Warty Pumpkin #2

 "Warty Pumpkin #2" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 12x12"  -- Margie Guyot

Setup for "Warty Pumpkin #2"

I guess you could say I love pumpkins.  When I was a kid there only seemed to be one or two types: the big, jack-o-lanterns and the little pie pumpkins.  My sister and I just loved picking out pumpkins!  Some years my dad would drive us around to several pumpkin stands to find "just the right ones".  

Now that more and more interesting-looking varieties are coming onto the market, I get excited each October, looking to see what the growers have come up with.  If the cold and snow can hold off a little longer, I still have another pumpkin or two to paint.  This is the first year I've tried painting them in this setting.  

While the Northeast was busy digging out from their early snowstorm yesterday, I was sitting on my front lawn, wearing my down coat, and trying to paint this second type of "warty" pumpkin.  Sorry, I don't know the name of the variety.  And I'd gotten a rather late start (3:30) and not only was the sun going down, but the rain was moving in.  Had to use my #8 flat brush and work fast!  The raindrops began just as I was putting on the finishing touches.

Country Road - Leelanau County

"Country Road - Leelanau County" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel 8x10"

Love those cool shadows across the gravel roads!  While painting this one, I turned to my friend Al Maciag (who was painting a few feet away) and said, "This looks like a pile of gumballs!"  But I stuck with it and managed to get a decent painting.  Sometimes a few bold, straight (more or less!) strokes can make clarity out of chaos! 

Scott Road, Looking West

"Scott Road, Looking West" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 12x24" -- Margie Guyot

This is the road I live on.  That's Lake Michigan and the Leelanau Peninsula in the distance.  The fall colors were in prime condition, with the maple trees all shades of gold and red.  Last year I stood on the distant ridge, facing east to paint Scott Road.  This time I decided to paint the opposite view.  

Normally I wouldn't use such a large canvas for a plein air.  There's such a large area to cover -- in so little time!  But I really wanted to paint a long, horizontal view and this 12x24" canvas was the only thing I had.  I was painting with a buddy, Al Maciag, and I didn't want to hold him up, so I painted fast as I could.  

Every time I drive over Scott Road, I'm thrilled at how beautiful it is here.  

That's a new field of corn on the right.  That field hadn't been used in years.  The landowner rented the land this year and I think all us neighbors were surprised the corn did so well.  It had been planted late and the ground is quite sandy.  If you got up close to it, you'd see the outer edge of the cornfield had been quite "gone over" by the resident deer and raccoon population.

I'd like to do a winter painting of Scott Road, but I doubt it will be painted from this location.  The wind is quite fierce up at this ridge!  Half the time I had to hold onto my Soltek easel while painting this, or it would have blown over.