Certain Slant of Light

There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons
That oppresses, like the heft
Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings, are.

None may teach it anything,
'T is the seal, despair,
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.

Emily Dickinson

I never really understood this poem, but when I see the winter sunlight I think of the first stanza. I always liked the late fall season, before the snows come, and the early spring before the flowers bloom. I like the color palette that arises from the browns, muted greens and dried grass tan viewed through the crisp air. Here are some sample shots that I found on-line that typify the look I am going for.




For an interesting example of how seasonal lighting affects a scene see the Sauter's Delight Blog.

More Backdrop Work

Work continued on the backdrop and hill scenery in front of it. One of the advantages of hand painting the backdrop is that I can make changes or modifications easily. As I install the terrain for the hill between the tracks and the backdrops, I see that I may need to repaint small sections to better integrate the hill with the backdrop. This is easy to do with hand painted scenes.

You can also see how the clouds formations have smoother color blending thanks to using oil paints. The acrylic paints dry so fast that it can be hard to blend the color transitions. To feather acrylic paints takes multiple layers of very dilute paint, called a wash. This is made more difficult by the vertical nature of the backdrop, as the dilute paint forms drops that can run down. Oil paints are much easier to blend. I am using water soluble oil paints that do not require mineral spirits to thin. They are very handy. They dry a little quicker than normal oil paints too.

These two photos show close up views of the backdrop. The building is a paper cut out from Brian's artwork. This one is just secured with a piece of masking tape. When I go final I will use double sided adhesive film.

I can print these at various sizes and shades to fit into the scene. I think they will save a lot of time.

There are two books I found useful in preparing me to paint backdrops. The first is "Landscape Illusion" by Daniel Chard. The style and techniques he presents are very useful in applying to model railroad backdrop painting. The other is "Acrylic Landscape Painting" by Hugh Green. This book is a more general purpose discussion of using acrylic paints in landscape scenes. I haven't personnally seen Mike Danneman's new book, but his backdrops are some of the best I have ever seen.

Backdrops Decision - hand paint or photo murals

I am at the point in construction that I have to make a decision about the backdrops. For the first section I used a photo mural that combined Brian Kammerer's art work with actual winter photos of the Potomac River watershed. This worked out great. The completed 12 ft section always gets compliments from visitors.

But the next couple sections of the layout traverse some relatively hilly ground with two stream crossings. The first will be a short trestle over Clairbourne's Run. The second is a big gap across Potomac Creek. These two crossings will require special treatment to properly convey the perspective of the run (stream) flowing around the scenery. Trying to get the computer printouts to fit this area is going to be very tricky.

I am also concerned that I can not get my scenery colors to match the backdrop colors. While it is not too obvious in person, it is very noticeable in photos.

Therefore, I thought I'd take a stab at hand painting the backdrops. I think I can handle the ground, trees and details. I can not paint the sky and clouds as well as an actual photo. Here are some photos showing the results of the first section of hand painted backdrops.

I actually enjoy the painting process, so the extra work is not an issue. The computer files are so large that they tend to bog down the computer, so working on the art process on the computer is not as enjoyable as it could be. So....... decisions, decisions?

Work is also progressing on the Potomac Creek scene. Mark was over Saturday and he continued with framing the deep benchwork. I continued some work on it Sunday, installing the backdrop

extension. Reconfiguring the benchwork in this area to accept the deep and long bridge scene was a lot more involved than we first anticipated. Not only did the benchwork have to be rebuilt, but the sky board had to be extended down to provide the depth needed where Potomac Run meets the backdrop. Although a bit of work, it was not difficult and it is coming along nicely. I am using Bondo Filler to patch the seam between the existing styrene backdrop and the lower extension. The big hole in the sky just visible at the right is to allow access to the main water shut off. It will be covered with terrain, or a structure. Alicia came down and gave the scene a "thumbs up." She also said she prefers the computer printed backdrop, but she only saw the initial phase of the test section.

Winslow Homer, "Home, Sweet Home"

I was at the US National Gallery recently to see the "Art of Power" display. While attempting to "Home, Sweet Home." A scene showing two Union soldiers in camp during a lull in battle. In a brief glance I must admit I was blown away by the painting. I took a few moments to study it up close. The prints you see on-line do not do it justice. His color palette and techniques are flawless. The image just glows. Really amazing. I found it interesting that much of the painting has impressive detail except for the faces of the soldiers, which are depicted nearly featureless and in shadow. I think I have to move this one to the top of my list of favorite paintings.

leave the museum I happened upon Winslow Homer's painting

I was also impressed by the painting of The Virgin of Mercy with the Family of the Catholic Monarchs, c. 1486 at the "Art of Power" display. It is amazing that oil paintings can look that great after nearly 525 years. Again, the on-line image does not capture the radiance of the original. It's worth a trip to check it out,though the link above will take you to a Flickr site with images of all the of objects in the display.

Stopping by the National Gallery during a lunch break is one of the unheralded perks of working in downtown DC adjacent to the Mall.

Group Work Session

We had a great work session tonight with 7 guest helpers showing up to help push the USMRR AC&F along. Marty McGuirk, Norm Wolf, John Drye, Jeff and Christian Peck, Mark Kempinski showed up to work, while my twin brother, Rob Kempinski visiting from Florida, regaled us with tales of his two under par golf round he shot earlier that day. I was there to witness it. Lets just say that Alicia and I lost more balls than holes to offset Rob's under par round.

From Left to Right, John Drye, Jeff Peck, Mark Kempinski, Marty McGuirk. Norm skipped out before we could snap his picture.

Left to right: Me, Mark and Rob - all three Kempinski boys standing by the future big bridge scene.

To keep things organized I had sent out an email message earlier with job assignments, so everyone knew what to do. All was ready for them to jump to work. After a quick pizza dinner, Marty checked all track for missing spikes, Norm installed windows on the freight house building, Jeff disassembled some benchwork left over from the N Scale layout, JD worked on painting figures and Mark rebuilt the benchwork to accommodate the big bridge over Potomac Run. Christian played Call of Duty 4 on the XBox360 while Rob observed the action. I continued to add spline sections near Stonemans Station while helping answer everyones' questions. And lets not forget Alicia made chocolate chip-coconut macaroon cookies as a treat. They were excellent.

The bridge over Potomac Creek is looking like it will be one of the signature scenes. The actual bridge is 400 feet long and 80 feet tall. Mine at 48 inches long and 12 inches tall will be about half that in scale. We built a quick mock up with a 2x4, a 1x2 and some foam abutments. Mark and I decided that a truss about 2.5 to 3 inches tall will look about right. In the time period I am

modeling the bridge was a triple arch truss,

not a stick type trestle. The 2x4 mock-up here is too tall and makes the bridge look too squat.

On Wednesday, Dr Steve Clarson visited from Cincinnati and had a chance to check progress on the layout before he and I went to John Drye's house for a work session on his N Scale layout.