catching up

This is from 2 days ago.
Looking for a motif to paint in the dark is very different than during the day. Usually I am looking for silhouettes, and big shapes that give me distinct colour variations. I drove by this little creek next to the airport. Cypress sky resort had its bright lights shining into the cloudy sky and the creek reflected it.

Cypress lights up the sky - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

Yesterday we went to Deep cove. It's my second time there and still so captivated by its beauty. Almost anywhere I looked I could paint it. This view is facing north east, so I had the sun on my back shining on my painting and palette. It's the first time I tried not painting in the shade. I have always wondered about how that wouldn't make you paint the painting too dark since ultimately the painting will be viewed indoors, but I have read about people painting like this with success including Marc Hanson. I did put on my sunglasses so I wouldn't be blinded by the bright canvas the whole time.

The painting process was fine, smooth, and whenever i took off the sunglasses to check for real colours they always seemed right, but when I brought it home it does look darker than how I intended, and it actually looks bluer too. As I said I checked periodically without my sunglasses so I don't think it was them, I believe it was the sun. I still want to try painting with the sun on my back again and see if I get the same result, because it really frees up where I can setup without having to look for shade.

Deep Cove calm - oil on panel - 9" x 12"

My cellphone pictures doesn't do it justice at all... The sailboat in the picture is anchored, but it kept spinning. I wanted to paint it facing right but I had to wait for it to spin to that direction on about a 5-10 minute cycle.

 

It's hard to just do one painting at a place this beautiful, so I found another motif to paint (5 meters away looking east.) In order to paint this I had to check the tide to make sure it's going out not coming in because I was standing below the tide line, glad it was going out.

Playground for all - oil on panel - 9" x 12"