definitely need more Spanish classes to become fluent again (I had studied Spanish more than 40 years ago and have forgotten most of it).  I am a perpetual student and always looking to learn new things and more about them. This trip was educational as well as enjoyable. Highly recommended!

I met and enjoyed speaking with another artist, Edgar Yerar, but could not find a link for him online. The one he gave me did not work. He gave me some great ideas for future artwork. I took a picture of him and his display.