Wave Study #37 Redux and Final

Yesterday was a sad, strange, and gloomy day. We live in a small town with around 730 full time residents. You get to know people. Yesterday the news flashed around that one of our friends, neighbor, and fellow band member suddenly passed away. Well, let's just say I didn't get a whole lot of work done in the studio yesterday and what I did do isn't really ready to be put on the blog just yet. The weather isn't helping any either, wind, lots of rain, and dark gray skies. Twill and I get drenched everytime we go for a walk. I continued to work in the studio but my mood is as sad and gray as the sky so I apologize for the gloomy post but life happens to all even in the midst of beautiful creativity.

I finished Wave Study #37. I did contemplate just leaving it unfinished as it is a study but it was nagging at me, so I finished it. Here it is:

©2013 R.L. Delight, Wave Study #37, 6"x8", oil on canvas

I don't take pictures of the waves I work on just the occasional picture to share the wild scenery so this was completed from memory. Here is what I did to "finish" it. The waves needed brightening and a bit more definition. I needed to get the wavelets and the idea of the foam in to define the planes and water. I also had a teeny bit of the sand to put in. That was it. I feel better about it now and can move on.
I love walking my dog Twill. It gets me out of the house no matter what the weather and it allows me to see the turn of the seasons, sun, moon, tides, and stars. This time of the year, I am encouraged by the growing light as the days begin to lengthen. The gray and gloom will pass, it may occasionally return, but it will pass.

Wave Study #38 and a Sick Pup

My poor girl dog Twill is having digestive problems. She got me up in the wee hours of the morning to take her out into the cold dark. She pretty much comes to get me every 2 hours or so.
With that issue, I knew I couldn't get a full painting session in this morning and the conditions were just right for painting. I did get about an hour in on a wave study. The tide was coming in and the sneaker waves are still quite unpredictable and erratic but the waves are not as fierce. I still had to grab my easel and run no less than four times! Here is Wave Study #38:

©2013 R.L. Delight, Wave Study #38: One hour sketch, 6"x8", oil on canvas

There was a wonderful color change in the water from the horizon to the shore and I decided that I would focus on that. The sun was going in and out and was diffused even when it was out. Even so, the colors kept changing. I really wanted to get the colors when the sun was mostly out. I am fairly pleased with the results of the study. There are no details and I would want to refine the edges but the color change, which is what I was after, is pretty close to what I was seeing.
Twill is laying at my feet with her poor guts rumbling away. I am sure it is just a matter of time before we need to go back out. Here is my beautiful girl enjoying the summer sunshine last July or so.
Hopefully she will be back to normal soon.

©2013 R.L. Delight-Twill in summer.

Hail and Fury: Wave Study #37

Hail on the beach

I couldn't resist heading out this morning to paint at high tide. There were some pretty serious warnings out. To quote:
A paraphrase from the National Weather Service,
"Chaotic high surf will pose a threat to beachgoers tonight and Saturday before dissipating later on Saturday.
Expect powerful west to northwest swells of 20 to 25 feet, with a period of 15 to 16 seconds."
“Anyone near the surf zone will be prone to being swept away by erratic and unpredictable sneaker waves that can be much larger than the general seas,”
I was careful. I stayed sneaker wave distance away from the surf zone. 
Of course, it was still stormy. I got the sky laid in on the painting and then was hit by a hail squall. As you can see from the picture above, I folded my box a bit to protect my painting and palette and waited it out. All the white stuff, which looks shiny, on the sand is hail. I also had a hard time keeping it off my camera lens which is why there is a few blurry spots. I will have to remember to pack some goggles. The hail was stinging my face and eyes in spite of my hood pulled forward.
After the squall passed I continued painting but I had trouble with water getting on my palette and into the paint. That makes it not want to stick. So I got what information I could and brought it home to finish. I worked a bit more on it before having to break off to do a few things. I will do my best to get it done tomorrow while it is still somewhat fresh in my head.
The waves were stupendous.
Here is the wave study in progress:

©2013 R.L. Delight, Wave Study #37-Hail and Fury, 6"x8" oil on canvas. In progress.

