Sep 24, 2010

A Gray Day on the Water

A Gray Day on the Water - 2.5 x 4.5 inches

I just got back from the last painting trip of the year. We spent two weeks on Hornby Island, a small island off the east coast of Vancouver Island, a great place to paint the waters of the west coast. It is amazing to sit by the water, on a sunny day and paint what you see. As you can see by my picture it wasn't always sunny!!
I had picked up an art book of Carol Evans paintings while I was on the ferry and she really inspired me on this trip. She paints the waters and shores of the coastal islands in beautiful watercolors. She had one picture that was done on a real cloudy, gray day and when we had the rain I decided I would give it a try. My husband, Steve and my dog, Rusty and I settled in the truck at Phipps Point and I got started. (Steve reads and Rusty does what all dogs do, sleep.) At first it was just gray and I was really surprised how much and how quickly the skies and the visibility changed. At one point I was working on the background and looking around I decided that I needed some more darks in my sky as there was a really black cloud above us. Suddenly that cloud opened up and rain drops fell, I am sure they were at least 1 inch in diameter! We have power windows so Steve began madly fumbling for the keys so we could shut the windows. Fun and memorable moments often go with plein air painting!!


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