The final product

The painting was developed in color over several sessions.  It includes a commuter rail train headed east.  The river flooded on the final day and I was able to add a bit of water in the foreground.

309 12x20 oil on linen, Acton, Mass.

The burnt umber underpainting

To paint the farm on a 12x20 stretched linen canvas I began with a burnt umber monochrome painting.

309

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A study sketch

To prepare for a painting where the furrows were to become larger than in life I made a drawing of a farm which departs from reality in this regard.  The furrows were actually smaller in height from bottom to top.

This sketch took about two hours in vine charcoal on 14x16 paper.

 

308

 

An Acton Farm

 The owner of this farm asked for a painting of his farm.  This watercolor includes distant white pines, a commuter rail train, crops in furrows, purple and yellow flowers, in foreground grass.

306, 7x10 inches

A 1921 Boston and Maine Railroad Blue Caboose

Painted en plein air, using pen, paper, masking tape and watercolor.  Blue caboose railway car with signal sign and trees in background.  Central Massachusetts Rail Trail along Route 62, Hudson, Massachusetts. 

304, 6x6 oil

According to this website: https://www.traillink.com/trail/assabet-river-rail-trail/

this piece of railroad history is a 1921 Boston and Maine Railroad blue caboose.

A house built in 1911

This house, white clapboard with three stories, was built in 1911. A real estate agent gave the painting to a client.

288, 11x9 watercolor

Gates Pond Resevoir and Pumphouse

Painted from life at Gates Pond on Taylor Road in Berlin, Massachusetts from a peninsula that juts out into the reservoir.  This is one of two pumping stations, brick, abandoned and standing in high waters.

287

Small Painting from Hudson, Massachusetts

Hudson Massachusetts is a town that recently won an award for its vibrant downtown shopping district.* 

A couple of years ago longtime business Vic's Barbershop moved to a new locatioin and to record its original appearance, I painted a detailed portrait of the original location of Vic's Barbershop from a snapshot (https://assabetarts.blogspot.com/2021/06/barber-shop-has-been-in-downtown-hudson.html).

Since then I have painted several small watercolors scenes from life in this town.

Below, some horse paddocks and a red barn near River Road in Hudson with the Assabet River.

This watercolor is 6x4 inches. My favorite part was masking out the fence boards using thin tape.

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* References:

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/hudson-americas-main-street-contest/      

https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/business/2021/12/20/downtown-hudson-ma-declared-winner-of-2021-americas-main-streets-contest/8967423002/

https://www.mainstreetcontest.com/