Pretty dramatic sky and the crosswaves were pretty spectacular too. The lighting was almost eerie in its intenseness. This has a little bit to go still. I wanted to just get the basic elements and the value and color relationships in before having to break off. I barely got it in at that. 
There was a lot more action than I could or even would want to portray. 
And the sneaker waves? They were fast and frightening. I set myself up pretty far back and they never got less than 15 feet away from me but they would come roaring up the beach and I would hold my breath to see if they were going to jump the rocks and keep coming. 
Even though I was painting at high tide, I still had to be fairly far away from the surf zone. 
Well, it has been a long day so I am off to bed. Life drawing in the morning.

Book Report-Frederick Waugh

Frederick J. Waugh-American Marine Painter by George R. Havens, University of Maine Press, 1969

 To paint the sea you must love it, and to love it, you must know the sea. -F.Waugh

Today was my expedition up the coast to stock up on supplies and sundries. It rained and hailed but I made it through just fine. Tomorrow we are supposed to get a nice winter storm and I will be snug in the studio painting.
Tonight I thought I would post a brief book report on Frederick J. Waugh-American Marine Painter. I have read other's comments on the book and it seems to me that most seem to not think much of the content and style of writing. I would be interested to know why. The book was written in 1969 and based on interviews of the son and daughter of Waugh as well as written and anecdotal information from friends and associates. The language and tone of the book is from a more formal era than that of books we read today. I rather liked it. It seemed to be in keeping with what apparently was Waugh's character.
Most of the book mainly focuses on his marine painting career which basically began when he was first married and had moved with his bride to the Isle of Sark. The book also discusses his childhood and artistic training. Frederick Waugh apparently wasn't a temperamental or "colorful" artist instead he was a well trained, hard working, and enthusiastic artist. He and his family are portrayed as loving and supportive.

I found the biography interesting and informative. It gives a pretty good idea about what it takes to be an artist of that caliber. I was surprised to see how some of the economic and political challenges he faced are similar to what many artists face today.

In between all the biographical information would be the occasional quote or observation on his working methods. The final chapter before the conclusion also contains a summary of his unpublished manuscript on his methods of painting the sea. Oh how I wish someone would unearth them if possible and print them up (preferably in an e-book!).

It sounds like he had a fantastic life and well-earned recognition during his lifetime. Here is a quote from one of my favorite passages describing his methods:

 Hour after hour, Waugh studied the complex movement of waves and foam. He learned how to concentrate his view, how to master one single detail at a time-the sudden curl of a wave, the flash of brilliant green of air-filled water where the light shines through, the rushing, variegated pattern of white spume near shore, the angry mass of surf flung high above the black rocks.*

I was also amused to find that painting the sea is still as challenging today as it was then:

 The tides rise with fearful suddenness in this region, sometimes as much as thirty or forty feet in all. Forgetting this in his absorption-or not yet having learned it perhaps in his newness to the island-Waugh was once nearly caught in his dangerous post of observation by the on-rushing water. Just in time, he managed to  scramble back hastily to the top, leaving his paint-box behind.*

The tides in my area can rise above 9 feet, which is bad enough. However, the sneaker waves here travel 50 yards quite suddenly. Have to watch for those. Thankfully I haven't had to leave my paintbox behind, yet, and hopefully never!
Frederick Waugh lived a long and productive life. I wish there was more about him as he is definitely under-appreciated. I had to return the book, which I got from the library on an inter-library loan. I would love to have this book in my collection to read and re-read for inspiration.  Alas, it is quite pricey being out of print and all. The copy I had was marked "discard". Someone had scored a good bargain and then donated it to the college library, for which I am thankful.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in painting the sea, art history, or even for just an interesting biography.
I will finish the post with a picture of the Central Oregon Coast taken as morning broke on our December drive to California. This rest stop is fantastic and the waves and swells there huge. They slosh around and make the most amazingly awesome sounds.

©2013 R.L. Delight, Rest stop on the Central Oregon Coast as morning breaks.

Oh, and need I say that the Isle of Sark is high up on my list of places to visit and paint?

 *Frederick J. Waugh, American Marine Painter, George R. Havens University of Maine Studies. No. 89., pg. 53.

Homemade Wet Panel Carrier

My homemade panel carrier just needs the finishing touches of the carrying strap and latch. I will show the pictures and then give a quick explanation:

Wet panel carrier-front view with lid open.

Wet panel carrier-top view with carrier on side and panels.

