Sparkle

Sparkle

8"x10" oil on canvas panel

There are some things that are hard to paint from life, and this is an example. Even if I was able to set my painting gear in a boat running parallel to these guys, they’d surely tack and head off in another direction before I finished the painting. So this one was painted from a photo. And more important, it was painted upside down. Turning a photo upside down is a time-honored approach artists use to paint shapes rather than “things”. And it works.

Here’s a progress shot of my second attempt at this painting, which was done right-side up. At this point, I wiped it off, it just wasn’t good enough. The first attempt had been wiped off at the drawing stage. And the third attempt also. That’s when I turned the whole thing upside down. What a difference, don’t you agree?

Second try at Sparkle