Catching up

Unfortunately there was some “interference” and I no longer felt like posting for awhile.  I did finish my second watercolor seascape painting.  In the foreground I added a little girl playing in the sand and a dog.  I remember that some other things went wrong with that painting and so I learned so more, but the only thing I remember was how hard it was to work with skintones.  That was frustrating because I have had no trouble whatsoever with skintones when I’ve used oils.  But then finally getting it to work with watercolor was certainly a big relief!
I am happy to say that both of these paintings are now in a private collection in Florida!
I have also finished a third watercolor seascape painting.  This one, however doesn’t have as much of the sea showing in it.  Instead I painted a short, squat lighthouse on the dunes.  The one I worked from is not a real lighthouse; it was originally built as an artist’s studio.  It must have been absolutely wonderful to sit up there and watch the clouds roll in and the surf crashing on the beach.  I’ll bet some fantastic paintings were created there!  I would certainly love to work there.
I also added a mailbox that I had seen on the dunes side of a cottage–not the street side, the dunes side.  Makes me wonder if people used to leave messages…?  The mailbox disappeared after the last storm season.  But I still have it in my painting and can still dream up all kinds of stories about its existence and use. : )      The painting still needed more, so I also added some birds and a little dog.
This one is hanging on my wall for me to continue to enjoy.
Painting number four is sketched, ready for me to start either masking or painting, whatever I decide is best.  And while I did add two children and some birds, I really want the main focus to be foam, both huge foamy waves and foam floating towards the edge of the water at the beach.  And, I just might try painting “flat” foam instead of using a gel to give it some dimension.  The children in front of the foam is my problem, you see…..  It will be interesting to see how the painting plays out.