Barn Door, Scott Farm

After about two weeks of work, I finally finished my latest project. Although the subject is typical for me - a closely focused architectural element - the process proved a bit different. Although I've used pen and ink highlights in other paintings to accentuate key details or more clearly define the boundaries between objects, I haven't really used that medium as the foundation for a painting. There are those artists who employ consistently the pen and ink drawing/watercolor wash combination. Among early watercolorists, for example J.M.W. Turner, a carefully rendered pen and ink drawing nearly always represented the "bone structure" of a study, while muted washes from a very limited palette formed a secondary element.

Having studied this mixture of media over the last month, I decided to experiment more extensively with pen and ink. The result is this tightly-focused study of a barn door and rusty hinge from Scott Farm in Vermont. As you might have seen from many of my earlier farm photos, the wood on these 19th century barns displays incredible variation in weathering. Some boards retain large patches of whitewash and others stand with their intricate grain patterns bared to the harsh Vermont winters. In the end I was happy with the results, but recognize that this can prove a time consuming process on more intricately detailed subjects. Wood grain isn't easy to create! (9" x 12", pen and ink, watercolor, Fabriano paper)