Here are a few I would like to share-
"On the Oregon Coast" 12"x24"
This is a beach on the Oregon coast recently painting from a photo taken 10 years ago. I cropped it to better suit the scene- it was not this horizontal. Usually I wouldn't wait this long to paint from a reference. It is best to paint while the actual scene is still fresh in one's mind, but when I looked back at this one it felt as if I had been there recently. I still remember the way the air felt and the sounds of the ocean. I enjoyed painting this format. The large rocks on the beach were not there but I thought this was more attractive than the monotonous dirt in the actual scene.
"On the Golfo Dulche" 14"x18"
Another seascape, this one from a beach in Costa Rica. This was from a trip taken earlier this year. I painted a few of the rocks on the beach but there were thousands of them. When we went in the water each wave carried tons of little pebbles, so better for viewing than swimming. Other than reducing the rocky component, I was pretty much a slave to the photo.
"Cassis Fishing Boats" 8"x10"
These little fishing boats, called pointu by the French (took me forever to find that out) were in the town of Cassis near Marseilles. It is a charming fishing village and though quite touristy these days is still worth a visit. I took a lot of photos but when I got home I realized that what I loved the most about the place was the boats.
"High and Dry" 24"x30"
I love painting laundry but I find it difficult to get good reference photos. This is from a portion of a photo I took in Amalfi two years ago. Here is the photo-
The laundry was hanging very high on a building right off the docks. This was the maximum zoom on my iPhone but I cropped it once I was home to get the part I wanted. I had a lot of fun playing with the composition. This now hangs in our laundry room.
Enjoy your summer and take plenty of pictures!
