plein air from the bow: Saddlebag Islands

Started out as a foggy morning, but the fog lifted and cleared as I was painting. As I worked, I could hear the sporadic tones of the nearby fog horn, the splashing and wet exhalations of a seal, and the chirping call of Bald Eagles. An irregular but beautiful symphony.

Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

Logistics: Plein air notes from a boat in Alaska

Not only do I need to decide the subject for my painting, I have to figure out where I can stand on the boat to see it well enough to paint it! Though cloudy, it wasn't rainy in the morning and the water in Santa Anna Inlet were mirror-smooth. This was my subject (looking out toward Seward Passage) and I could see it very well from the cockpit (a small open deck at the back of the boat).The inflatable kayak had to be moved so that I could get my easel in place. A tight fit!

Watercolor underpainting to block in the big shapes and attempt to get some of the values in there. As I painted, the boat shifted and my subject moved about 30 degrees.

While not wildly successful, I can always find something of the day in my plein air paintings. Something I got just right. In this one, it was the way the water and the sky worked together. By the time I finished, my subject was only visible by looking over my left shoulder.

Any day painting is a good day!

Gauze sky

I am reading Marc Simpson's book Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and Art of Painting Softly. This painting was done with the idea of whispering color onto the paper.

Lopez Island plein air

I tried out a piece of Jack Richeson pastel paper today. Compared to the Kitty Wallis paper I usually work on, this toned paper had big bits of grit on a sometimes slick surface. It was difficult for me to work with and I found that the overall toned surface was a distraction.

But standing on the bow of the boat in Fisherman's Bay, looking out at the sunlight on the beach and cliffs ... a little bit of heaven.