 This is a tiny little 3" x 3" that I did as a birthday greeting for a friend at work. Our birthdays are one day apart and as 'birthday buddies' we try to do something a little special for each other. Birthdays are a good time to take stock, think about how you have spent the past year and what you would like to accomplish in the next. After a few Christmas gift dog portraits on the schedule, I want to go big. I bought a supply of large canvas, ordered new paint and am ready to begin!  8" x 10" I have some dogs waiting to be painted but it's fun to stretch and explore other subjects. The current nautical theme is my attempt to hang on to summer as long as I can. This painting was an exploration of the bold transparent colors. The original plan was to tone them down with the opaques but I always worry about over-painting and ending up with a mess. Each attempt is a learning experience and sometimes knowing when to stop is the hardest lesson learned. (although I just might have to go back and clean up the green that has snuck into the fence)  8" x 8" I feel so fortunate to live by the ocean, with so many painting opportunities. I follow an artist who lives in the midwest. He paints the flat landscape with big skies in all the changing light. His work is beautiful. The truth is we paint what inspires us, we know best, what we see in our daily lives. I am so happy to live by the ocean!  The true end of summer for me is when we turn the clocks back and the sun sets as early as 4:30 in the afternoon. I read an interesting article in the Boston Globe proposing that the New England States adopt Atlantic Standard Time matching the Canadian Maritime Provinces. The change would mean not having to adjust our clocks between November and March. Luckily I have taken lots of reference photos so my painting can happily continue during the dark days ahead. The boats are coming out of the water, the mooring balls will be replaced by winter sticks.   The key to capturing the fish was to use only transparent colors. In the end I needed a tiny bit of ice blue but the transparent brown, indian yellow and phthalo blue really give the underwater look. Time to paint more fish! |
