Well - since we stopped RV-ing full time the visits to my blog have gone from an average of 2,500 per month to an average of 1,300 - it would appear that there were more folks interested in the RV side of the blog then the painting side.
I'm cool with that - the RV side was a lot of fun and the reporting on our travels was lots of fun as was the travelling. That has stopped and other things have and will take the place of RV-ing - however that said - and I just said it - I truly miss RV-ing and the enjoyment of seeing our country side.
Well there are lots of other fish to fry!!
I used a photo for this painting which I got permission to use from this fellow:
http://www.beachhunter.net/
I met him on Facebook and asked his permission to use his photo for a painting - this is always a good thing to do and I consider it mandatory - ask permission before hijacking another persons work. This is not always done as I've found some of my paintings on web sites that clearly no one asked my permission - and on one Japanese web site - YES my friends a Japanese web site I found several of my paintings that had been hijacked - copied and were for sale!!!!!
OK - if I've got my facts straight Beer Can Island is the "nickname" for this Island due to certain times of the year our youth go there and consume lots of beer - these are the folks who will in the future be running out country - if they don't drink themselves to death!!! :>) SCARY!!
The real name is Pine key Island and it is at the tip of Long Boat Key off the coast of Tampa.
OK - Let's get this done ------ WELLLLLL it is not really us as in LET'S (let us) it is me. :>)
I like to remind folks that this is my style - my process and techniques - which is offered as a learning tool for folks to develop their own style - process and techniques. I am mostly self taught and I like everyone else have studied the works of other artists and applied myself to develop this style. To me, painting is all about COLOR and TEXTURE - these two facets to me make a painting SING and BREATH. I may have mentioned before that at times I tend to digress - if I'm doing that too much, just raise your hand or cough or band the table top --- I'll get the message!!
To begin we once again do WHAT??? CORRECT - we throw in the sky!!!! I see we have some repeat people in attendance :>)
Being new to Florida - I'm told that most of the time the sky is not a rich-rich-deep blue! The reason I'm told is due to the high levels of humidity - I have no idea if this is true of mot but I'm going with it as certainly most of the time it is a muted blue and not the bright-deep-bold blue one will find in say - Sedona AZ. Whoops someone just coughed and banged on the table top!!! :>(
I use a big ( 2 inch ) brush for the sky - first applying a very quick and sparse application of white paint - followed by two colors of blue - darker at the top and lightening as it goes to the horizon line.
I now with palette knife start to throw in the ocean at the horizon line - this is where the painting starts to take shape in that the ocean is always darker at the horizon line and this begins the visual impression of distance on what we all know is a very flat surface with no dimension.
Our job as artists will be to make the eye of the viewer see DISTANCE
Next - with palette knife I start putting in the blues and greens found in the ocean here in southwest Florida - very Caribbean seas here. I want to give the impression of the island surface being higher than the ocean - thereby creating a very fluid but an ocean with movement.
Ya GOTTA love the Caribbean green - this color gets me EXCITED!!!
With palette knife I now add highlights to the ocean and I throw in the sandy beach portion, making sure to being down some blue from the sky and ocean - remember "local color" is very important.
Using the "dry brush" technique I slap in some distant ground clutter which breaks the horizon line thereby giving the visual of MORE distance within the painting. I also leave the vision the the ocean goes BEHIND the ground clutter - thereby pushing the ground clutter forward.
With the movement of water having so much motion due to the beach being higher then the ocean, there needs to be some "foaming-frothing" surf left at the shore line as the ocean recedes.
Pretty COOL EH!!!!!
BAM-BAM-BAM
WE HAVE A FINISHED PAINTING!!!
Hope y'all enjoyed this demo -
I'll be back about the same time a week from now and perhaps have another demo or maybe
I'll just shoot the breeze for a while in a proliferation of happenings here - there - and everywhere -- Just kidding :>)
Take life easy - smile at others and at yourself - A FACT:
It takes less facial muscles to smile then to frown!!!
Trust me that is truth and in doing so you can prevent a lot of WRINKLES!!!
JR :>)
