Lost Landscapes: Gloucester MA.

This is a 9x12 inch pencil and felt tip ink drawing of a New England fishing port based loosely on the harbor of Gloucester Massachusetts I was getting desperate for another subject to paint, and after much agonizing. I thought I came across a .jpg file of Olde Gloucester. I marveled at the quality of the image. Everything worked beautifully in that painting. A few days later I was looking at a model railroad layout and an old modeled harbor scene with an interesting warehouse with an attached sail loft. I got the idea to combine some elements of the Old Gloucester I found some old photos I got from the Cape Ann Historical Society that were taken from an elevated point of view. I saw that there were some general features of the layout of the docks that repeated themselves with regularity in the old photos of the Gloucester. I liked the character of the buildings from Olde Gloucester and put a church steeple in a different location in the sketch. The small brigantine in the forward part of the sketch is not proportioned properly, but at least I know how the buildings work with the other elements of the painting. I outlined the buildings with marker pens both thick and thin points, and put some penciled in details to give the image some body by contrasting inked in elements of the sketch. It will be an 18x24 inch or 14x20 inches, which ever works better. As usual I am always looking for feedback and always welcome objections and criticism.

5 Comments

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jamie winter 17 Jul 2011

wow, this is simply awewsome. well done. incredible detail!

ruth sears 16 Jul 2011

very beautifully done Stanton,the composition is wonderful.

Julie Mayser 16 Jul 2011

Amazing... it already has more detail than I would ever put into a painting: I just am not detail oriented. The rigging on the ship is so very complex! You must know your stuff... :-) My only feedback at this point is that I think the steeple is slightly tilted to the left.

Artist Reply: I noticed the leftward leaning of the steeple after I inked in the lines. That's what happens when you try to do it all in your lap and turn around to look at the computer screen while your truing to watch a baseball game. It really doesn't work very well.

Cynthia Stayte 16 Jul 2011

Beautiful work!!! I enjoy all your art, this is awesome, love all the detail you put into it. Well done!

kathleen thompson 16 Jul 2011

I love scenes like this, docks, seaports. Great work, can't wait to see the final drawing!!

Artist Reply: Thanks Kathleen. This work will ba a watercolor when it's completed.