"Castaway Island Afternoon" is a 24" x 18" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, designed to be hung as is or to be framed--either way looks great. Apparently my camera was tipped a bit when I took the photos (the reason the cedars look as though they are slightly leaning toward each other). Whoops. Since I have now signed the piece and given it a protective coating (for which I use a combination of matte and gloss acrylic medium), it is more difficult to take a good photo. Now it shows a bit of a sheen in photos, so I'll be content with the one I have.
There is more than a little artistic license taken here. The hues are punched up from the actual scene, and, as usual, I had to clear out lots of vegetation and plant debris from the exuberant growth we see in coastal North Florida. So, the initial planning of the composition was crucial and involved several tonal sketches (using a range of artist's grey-scale markers) and various arrangements of the elements in the scene.
I also experimented with a few possible palettes and finally chose: cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, Paynes grey, lemon yellow, yellow oxide, Indian yellow, burnt sienna, burnt umber, buff (unbleached titanium ecru), and titanium white. The result is lighter and brighter than some of my other Castaway Island paintings, such as "Castaway Island Cedars" and "Castaway Island Palms". A side note on those two: although I used the same palette and canvas size so that they could be hung as companion pieces, they have ended up apart--which is just fine, too. The smaller cedars piece turned out to be a personal favorite and hangs in our home, while the palms piece was a perfect fit for the home of our older son and his interior designer wife. I was honored when she requested the painting and happily made a gift of it.
Question of the Day: Do you have favorite places in nature that you revisit to recharge or for creative or spiritual renewal?
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Lovely painting. My thoughts and prayers are with y'all if the hurricane doesn't go as far out to sea as I want it to.
ReplyDeleteFavorite places is a good question. Water shore lines, either Lake Champlain or the New Haven River. The lake has serene panorama views, and river has a rustic rock, woods, and water textured atmosphere.
Thank you for your compliment and your thoughts and prayers, Salty. We keep up to date on forecast revisions and try to do the wisest thing in any storm.
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of your favorite places. I also love anyplace with water, including all our area streams, rivers, wetlands, and, of course, the mighty Atlantic Ocean. I grew up in a woodsy area (another favorite kind of place) near Lake Michigan on the MI side, and we have lived in the New York city/Long Island area, Long Beach, CA, and Atlanta, GA over our married years. Also have enjoyed travel around this country and in others. This earth of ours has a wealth and amazing variety of natural beauty!
I always look forward to reading your posts and this one was no exception. I always learn something new. We haven't been to Florida in many years but we did visit the preserve. I love how you interpret and plan each piece. Shows so much love in your work! I do hope all goes well with this storm and you are not affected by it. I have friends that have already driven to safety just in case. I will definitely keep you and others in our thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy hearing from you, Nanny; thanks for the visit and your kind comments. And, of course, we all appreciate your thoughts and prayers as the storm pushes west.
ReplyDeleteThinking about you - hope all is well and you weren't affected too much by the storm.
ReplyDeleteYou are very thoughtful, Nanny. We are just fine--we had some small tree branches down, but no other effects--not even lost power. I am very mindful (as I am sure you are) of the people who lost everything, including homes, livelihoods, and especially, family members and dear friends. It was a fierce, persistent storm!
ReplyDeleteclear water and tree's shadow look like real....perfect.
ReplyDeletelove your art work
Thank you very much, Tanza. I always enjoy hearing from you.
ReplyDelete