Marina at Raquette Lake, 12x12

Marina at Raquette Lake, pastel by Adriana Meiss

   This piece was started several years ago, inspired on a camping trip near Raquette Lake. The intended format was vertical. At some point I started having trouble with the evergreen branches closer to the top. and after removing and adding pastel several times, I finally gave up on it.

   Recently, thinking about what to submit to the Adirondack Pastel Society show, this piece came to mind, and remembering also that I had some gold frames in a square format, I just put one in front of the painting and, voila! With the square format the area that was overworked could be removed without detracting from the focal area!  There was some more work done, mainly on the trees, but I was happy to finally say that the painting was finished.

Dragonfly Heaven, 9x12"

Dragonfly Heaven by Adriana Meiss

    I am so happy to have finished this painting that for months sat on a shelf in the studio. A dead tree in the middle of the pond had kept me from working on this one. I debated whether  to move it to the right or to the left, making it the focal area or to not include it at all.  As I remembered the day I was at this location and how at peace I felt listening to the insects and the wind I realized that the dead tree wasn't important; all it needed was a mood that invited the viewer to be there. I hope it will strike such feeling in people.
    This is on Rondaxe Road, Old Forge, NY. The road divides the pond in two, so there are nice views on both sides.

The View from the Green Bridge, Old Forge, 10x8"

View from the Green Bridge, pastel by Adriana Meiss

I was in Old Forge this past weekend to see the opening reception of the pastel exhibit at View Arts Center, and to take a portrait workshop with Alain Picard.

While there, some friends wanted to see how I painted on location and for that purpose we went to the Green Bridge, which offers nice views in both directions. The "demo" was very short, perhaps half an hour, and I pointed out the most important aspects of painting outdoors: 1. select the subject,  2. Make small sketches first to determine the right composition and what the focal area is going to be,   3. pay attention to color temperature and values,  4. block in the main masses, and finally 5. provide some detail. I like to work as fast as I can so that the changing light conditions do not tempt me to make too many adjustments to my painting. This is the original piece:

en plein air, View from the Green Bridge

In the studio I continued working on it and did some minimal changes to the composition.  What took me the longest was giving the idea of a swift current. I realize that the freshness the original had is gone, but I needed to bring it to a level  I felt comfortable with.
 
About the workshop, all I can say is that it was very informative to see the 2-hour demo Picard did the day before the workshop. I tried to approach the portrait as if it were a landscape, but one thing  is sure, you won't be seeing portraits in this blog anytime soon.