More about Laguna

Here's a 16x20 I did during the Laguna event. I have to admit that when I'm in a paint out I will go to what I know best, in this case as in most, it's boats. I went to the Dana Point Harbor to see what was available and there at the dock was a tall ship, I couldn't tell you if it's a scooner or a oyster boat but it looked nice. It was a gray day so I started in with the idea to keep it simple and muted and let the purples play off of the blues, grays and pinks. Under the whole thing was a wash of yellow which I tried very hard to let through and not cover up. I pushed the sky color a lot, it was just flat gray but I went in with the intent of creating a color made up of a lot of other colors. I also tried very hard not to over deliniate the line between boat and water and keep it one big vague shape. My friend and artist that I admire greatly, John Burton, loved this piece and I respect his opinion. I thought it was good but he said it reminded him of the dead guys so I'll take that as a big compliment. The funny thing about this painting was that the boat left early. As I was sketching in and starting to block in all the big shapes I noticed a buzz of activity about the boat. When one of the crew walked by I asked what was up and he said they were leaving in a half an hour. Shit. I've been here before so very quickly I got in as much info as possible before they left for three weeks. The upside was that it stayed a simple painting, I didn't over detail the thing as I usually do. A lot of artists commented on it at the show so I guess it worked out okay and was a good lesson for me. Keep it simple.

By the way that little boat was there for about a minute. I had to paint it from memory. One of the pleasures of painting outside.