Hot Summer Day    12"x12" oil

In the winter I used the first painting as a starting point for a snow scene, which I painted with my finger on my iPad using Art Rage. That was so much fun, and the cleanup consisted of turning off the iPad.

Why was I so attracted to this scene? Partly because of the enjoyment I had painting there. The easy walk from the parking lot, and convenience of the location to my house helped. But mostly it was the simple beauty of the outdoors, and the compositional options with the irregularly spaced trees, the bush at the waters edge and the lovely reflections they made in the water.

As I travel, always on the lookout for scenes to paint, it's a lucky day when I find one that I can fall in love with!

I also loved to look on Instagram at other people’s versions of the portraits I drew. I was amazed that I could recognize the same sitters that I’d drawn. And I was even more amazed at what some artists could accomplish in such a short time, especially adding color. And guess what? My next few sessions didn’t go so well. I’d raised the bar. Beginner’s luck was over.

But I kept at it, hoping to get faster, in order to add color. And then I had a breakthrough. I’d been struggling, drawing the shape of the face first, then fitting in the eyes, nose, and mouth. What If I drew those first, and then put the face around it? That worked much better! Now I’m usually finished drawing in 2 or 3 minutes.

Above are some of my latest, where I worked quickly in light pencil and followed that with pen. (The blue color is an artifact.) The times available are on the bottom right, but I didn’t always need the total. I think some color may be coming soon. I'd also like to try this with boats. They swing on their moorings, so it will be a bit different.

If you want to try this, and I highly recommend it, here are two options:

www.drawingisfree.org Mondays at noon EDT, thanks to Chloe Briggs

Pencils4Tea Thursdays at 1PM EDT, thanks to Kirsty Lockhart

You can find them both on Instagram as well, and #drawingisfree and #pencils4tea on Instagram will show you lots of examples.

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Bobby’s gallery, in the historic barn above, is a fitting showcase for his coastal photographs. Here’s what’s being said about Bobby and his work:

“Bobby Baker is one of New England’s best coastal photographers. His artistry really shines as he uses the limitations of black and white photography to shoot shadow and light with lasting emotional resonance.” - Providence Journal

“Baker captures the Cape in remarkable fashion. His black and white images are iconic in the same way as noted photographer Ansel Adams' are.” - Cape Cod Life Magazine
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Has there ever been something that you wanted to try to make; a recipe, a special cocktail, a special kind of artwork? There's one that I've been thinking of for years. It was inspired by the work of Rob Adams, a British painter I met on travels to paint in France. He uses a fantastic handmade blue paper to create wonderful pen and ink drawings, sometimes with a hint of white gouache. 
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One of Rob Adams inspiring pen and ink drawings on the lovely blue paper
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I wondered what this would look like applied to a boat, and I tried it a few years ago. I especially liked using a lapstrake hulled boat for this, because there's something going on with the sides of the boat, it's not just a solid shape. I've uncovered that little sketch several times over the years, and decided to collect photos of lapstrake dinghies to see if I could make a series out of them using this medium. On our boat trips to Penobscot Bay and Mount desert Island, I was able to find some.
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I ended up finding three of these over the years and tried to take photos where the sun was creating interesting shading. It's amazing how many angles you have to photograph to get just a few that will work. And it's even harder when you're in a moving dinghy!
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These boats usually are tied to lovely classic sailboats. And often in pretty classic harbors, like Isle au Haut, Christmas Cove, and Northeast Harbor. They aren't quite as practical as inflatables, but they are oh so much more beautiful.

If you ever see a woman taking photos of boats from an inflatable, it's probably me, and if you check around you, you're probably in Maine in the summer!

Dingies at the Dock 12"x12" on gallery wrap canvas
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There’s a dinghy with a beautiful blue interior that I love to paint. It’s called Whirligig and it lives in Tenants Harbor, Maine.

Every time we visit, I try to get a new photo of it and any other boat touching it on the crowded dinghy dock. But there’s one photo I keep coming back to.

I keep coming back to this photo.

