Owen Sketch

Here is the completed portrait. It was fun to work on, but I'm glad it's done so I can get back to painting.

Owen Sketch

Here is the portrait that I mentioned in the previous post. I'm getting really close to finishing this up. I hope to have it done tomorrow. Then it's back to the shorebreak study, which I was fortunate enough to have sold this week. So I want get back to it and ship it out as soon as I can.

Shorebreak Study

Shorebreak Study - SOLD
6"x6" Oil on canvas panel
Work in progress

Starting to work on the face of the wave. Still have a good bit to go, and with the holidays, my progress has been slow. This painting is also sharing easel time with two other pieces. Both are commissions. One is a portrait sketch and the other is a still life. I'll be sure to post of some in progress pics once I have some decent photos.

Shorebreak Study

Shorebreak Study
6"x6" Oil on canvas panel
Work in progress

Getting close to finishing the wave, but I think I'll move on to the foreground before I do to much more to it. There is a good bit of splash that needs to be painted in under the lip of the wave on the left hand side that will help balance the picture out.

Shorebreak Study - (Close Call)

Shorebreak Study
6"x6" Oil on canvas panel
Work in progress

I had a huge close call tonight. I was applying a few final touches to the painting when all of a sudden, the painting slips from the easel, bounces off the easel tray, and lands onto my painting palette.  Luckily, facing right side up. The backside of the painting was covered in wet paint, but none got on to the front. Phew!

Shorebreak Study

Shorebreak Study
6"x6" Oil on canvas panel
Work in progress

Made a little more progress last night. Started adding a few details to the wave and indicating some of the splashes. I still have a few more hours of work on this section before moving on to the foreground water.

Shorebreak Study

Shorebreak Study
6"x6" Oil on canvas panel
Work in progress

The image for this painting came from a recent trip to Hilton Head Island, SC. Hurricane Igor was brewing in the Atlantic, which had the surf kicked up quite a bit. I snapped a ton of photographs, and hope to start a series of larger paintings from the better ones.

This particular painting is a trial run to get used to painting the ocean. I was a little intimidated by the amount of detail in the water and especially the splashes. So I wanted to make sure I could convincingly paint it before moving to a larger panel.

At this point, there is still a long way. The breaking wave and foreground is still underpainting, and the top part will need at least one or two more layers before it's done.