"Lucky Lady"
6"x6" oil on canvas panel
February has been a month for experimenting and trying new things. I spent some time with acrylic inks (fun) and acrylics (ugh) after being inspired by Scottish painter, Claire Harrigan.
Take a look at her wonderful colorful and abstract still lifes and landscapes. I will need to spend more time with those ideas before I have anything to show. Then it was on to a project that has been in my mind for a long time, really learning how to paint boats. I've done a couple on the blog, but have never felt really comfortable that I was getting things right. So I thought if I did 10 or 20, I might get somewhere. I started with some sketches (see
previous posts) and this is my first painting, of the lobster boat Lucky Lady, out of East Boothbay. We happened on her pulling traps on one of our trips up to Boothbay in our boat.
One year ago today, was my first post to this blog! I want to thank everyone for their support and interest over the last year. This has been such a wonderful experience. I have learned even more than I expected to, about mixing color, about composition, about painting deliberately, and about having fun. And I have met some really wonderful people, as we comment on each other's blogs and join in on challenges.
http://bobbiheath.blogspot.com
www.bobbiheath.com
"Out to the Mooring"
I'm really getting into boats with figures. There is the challenge of sizing the figure against the boat, as well as how to show the posture with a minimum of strokes. And then, the duds are pretty colorful! Here, our friend Chris is taking my son along as "stern man".
This one is special for me, not only do I love the composition, but I'm kind of sweet on the two guys as well. The lobster style boat is called Red Herring, and the beautiful pram is Isola Bella. Can you guess who the two fellas are?
"Two Crows"
"Lucky Lady"
You may remember the wonderful portrait challenge that Karin Jurick did in December, where 180 artists traded photos and painted each other's portraits. As a tribute to Karin, Jill Polsby organized the 118 Faces of Karin, where 118 of us painted Karin's portrait. This is my contribution. Check out all 118. This was great fun, and I want to thank Jill for organizing it. Do take a moment to visit her new blog.
I am loving doing these drawings of lobster boats! I particularly like the Patricia G. She is such a classic, and she lives right around the point from our cottage. I promise that soon, I will start painting these wonderful boats.
Here's another boat I really like, perhaps because the hull is bright yellow. Looks great against the blue water. I'll be giving this one a try as a painting soon. Painting summer is one way of being there.
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of winter. Down with snow and ice! It's time to start thinking about warm summer days and the interesting boats we see when we are out on the water. So I am gathering my boat photos, and doing some drawings in preparation for painting them. This is the Lucky Lady, a lobster boat out of East Boothbay. I think she's got style.
"Be Mine"
"Hearts"
"Pears in Blue"
