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.

Glass Jar with Rag

Glass Jar with Rag
6"x6" Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD

The final brush stroke was laid down a few days ago but it took me until today to get a decent photo.  I have to say that I am really happy with how this one turned out. A few early mistakes with my color mixes required some extra time adjusting the initial layers.  All total I put 38 hours into this piece. Most of which was spent on the rag.

Recently, I have been experimenting with new mediums, and for this piece I decided to give M. Graham Walnut Alkyd Medium a try. Glad I did, because it is exactly what I have been looking for. Up until this point I have tried Liquin, Galkyd, Neo Megilp and even a more traditional stand oil recipe. All which have had qualities I liked. Liquin is actually my typical go to medium, but might soon be taking a back seat to the walnut alkyd medium. What I really like about the M. Graham's is that it doesn't contain any solvents so the odor is pretty much non existent.  My son Taylor will occasionally play in my studio while I paint, so I want to keep the environment as non-toxic as possible. Also, the walnut alkyd medium has a slightly slower drying rate so it stays open through out the entire painting session, but is dry within a day and a half. The main issue that I have had with Galkyd and Neo Megilp is that they start to tack up within a few hours of painting, preventing me from painting into what should be wet layers. I've read on Gamblin's site that you can add a little poppy oil to the Galkyd to slow down the drying time, but haven't had a chance to experiment. Finally, I really enjoy the lower viscosity of the M. Graham's. It allows me to more easily paint complex passages without a lot of drag on the brush. At this point it is to early to say whether or not I will switch to solely using the walnut alkyds, but I am definitely leaning in that direction.

In Progress - Glass Jar with Rag

In Progress - Glass Jar with Rag
6"x6" Oil on Canvas Panel

I got sidetracked this week with some freelance design work that cut into my studio time. So I was unable to put much time into finishing this up, but it's close. I still need to address the front of the table a bit and soften a few edges before I can call it done.

In Progress - Glass Jar with Rag

In Progress - Glass Jar with Rag
6"x6" Oil on Canvas Panel

I'm getting pretty close on this one. Last night I finished up the first pass on the jar and background. All that is left to paint is the table top and another final layer of details.