My first painting using that reference was called Dinghies at the Dock. I stuck pretty closely to the original photo and the real life colors of the three dinghy’s interiors. It’s 12”x12” in oils. Note that I left out the shadows of the ramp railings that fall inside the dinghy.
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Blue on Blue Dinghy - 6"x6" oil on canvas
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My second painting included only whirligig and the dock. It was small, only 6”x6”, but in acrylic. This time I got some of the transom in, using other photo references of the boat.
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Whirligig - 24"x24" on gallery wrap canvas
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My latest painting included all three boats again, but it's 24”x24”, also in oils. This time I turned the image a bit and went wild with the inside colors of the other two boats. Scaling it up this big was a challenge, but I think it makes a great statement at this size.
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The first painting hanging on the wall, showing the gallery wrap canvas.
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And this summer, when we stopped in Tenants Harbor on our way home from Penobscot Bay I couldn’t find Whirligig! Admittedly, it was the weekend, so maybe she was on a mooring doing her dinghy duty. I hope so, I’d hate for this to be “goodbye, Whirligig!”.
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Patricia with her finished painting, before removing the blue tape

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of teaching a painting class in France to French speakers. They are the students of my former French teacher, who now lives in France and teaches English. I taught the class in English, and Veronique wrote the English words that people didn't  understand on the whiteboard, along with French translations.

There were 13 students, two were water color painters, and I don't think the others had tried painting before. We painted in acrylics. In the first lesson, we created our drawings, using one of my buoy paintings as a guide. Some people drew freehand, using a couple of techniques to make it easier: draw from your reference photo turned upside down, and draw lines as guides on your reference photo and your paper that go vertically and horizontally through the middle of the photo and your drawing. One person traced, which is also a fine way to start.

Finished paintings, after the blue tape removal

I was pretty freaked out the first night, because I'd never taught that many people before. And I was concerned that we were using one of my paintings rather than the original photo as a reference. A week later, we painted. Everyone was excited to use the colored paints.  That night was so much fun. I loved to see how engaged the students were, and enjoyed their enthusiasm. Perhaps working from the painting as a reference was actually easier? The paintings turned out beautifully, and everyone was really pleased with their results. And they were learning English too! They all posed for pictures with their work afterwards.

We're in a crazy time right now, with lots of uncertainty. Is it time for you to pick up a paint brush and have some fun instead of spending so much time on the news? If so, I have two thoughts for you.

Two paintings we learn how to paint in the online class.

FIRST IDEA

First, I've just made my online beginner oil paintings class free of charge. It's a six lesson class that you can do at your own pace. It starts at the beginning and leaves nothing out. There's even a discussion of the supplies you'll need (some of which you probably already have) included in the first lesson.

The class is designed for total beginners, who don’t know where to buy the supplies and have never even held a brush. And for those who’ve tried, gotten frustrated, and put away their paints. If you’ve painted in watercolor, acrylic, or pastel, and would now like to try oils, it will work for you too, though there will be some review.  This page on my website, explains it all.

And let me explain why I suggest oil painting as a medium, rather than water color or acrylic. That's because it's the easiest to learn. Because it takes a few days for the paint to dry, you can scrape off bits you don't like and try again. Time is on your side, no need to rush. If you don't want to work with the solvent required for oil paint, there is a an alternative, called water mixable oil paint. It doesn't use solvents and cleans up with soap and water.  I provide a PDF on how to take the class with water mixable oils. I use them frequently myself.

Water color is the most difficult to learn, because there are no do-overs, only start-overs, which is really frustrating, especially when you're starting out, and you need to learn all the stuff that is the same for all mediums. I love watercolor paintings, and I love how easy it is to carry the gear around. Painting with water color is great for travel, but learning the basics in another medium is my recommended way to start out.

As for acrylics, the paint dries fast, and I mean really fast. If you want to change something, you can't scrape it off. You can paint over it, which is not quite the same as a do-over. You have to be careful to keep your brushes (and the paint you are working with) wet all the time. Lots of brushes have been thrown away because they weren't kept wet. If the paint gets on your clothes, they become painting clothes, the paint will not come out (with oil paint, if you catch it soon enough, you can can get the paint out). That being said, if you prefer the look of acrylic paints, you can do this class in acrylic, because much of what I'm teaching is not medium specific, and I provide a PDF to explain how. I paint in acrylic too!

