Corey Aber

 
When I was in downtown Leesburg this weekend I came across this cool roof and weathervane and was reminded of a Wyeth painting I can’t seem to find. I took a quick picture more for the structure than the scene–in real life the sky was a flat blue and some trees were creeping up behind the roof. Very pleasant for a morning out, but not so exciting for a painting. I tried to draw on memory to make some clouds dissipating to reveal a patch of blue sky, and I lit the cupola(?) as if the sun were shining from outside of the frame.

The cool part of the weathervane is still to come, but I have to let the sky dry and the paper flatten again.
I am using a block of Fabriano Artistico traditional white cold press paper. I like the paper, though it is softer than Arches, but the block isn’t so good. I left it in the sunlight one day and the glue separated in a bunch of places, so it doesn’t quite keep the paper as flat as it should. Still, I like the paper for paintings like this or for still life studies, though I think it’s not as good for details as Arches. The Fabriano 5×7 blocks are great for small sketches and are a pretty good price online.

I am getting back into reading fiction after a hiatus for what feels like a binge of history/urban studies reading between several books and a whole lot of articles. Winesburg, Ohio will be my first book. I started it years ago, but it did t line up with what I was interested in writing at the time–I found it hard to enjoy reading while I was writing–, but I hope it will prove more rewarding this time around. I’ve been thinking about building more implied story into my paintings, at least for some of them, and Winesburg, Ohio might fit well with that. This painting is a first step. 
Thanks for reading.