Monday, July 21, 2014

More Summer Painting: Owl #2

"Short-eared Owl" acrylic, 2014
Since I enjoyed working on my first owl painting (a barn owl as seen below), I thought: why not do another owl painting? There is something about owl faces and the line of their wings that really draws my eye. I am not a bird-watcher or raptor expert, but I believe that this one is a Short-eared Owl, which are more commonly seen in the UK. 

Here are the two owl paintings together:

 

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Nantucket Painting and Photographs

A stay on the island of Nantucket a few weeks ago inspired this painting.  Living in Colorado, I admit that I do miss the beach and the ocean. After a few cloudy days, the weather chose the day that we left Nantucket (of course) to give us a beautiful day with blue skies and sunlight shimmering off the water. I took some photos from the deck of the ferry as we slowly made our way past the anchored sailboats near the harbor. This painting is based on a shot of the Brant Point Lighthouse with two anchored sailboats in the foreground. There were some other details (beach goers, buoys, etc.), which I chose to eliminate to keep the image more simple.
"Green Sailboat" acrylic, 2014


It's interesting how different the color of the sea can look from different angles or in different lighting. Below are a few photographs that I took of the water from the ferry when we got further away from the island. It went from looking dark blue to a luminescent sea green color. Composition-wise, these aren't the most amazing shots, but I love the colors!

"Green Sea" 2014


"Green Sea 2" 2014
Below is a photograph of the ocean at Sconset Beach.

"Dunes at Sconset" 2014