Wednesday Afternoon in Wickford

  Weather and other factors permitting, I offer plein-air painting lessons in the scenic village of Wickford, RI, every Wednesday afternoon.  Normally I and my drop-in students park at the lot at the end of Main Street.   The lot has several fishing boats tied up along its edge and a wonderful view of the harbor.  There are still sailboats moored in the harbor and, as the weather worsens (i.e., turns wintry) , the boats will start disappearing.  Yesterday was a winderfully sunny day but with a bite at the edge of the wind.

   So, instead of setting up along the edge of the lot to capture in oil a harbor scene, I decided to offer my drop-in students an opportunity to walk along the more sheltered streets.  Leaving my own car in the lot by the fishing boats, I lugged my gear one block up Main to Bay Street where I set up on a street corner which offered a wonderful view of this old New England Street.  The main attraction was a red house .  Here's a (crooked!) snapshot of the oil sketch:

Off Bay Street (Wickford), Oil on Linen, 8 x 10

The sketch , although small, had its complications compounded by a sun that refused to be consistently strong-- clouds were building up as the afternoon progressed.  At least I have an idea of the corrections I must aim for when I prop the sketch on the studio easel.  But I may actually "bypass" the so-called finishing phase in favor of revisiting the basic elements of composition and design.  I will visit the same scene again, perhaps before next Wednesday to do another sketch.

 

   In any case it was great fun to play with color undisturbed on this rather quiet street in Wickford.