New Painting—“Beach Buddies”

Beaches are creative and colorful: the marvelous sunsets; the sparkle of sunlight on tropical waters; the irresistible froth of waves flapping onto shifting sands. And besides, beaches are fun to paint.

I had intended to paint this photo; and I may yet. It’s a picture of my husband’s granddaughter and her little brother. I loved the glow of sunlight on the water. The figures are almost silhouette like; the colors mostly gray. Instead, I decided to use a photo submitted by one of my contest winners. The figures were actually sitting on the grass rather than on a sandy beach, but I loved the affection they shared.

I first laid in my drawing with burnt umber acrylic on a 16x20 canvas, and then added a few acrylic washes to suggest plains, spaces, and color. When the paint was dry, I wiped a thin linseed oil and turpenoid coat over the top, and then wiped it again with a dry paper towel.

The prep work made the canvas ready to accept my oil paint topcoat. This first layer of oil paint further defined my drawing and added some color; though, some of it may be covered up by subsequent layers.

With oils, it is the layering process that gives the painting depth, shape and form. As I’ve told you before, it is a refining process; working from beneath to the foreground, until I’m satisfied with the details and the overall feeling and statement of the painting. At this point, the colors are too bright, too flat.

In my next blog, I’ll introduce the next “painting in progress:” part of my “With These Hands” series. The painting will feature a young black girl as she prepares to shoot a basketball. The painting will be titled: “With These Hands—Hope.”

To see other paintings in my “With These Hands” series, please go to my online gallery:
http://carol-allen-anfinsen.artistwebsites.com/

Time Off for Love

When you live in Florida, you get visitors. This is the place to come when winter starts scratching its cold fingernails into your psych. But in June, when the temperatures sore to 98 and the humidity is almost as high? Yes, if you're a school teacher.

My son the teacher and his family have been spending some time with us, and we have been having a great time, in spite of the heat. We enjoyed the beach yesterday. Yes, Southern Florida's beaches are still clean and beautiful! We saw pelicans, dolphins, gulls and sea birds, diving for fish and bobbing in the water. Overhead, parasailing beachgoers strapped to bright red, white and blue balloons dotted the skyline. A wonderful day!

After our swim, the Edison Estates and the gigantic banyan tree were a big hit, followed by a chow down at Joe's Crab Shack on the wharf. The children had their first experience at cracking crab and picking out the sweet meat. A shark's blood drink was the topper, followed by fresh key lime pie, tart and creamy.

We crammed as much as we could into the few short days they were here. Lakes Park and the water play area and train helped us to cool down. We saw an alligator, many wading birds, and this anhinga who paused from his fishing to dry off his wings.

In the evening, playing games with the grandchildren before going to bed was the perfect way to end each day. My next blog, I'll get back to my usual artsy diatribes, and my "rooster in progress."