Going Coastal (Maine)

In late October, in the midst of negotiations of house sales and purchases, Rick and I escaped to the coast of Maine for a week. It was a wonderful respite, very safe and isolated in this time of Covid concerns. Our cottage looked out on a peaceful inlet, and when we weren't busy eating lobsters, we explored small towns and byways in the area. Here's a view of one of them, Boothbay Harbor, tucked up against the hills and overlooking the working waterfront.

My sketch, done with chilly fingers, is quick and efficient. I may have skipped over a building or two, but the cozy picturesque cluster of church, homes, and practical structures for Maine's lobster industry is all there. Lobster pot markers bob out in the water, as they do in all Maine coastal towns.

I started painting the scene with bands of blue and green to establish values, and then began filling in the warm tones of the foreground structures. The church, the focal point of the view, carries the highest dark and light values.

The final scene, before I cropped it and added my signature, shows a serene but hard-working town in a beautiful, typical Maine coastal world.
Have you been to Maine? What are your thoughts and memories? Leave a comment and let me know!