New series - reflections & boats

Well, the aerial skies series ended unceremoniously yesterday, when after 2 attempts to paint the same image, it was clear that wasn't going to happen.  Third time wasn't going to be a charm, so I figured that was a sign to move on to something new, and stripped the Colourfix for the 2nd [and last] time.   Clouds will never be far away.

Starting last year, I began taking all these neat photos of reflections, which started down at the Mystic River piers and docks, usually including boats.   I find charm in boats.  Not huge ships, which seem impersonal and too imposing to me, but smaller crafts.  I imagine this is because I've experienced first hand how fun they can be and the degree of independence they offer by allowing travel over areas otherwise prohibited by our physical limitations as a species...much as flying does.

Boats are always given names, thus lending them a distinct identity, and they are always a "she".  They also are almost always subordinate to the landscape, another thing I find appealing.  A boat resting quietly on the water gives a sense of peace and calm.

They also represent a challenge to paint, by virtue of their reflections.  The canoe painting brought that concept home very clearly.  So, I have all these fun photos I've taken over the past year, along with various others over the years, and I want to pursue them as a subject while I'm still within the physical presence of them.  In just over 4 weeks, that will change.

So, here's the first in the series.  Based on one of the photos I took a week ago at Watch Hill, it shows boats as the minor players.  I simplified the composition, leaving in only 3 boats.  And, after taking the photo, I saw I forgot to add the sail mast to the tiny blue one - oops!  It's there now.

The cloud reflections are a bit off; they should be a bit closer to the shore, and there are other things that .  The further away an object is from the water and the viewer, the more distorted its reflection becomes.  Even in the photo, the reflection is compressed and is more of a suggestion of the actual cloud.

"Little Narragansett Reflections" 

Colourfix, 12x9"

I didn't time how long it took me to do this, but it wasn't much more than 1-2 hrs. at most.  Surface is pale blue Colourfix, that I ended up sanding down after the previous failed paintings.  The alcohol washes/underpaintings had transformed it into a darker blue, some of which shows through.  Sanding the surface helped, although this surface just doesn't hold much pastel.