16 -18 (30 in 30 Challenge) - "Rolling Past", "Up the Beach" and "Down the Beach"

Ok. Back up. Here are a few more from the beach trip.

 Rolling Past

4x4, oil

Up the Beach

4x4, oil

Down the Beach

6x6, oil

Day 14 and 15 (30 in 30) "A Proclamation" and "Strawberry Moon"

I woke up to watch the sunrise the day we were to drive back to Richmond. The clouds to the east were fairly dense, but the sky to the west was clearer and there was that big full moon -- June's Strawberry Moon.

Strawberry Moon

6x8, oil

This one was another sunrise, I didn't make it out to the beach until the sun had already risen. I named this one "A Proclamation" because Psalm 19:1 says:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

This sky took me around 1 hour to put down on canvas. And it was hard work. This same sky, changing every instant, God spoke into being. And every second it was a new formation and new declaration of His majesty. And a different one from every beach in the world, every day of the year. Can a craftsman make something more intricate or grander than himself? No. How glorious must this Maker be...

 

A Proclamation

6x8, oil

Days Seven through Eleven (30 in 30)

 My brother told me to use the biggest brush. 

 

Prob would call this one Gusting 20 mph.

 

Sound Side, 11x14

One to send to my gallery next week.

Gallery Flux

(804)752-3540

307B England Street, Ashland, VA 23005

Sound Side

11x14, oil
sold

A painting grows up: "Clouds Over Jockeys Ridge", 10x10

Sometimes small paintings stay small and sometimes they also grow up into a little larger paintings. This was the case for a recent painting commission. Over the summer I painted a 6x6" painting titled "Clouds Over Jockey's Ridge". I painted it on location in OBX.

I was contacted by Diana at For Art's Sake to paint a slightly larger version of the piece for client. I took progress photos of the painting to share.

 

 Burnt Umber underpainting to lay out the shapes.

 

 I began with the sky, and everything that touched it -- the trees on the horizon and the bush in the foreground.

  

A shot of my palette post-sky.

 

The water on Jockey's Ridge (the sound side) is shallow and the waves were small. Love that dark smokey blue with the flecks of the white caps and the reflections of the sky.

 

Next, I started constructing the shapes of the driftwood/bear branches.

 

Beach complete, but the colors needed to be corrected. I gave it a week or so to dry before adding some thin glazes of color.

 

"Clouds Over Jockey's Ridge"

10x10, oil on panel

It was definitely a fun one to revisit.

Thanks for reading!

15 Paintings in 15 Days (Round 2) - Day Four

For Day Four I'm posting a commissioned painting that I started a few days before the 15 in 15 began, but the majority of the work was completed during the last 3 days, so it'll have to count for one of my 15 paintings. 

 "Gunny's Lookout"

9x12, oil

(It's not 100% finished -- still need to work on the lettering of the sign on the side of the house.)

As I mentioned this was a commissioned work, so here's an opportunity to explain my process for creating a painting for a client. 

5x7" study of "Gunny's Lookout"

1. After discussing the concept or location the client wishes to capture I paint a loose study of the scene and ask for feedback. We settled on this vertical orientation to capture his puppy, Gunny, standing with front paws on the railing, looking out over the beach.

2. Next a size is chosen and the underpainting is begun. In this case I spent a lot of time getting those architectural angles correct and adequate spacing of the railings to "let" Gunny peak through.

3. I don't usually paint one section to completion before adding color to the rest of the canvas, but I did in this case because of the amount of detail necessary in such a small almost 1" squared area.

4. I ended up painting almost this entire painting section by section. As I said I don't usually do this but I had my previous study by which to assess my colors and values. In the above photo I painted in the color of the house and the beach chairs/fishing rods/Adirondack chairs that would be behind the railing. I let this section dry overnight.

5. Next step was the railing & posts/pillars. For some reason getting the right gray with the correct amount of color in it was pretty difficult. I'm very happy with the result, but this portion of the painting was quite time consuming.

6. After several hours the paint was starting to get tacky so I sealed it in a large palette saver (plastic air tight box) and placed it in the "freezer" (the back porch) over night. Above is after working on it a bit more. I made a "swipe" of the sky color next to the house which really helped to asses values and hues. Wish I had done that the day before.

 

7. And then the fun dabs of color to make up the beach, bathers, tents, sea gulls, kite, sand and sea grass. The client asked for an oval OBX sign to commemorate the trip. I still need to work on the letter for the warm wood colored sign on the side of the house, but the rest is complete.

Below are a few detail shots of the painting.

 Definitely counts as another fun one! I'll update this post when the sign is added... but I had to get a painting posted before I head out to the in-laws' house tonight. Have a great weekend!

Painting on the beach, Nags Head, NC

Last week my parents rented a beach house & invited the family for our 3rd annual beach vacation.

We did some biking, some sunset watching and of course a lot of swimming.

 

I brought my painting gear. I have a whole new respect for those everyday beach plein air painters. I  got more sand in my palette and on my paintings than I thought possible. My painting almost blew away once when I was packing up to leave. I think I even got a little sea sick while painting (on solid ground -- the beach) at Jockey's Ridge one particularly gusty day. Someone said the wind was in the middle 20's mph.

Despite all that painting on the beach, battling the wind and the sand beats painting in the studio any day! Below are a few of my favorites from the week. (Most of the sand has been scrapped off the paintings & a few touch-ups were made once I returned home.)

 

Afternoon at the Beach

8x10, oil on panel

sold

The Blue House on the Beach

9x12, oil on panel

sold

Clouds Over Jockey's Ridge

6x6, oil on panel

sold

End of the Pier 20x16

End of the Pier

20x16

 

Hanging at For Art's Sake Gallery.

(Through June 3.)

Beach Break 12x12

Beach Break

12x12, oil

sold

I thought this piece might be appropriate to post with the upcoming holiday weekend. I know many families spend Memorial Day weekend at the beach or at the pool. With this painting I sought to capture a sense of recreation and relaxation that comes with a vacation to the beach -- a red bicycle  and a yellow surfboard parked in the shade during the heat of a summer day at the beach.

This was definitely a fun one to paint.

It was one of the pieces that sold during the May art show "Pathways" with Carter Stuart at For Art's Sake Gallery. The paintings will be on display through the first Monday in June.

two new paintings

 James River Train Bridge

Richmond, Virginia

12x16, oil on canvas

(sold)

(detail)

Ginguite Inlet

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

12x16, oil on canvas

(detail)

(detail)

Grammie, beach at Kitty Hawk.

Jonathan Edwards, a few of his 70 resolutions.

During long trips on horse back, he would think through arguments regarding religion. Plain pieces of paper pinned to his cloak, associating thought with paper. Considered one of the most brilliant thinkers of America.