So backing up a tiny bit. My little thumbox that I use for plein air painting only holds two 6"x8" wet panels. I have had a bit of trouble with them occasionally slipping and getting into the paint on the palette which sits directly opposite of the panels when the box is closed or underneath the panels when it is open. I want to be able to carry at least three wet panels back home with me so, after a bit of online research, I made my own. 
This little carrier is made from a weather proof moving sale sign which can be found at a hardware store. I glued 1/4" square dowels on the inside to hold the panels apart and upright. I also used Gorilla Tape to hold the whole thing together. The carrier will hold 4 panels. If I get really ambitious and end up staying out for the whole day to paint wave studies, I can still get two into my thumbox for a total of 6 wet panels.
I didn't bother to make a pattern first but took measurements of my panels and cut fold lines into the sign. The whole thing folded into a box with a lid and was taped together. The Gorilla Tape is quite heavy duty and the box feels very sturdy and lightweight. We shall see how it works.
I spent my break time today doing a little online research for lightweight portable shelters that I can paint from in the wind and rain here on the coast. I will be posting the results of that in a few days.
We have a big storm coming in on Friday so tomorrow will be spent getting everything up to speed so we can be snug and warm, which means a trip up the coast to stock up. I will be spending Friday happily painting away in my warm studio.
A final note, I am being slammed with spam comments, which I delete so they haven't made it all the way to the blog. I may have to reinstate the word verification. I really don't want to because I know it is a pain. Hopefully the spammers will give up when they see their comments never get posted.
Storms are sweeping across the U.S so stay safe and warm everyone!

Ready for the Next Phase

© 2013 R.L. Delight, A dramatic February day on the Coast

The picture above was taken earlier this month. Today was a beautiful sunny day here, but cold. The sunshine was warming in the early afternoon but most of the day was chilly.
I realized I missed a blogging day on Saturday. Since my mate and I take our weekends on Sunday and Monday and this weekend was a holiday weekend for many, I got a bit confused. Add to that moving our regular band rehearsal day to Sunday and, well, I lost track of which day was what.
I did work in the studio on Saturday getting things fixed, moved, cleaned, and ready for the next phase. I also attended life drawing on Sunday, which further confused things. I haven't been to life drawing for a month or so, unusual for me. Thankfully I did remember how to draw the human figure and we had an excellent model.
I spent today in the studio as well setting up the still life elements of a marine painting (more later) and making some new tools to take out in the field with me. I also got out to the beach this afternoon with my sketchbook. One of the perks of going so hard on plein air painting in January is that I discovered fairly quickly what is working for me and what isn't. I am making a wet panel carrier for myself and would eventually like to get a different plein air set up.

Here is what I plan for the upcoming weeks:

• Plein Air sessions: 2-3 times a week depending on weather and tide. 3- one hour wave studies per session.
•  Working on larger more formal paintings.
• Self-portrait studies
• Munsell color studies
• Sunday life drawing whenever possible. 

I want to keep building my skills in figurative and portraiture. My main focus of course, is the sea.
I did finish the Frederick Waugh book and found it very interesting. I will have a report on that soon.

We have a regular winter storm forecast for Friday. I will need to break off my Thursday afternoon to head north for supplies for our pantry and home.

I am always amazed to read about other women artists who do all this and rear kids too! I don't have the kids, just one fuzzy red dog and a husband and I stay plenty busy. I will have pictures of my home built panel carrier soon!

Twill on the Beach

A Golden Day

Twill on a golden winter afternoon

We had a lovely sunny, but cool, day on the coast today. I spent the day working on this blog and photographing all of my finished paintings outside in high resolution. I am pleased to say I can now offer prints of my paintings for sale!
Note: I originally had a badge from Imagekind here but it wasn't showing up on some devices so, I created a collage at picmonkey.com and included a link to my Imagekind page in the caption.

Click here to visit my Imagekind page to order prints!

I also have a link on the sidebar that will take you to the entire gallery for prints of my work. At the moment, I only have five up as they take a bit of time to upload but I will be putting all of the available 6"x8" paintings up to allow purchase of prints. Larger paintings will probably not be offered in print form. I will have to think about that. 
OK, so I removed the word verification from my comments section and was hit with three spam comments today. I also got an e-mail from a cousin saying that he was getting spam e-mails from one of the e-mail accounts that is linked to this blog. ARRRG! I will wait for a few more days but if it continues, I may have to put the word verification back up again. In the meantime, if you get an email from me and are not expecting one or it has funny things in the subject line and links, please do not open it and just delete it! I am going to take a look at a few other measures. 
After spending the day working on all of this stuff I will definitely need a day out to paint.