SECOND IDEA

If you have painting experience, and don't need to start from the beginning, I have another idea. My friend Carol Douglas teaches a wonderful week long workshop in Acadia National Park in Maine each August and another in October in Rockport, Maine. You can check them out here. While there are other week long workshops in Maine each summer, and I've taken quite a few, I don't think you'll learn as much from any other instructor, nor will you find a more beautiful place to be inspired.

Note: While this blogpost was written in May, 2025, it wasn't live until September 22, 2025. These things happen..

Buoy 5 - 6"x6" oil on canvas board (finished on the left, value under painting on the right)

What's the most important thing to do well when creating a painting or an art photograph? Some people will say color, some will say drawing, some will say mood, and some subject matter. All those things are important, but what really matters most is composition.

Buoy 7 - 6"x6" oil on canvas board (finished on the left, value under painting on the right)

What is composition? It's not just a drawing. The shapes that are created and how dark or light they are (value in art speak) is what's important. I like to think of the composition as the arrangement and value of interlocking shapes on the canvas (or paper). This works for both representational and abstract art. In representational art, the composition is with the painter throughout the process. That's not required in abstract painting though it does have to appear at some point, even in intuitive abstract painting.

Churchy at Low Tide - 8"x8" oil on canvas board (finished right, value under painting on the left)

In landscape painting, we often create what we call a value under painting, or value roadmap to help us keep the composition in mind as we paint. It's also common to create several initial value sketches to choose the most compelling composition. These value sketches can take the place of the value under painting when time is of the essence, as it usually is in plein air painting.

Winslow Park - 6"x6" oil on canvas board (value sketch left, finished painting right)

Above, I used makers to create the different values, usually 3 to 5 values are needed.

Near Rasteau - 8"x8" oil on canvas board (value sketch left, finished painting right)

In this example I used a pen and hatching to create the different values. It's also common to use a soft pencil to create a value sketch, often called a thumbnail sketch to emphasize that detail is not the most important thing. I may have gone a bit far that direction on this last one!

If you want to try this for yourself, take a photo of a painting and turn it black and white on your phone. It will be easier to see the composition that way than when it's in color.

Two minute sketch of the village of Gordes in Provence (Tombo marker)

Sketching quickly is both fun and skill building. If I don't have time to paint, sketching is the best way to keep my painting skills from getting rusty, since it's used at the beginning of the process. I did the sketch above while my companions in the car were taking photos.

You might ask what's a sketch? To me, it's a very quick drawing, using a single drawing tool, where mistakes are left in, there's no erasing. The purpose is to catch the essence of something in minimal time, especially if that something is moving.

Quick sketch of two women knitting (Tombo marker)

There are so many fun things to sketch. I particularly like to sketch people. It's more enjoyable to sketch them live than from a photo. But you have to either have their permission, or do it surreptitiously. I do the later a lot in airports or on a beach where people are absorbed in a book or sunbathing. In the above page from my small sketchbook, I got a chance to sketch my friends at Knit Night. We talked, they knitted, and I sketched. My sketching is much better than my knitting.

Less than Minute sketches of a sailboat swinging on it's mooring (Micron pen)

If we've met, you probably know that I love boats. They're right up there with people on my fun to sketch list. And I don't need their permission. When they're moored they tend to move around, which is a challenge but also a good learning experience. Drawing and painting boats from photos has the problem of foreshortening. The end of the boat that is farthest away tends to appear even smaller in a photo (especially from a phone camera) than it is in real life. So being able to get a quick sketch in to use with a photo for detail is very helpful when creating a painting.

30 second pen sketch of a flying pelican

Birds are also fun and you have to be very quick to capture them in a sketch. I particularly like pelicans because they are so angular. And cormorants drying their wings sitting on a buoy are interesting to draw. I'll look out for one when we're next on our boat.

Trees are great to sketch in winter, when all the branches are showing. And they don't move very fast if the wind isn't blowing. This post on my old blog called Drawing Trees has long been the most popular, and I'm not sure why. I would call this more of a drawing than a sketch. It probably took 10 minutes.