CRAB BASKETS, PART 1

 

Next to where we are staying is a restaurant serving crab (along with other dishes) and I walk past the rear of the building almost every day. So when I saw this stack of baskets in the weak sunlight, I thought about making them a subject for a painting. To do them justice, I wanted to paint them life size so cutting the largest board I had into a square, I primed the front using 4 or 5 coats of acrylic primer sanding between each coat. A single thick coat of black acrylic took care of the back. Positioning the baskets on the board and drawing them in detail took most of one day - I left some areas at the top blank as I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do there. Then starting in oil (which I hadn't used for some time), I began working on the lower slats of each basket trying to get close to the actual tone and color as I could but also realizing that the painting would need some adjustment later on. Satisfied with what I had done so far, I left this to dry off for a while. Next I'll finish the lower sections and begin thinking about the background.

GREAT BLUE HERON

 

We don't always see Great Blue Herons down at our local lake but always look out for them as they are often close to the path that runs around the edge of the water. This allows a quite close approach and as they are usually used to seeing people walking by, I can be sure to get some excellent references as they go about their lives. This bird had taken a pause from fishing and was beautifully back-lit by the early morning sun. After a quick sketch, I began this slightly larger watercolor when we got back home. I used gouache for this study since I had the paints out on my desk but kept the washes thin so as to build up the correct tones. Being slightly more opaque than my usual watercolors, I found the color built up rather quickly so it didn't take long to finish. Size is 12 x 9 inches (30 x 23 cm).

COASTAL ROCKS - TASMANIA

 

I am a bit behind in my posting on this blog but in an effort to catch up, I give you this smallish watercolor of rocks and water seen on a most amazing visit to Bruny Island with good friends. I believe this is near Penguin Island which we walked to after lunching on a wonderful white-sand beach. The incredible beauty surrounding me while I stood on the shore was one of those moments that will forever live in my mind and I could have stood there for hours just absorbing the land, the sea and the sky. For some reason, it has taken me a long time to fully understand some of what I felt during that trip to Tasmania, truly one of the most incredible place I have visited in the world! This small study is 7.5 x 11 inches (19 x 28 cm), watercolor on Arches paper.

SHORELINE ROCKS STUDY

 

I did this small study in my sketchbook as I am planning a series of rock and water paintings. I have always been drawn to this subject and have done many paintings along this theme in the past. I'm thinking that most of these will be in watercolor as I haven't used this medium in the way it was intended for some time and have created a new folder full of small references that I hope I can convert into paintings. Often though, I start a painting only to abandon it after a while as I begin to see that perhaps my idea isn't going to work out the way that I had intended. Sometimes this is because of my technique which can be perhaps a little more detailed than could be so I am trying to keep most of these watercolors a little looser. It does to some extent though, depend on the painting itself and what are my goals for the finished piece. So with this in mind, I kept the water quite loose in this study and it has seemed to have worked. Perhaps some of this will transfer over to the larger painting when I get to it - I will have to wait and see!

DECORATIVE GOURD

 

Now that we are heading towards Fall over in this part of the world, I have been seeing a lot of gourds in many of the shops we have visited. After collecting a selection of them, I decided to do a series of paintings featuring these interesting items. As an artist, their many different colors and shapes makes for some exciting images (at least as far as I am concerned) so to get things started, I did this one shown above trying not to spend a lot of time or do anything too detailed. I'm still not sure if the series will be in watercolor or oil, and since this one is a watercolor, I'm expecting the next study to be an oil. Size is 8 x 10 inches (20 x 26cm).

EASTERN SHORE MARSH

 

This painting seemed to take forever to finish. I completely repainted the sky and also redid the foreground - twice! Finally though, I think I got closer to what I had in mind a few months ago when I first started it. The idea was formed in my mind one sunny but cold day in early winter while out walking around Chincoteague. Sunlight filtered down from the thin layer of clouds above and lit up the distant water while just above the treeline, a thin layer of blue could be seen that soon disappeared as clouds filled in. The weather quickly turned blustery and cold again so we moved on to see what the rest of the area had to offer. This oil on canvas is 9 x 12 inches.

PEN AND INK DRAWINGS

 

Whenever I start a new journal, I illustrate the front of each one with a pen and ink drawing. This Short-eared Owl was done on an older journal that I filled during the winter of 2002. That one contains mostly notes on birds seen on a day to day basis but I also wrote about the weather, any mammals seen and actually anything else of note. Being by the coast, I witnessed a lot of bird migration - some days noting thousands of birds passing overhead! I soon ran out of space so started a new one.

This barred Owl graces the cover of my second journal completed that winter. This one mostly covers observations during late winter and the beginning of some early spring migration.

Usually I only write up notes and observations in my journals but occasionally do small drawings directly inside - especially if I have a bit of time during birding lulls.

This small drawing was done on the bottom of a page as I sat looking over Guard Shore inlet in the Chesapeake. This was a favorite place to visit and being winter, was usually deserted so it was just us, the amazing landscape and the birds!