The Express, 15 x 18

Racing the sunset.....

....I sped past artist Rob Weiss's home (sorry Rob, no time to stop) hoping to have enough time to paint the Kingston Express in the setting sun.  I knew it would be just a quick study but had to give it a try.  The variety of reds in the boat and reflecting on the water were so enticing.

This is the same limited palette from the last few posts....plus ultramarine blue.

Here is an early view.  You can notice that what was, in color terms, blown out by the sun slowly turned hue becoming more orange and yellow over the course of 90 minutes.

I think there is enough here to return with a larger canvas, change the composition a bit and see where it will go.   

Rest of the Clowns, 6x6

Do Clowns creep you out?   The comments that have come through have been that, although people like the paintings, they find the clowns unsettling and a bit scary.  Come to think of it all the comments like that are from women.

James Gurney, author of Dinotopia, had an interesting post yesterday with an image that I find unsettling....maybe this is what people are responding to.  Like the horror movies with clowns, are these the images we have unconsciously grown up with?

Interesting.  I always thought clowns were just fun....oh, well, there was that old Alfred Hitchcock movie....

Anyway.  Here are the other two clowns and we can be done with them.  They were fun to paint. Sweet dreams.....

Ferry Waiting

Just missing the ferry that Monday was frustrating....but once over my frustration it bacame an opportunity to draw for twenty minutes. This looks more complicated than it is. The illustrations in my book, Value Sketching with Markers, show you how simple a drawing can be before you add values. The values create form and give a sense of solidity. I still find it amazing and a great way to 'paint' without all the fuss. Just a few pens and some paper.