Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Painting in the Mornings

I have been able to paint in mornings. Folks in our house like to sleep late on Saturday morning, but I like to get up early. I enjoy the peace and quiet of the day. This is a picture of a lake in North Pensacola, with water lilies and a wonderful reflection.


















This picture was made in Destin, FL at a resort called “Watercolors” painted in a water-based oils...



















Liza and I went on a cruise in July and I was able to paint while on the cruise. Since the ship will not let me bring on flammable liquids like paint thinner, I needed to find a water based solution. I have used watercolors and acrylics, but there is something special about working in oils. Windsor & Newton has a set of colors, which are made with linseed oil. It is like working in watercolors but the paint goes on the canvas as oil. It was so strange cleaning my pallet and brushes with water. Oil and water are not supposed to mix, so using water based oils sound like a oxymoron, but I was very pleased with the results.

While on the Freedom of the Seas, our first port was in Labadee, Haiti. This picture was painted in about 2 hours on an 8x10 board. The beach was called Sunset Beach.

















For the trip, I fabricated my fold-up easel, so that it could hold a small pallet. I also tried to reduce my painting supplies to just the things I needed. Here is a picture that Liza took of me working:















The next picture was in Cozumel Mexico. The beach was called Chankannab and was located in the Cozumel State Park. Everything was so beautiful. I had trouble getting the different shades of blue sea colors right. The sea was so turquoise blue, that I could not get my pallet to mix to the right shades of blue. I did not have Viridian Green in the set of colors, so I felt like my blue greens were not coming out like I wanted. Anyway, I was happy how the clouds came out in the horizon. Somehow I got some Alizarin Crimson in the right foreground. I think it catches the eye to follow the rock ledges, then out to the sea. I am always surprised on how a painting takes on its own nature. Sometime things work out when you least expected them.


















Here is another picture of me working in paradise.










2 comments:

Jill Berry said...

Liza took some good pics of you in paradise.
Oh and the paintings ~ my fav ~ Sunset Beach in Haiti. Nice comp.

Jim Kiesling said...

Yes, it was a good day.