A Mixed Palette

Azaleas 2009

2009-05-29T23:21:00.003-04:00

Azaleas 2009 Oil on Linen 20" x 30" by Noel Darvie

For the past several years I have gone to Old Westbury Gardens to paint the Azaleas. It is my favorite subject at the gardens. This year I decided to do a large painting of them. The painting was completed in four hours. This painting was also done with only primary colors. All the greens were mixed. I'm very pleased with this painting. I don't work that large on location that much anymore. I used to many years ago. There was a time when my small size canvas was a 18" x 24". However as my style evolved, I began to work smaller.

Old Westbury Gardens Spring

2009-05-21T22:42:00.002-04:00

Old Westbury Spring-Oil on Linen 11" x 14" by Noel Darvie

I always love the return of spring. It lets me get out and recharge my batteries. With the spring flowers in bloom, I head straight for Old Westbury Gardens. What I love about the gardens is that each year the subjects change because they change the flowers from year to year. I'm always challenged with a back lit subject. I think backlighting adds drama to the subject.

Spring has Sprung

2009-04-24T23:28:00.010-04:00

Spring is in the air, the weather is getting warmer, and the spring colors are starting to appear. For me spring is a call to action to get out and start painting on location every chance I get. I did these three paintings last weekend and enjoyed every minute of it.

Old Westbury Gardens Guest House, Oil on Linen, 11" x 14", by Noel Darvie

Spring Colors Garden City, Oil on Linen, 12" x 18", by Noel Darvie

Garden City Golf Club #8, Oil on Linen, 12" x 9", by Noel Darvie

Garden City Golf Club

2009-04-03T22:37:00.005-04:00

For Birdie at Garden City Golf Club - Oil on Linen 12" x 24" by Noel Darvie

I have done many painting of the golf club. This is number seven. It was a mild day. The wind was blowing up some, but not enouigh to stop me from painting. It's been a long winter, and I didn't get out much to paint. It was good to get out. I need a plein air fix.

Man with Red Shirt

2009-03-21T23:27:00.005-04:00

Man with red shirt - Pastel 24" x 18" by Noel darvie

It has been a while since I did a pastel. I did this pastel today at an open studio at the local museum. It is a two hour head study on archival paper.

Catch the melting snow

2009-03-13T22:57:00.002-04:00

Garden City Soccer Field Melting Snow O/C 12' x 24 " by Noel Darvie

We had gotten a snow storm two Sundays ago, and the following Saturday I had a change to get out to paint. It was 50 degrees and the snow was melting very quickly. I had to work fast to catch the patterns of snow before they melted. By the time I was finished with the painting, all the snow was gone.

Gloucester Fishing Boat

2009-02-13T14:19:00.002-05:00

Gloucester Fishing Boat, oil on canvas, 8" x 12", by Noel Darvie

I've been to Cape Ann on many occasions and painted in rockport and Gloucester. I painted this from an old photo that I took many years ago. I did a painting of this location from life a couple of years ago. The building that is in the above picture had burned down and was repaced by a prefabricated metal structure which doesn't have the same character as the original. Also, the fishing boat above is no longer there. I was told that it nows works out of Maine. It's a shame, because those old beat up buildings and boats make very interesting subjects to paint.

Head Study

2009-02-04T17:09:00.003-05:00

Connie, oil on panel, 18" x 14", by Noel Darvie

Though my primary focus is plein air landscapes, I do like to paint from the model. This painting is a 2.5 hour head study from life that I did at an open studio at the local museum near me.

Street Musician # 3

2009-01-28T17:21:00.002-05:00

Street Musician # 3 O/C 12" x 8" by Noel Darvie

This is the third in a series of street musicians that I am working on.

Street Musician # 2

2009-01-17T00:13:00.002-05:00

Street Musician # 2 Oil on Linen 12" x 8" by Noel Darvie

This is the second painting of the series that I'm doing on Street Musicians

Street Musician

2009-01-09T23:28:00.005-05:00

Street Musician - Oil on Linen- 12" x 9" - by Noel Darvie

I have alot of respect for musicians. When I was an art student, one of my classmates husband was a jazz musician, and I would go to the clubs they played in and listen to their music and sketch them. I always found the street musicians interesting subjects. The above painting is of a street musician from Seattle, WA. I used a limited palette of Titanium White, French Ultramarine, Cad Red Light, Transparent Oxide Red, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Cadmium Lemon. This painting is the first in a series of street musician paintings I intend to do.

A Studio Painting from plein air paintings

2008-12-24T13:14:00.012-05:00

Being primarily a plein air painter, I don’t do many studio paintings. One of the reasons is that I have limited time to devote to my passion. There use to be a time when I could go out and paint no matter what time of year it was. Now its come to the point where I can’t tolerate the cold anymore. I guess age is creeping in. Because of this, I find that I’m not painting outdoors during the winter months, so I set a goal to start to develop studio paintings from my plein air work. My goal is to use the plein air paints that I completed, and develop a more finished type of painting.

St. Paul’s in Garden City, NY is one of my frequent painting subjects. It is a historic building in Garden City, that was a boys school in its hey day. Unfortunately now it sits empty and the community is divided on what to do with the building.

Over the years I’ve done many paintings of St. Paul’s. However I never did the building after it snowed, so I decided to created a snow painting. The following are the plein air paintings I used as reference for the completed studio painting:

St. Paul’s Winter oil on linen 12" x 18" by Noel Darvie

St. Paul’s oil on linen 14" x 18" by Noel Darvie

St. Paul’s Clock Tower oil on linen 16" x 12" by Noel Darvie

St. Paul’s Summer oil on linen 14" x 18" by Noel Darvie

Below is the finished painting. It was a good exercise because it forced me to be creative and imagine what the scene would be in the snow.

St. Paul’s Winter # 2 oil on linen 14" x 18" by Noel Darvie

Getting Started

2008-12-18T18:50:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I did my profile. I just haven't had the time to get started on my blog. I guess a good starting point is to discuss my painting process. My major joy in painting is painting on location (en plein air). I've started working en plein air over thirty year ago before it came back into fashion. When I went out painting thirty years ago, I never saw another artist outside painting. Now plein air painters are a common occurrence. I do studio painting as well, but at least 90% of my work is plein air.

I like to work alla prima (without preparation) working wet into wet, and completing my paintings in one sitting. I will do some finishing touches in the studio. My painting mediums are oils and pastels.

What I am going to do is post a progress set of images of a painting I did at Old Westbury Gardens in Old Westbury NY. It is one of my favorite locations to paint. There are a variety of subjects to paint. Whats nice about it is every year the Gardens are different. My web site has a collection of my Old Westbury paintings. I did this painting several years ago. It is a back view of the mansion "Old Westbury House". It is an oil on linen 14" x 18":

Initial sketch

Block in stage

Completing final details

Completed Painting

Old Westbury House Rear View

The total time it took me to complete this painting was approximately 3.5 hours. It was a fairly complex painting, but a nice challenge.