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Early Summer, Port St. Joe, 12 x 24 inches, oil on linen | This painting is available

 

I don't know how many pieces I actually painted in the nine days I spent in the Forgotten Coast of Florida - sixteen? seventeen? It was a lot. Of course I started more than that, but as is the norm, several pieces didn't make it to finish. If  a painting isn't working in the first hour, it's very difficult to continue and often, it's better to start over.

Paintings tend to fail because there was never a clear statement to begin with. If you don't know what you want to say, how can you know how to say it? 

 

This painting, Early Summer, Port St. Joe, didn't have that problem because I had a concept - an alley way in one point perspective, harsh light, with a focal point picked out near the vanishing point - before I even found the location.  I knew there was a nice alleyway in Port St. Joe, so I was fairly confident that I could find some spot that fit my needs, and I did.

 

 

 

I think the big problem I faced was the fact that this alleyway is actually used a lot by utility trucks and such, so I couldn't set up in the middle of it. But I wanted it from that vantage point, for compositional reasons. So I would move my easel to the middle of the alley whenever the way was clear, and when I heard a truck coming, I quickly scooted the easel off to the side. Kind of a pain, but hey, this is painting en plein air. These kinds of obstacles are to be expected.

 

 

 

The other challenge was the heat. Although the painting makes it look like I was standing in the shade, I was actually in full sun most of the time. I had a hat, sunscreen, water, and sunglasses. 

 

Yes, sunglasses. I would see through the dark glasses and work on the painting whenever color wasn't critical - drawing, designing, value relationships. And remove my glasses to see the colors. After I was satisfied with a particular mix of color on my palette, I'd put the sunglasses back on and paint. It's an odd thing, but logically, if the color on the palette is correct, it's not going to change just because I put on my sunglasses. It's still correct. 

 

Anyway, I think I got the mood I wanted in this painting. At 12 x 24, it was one of the three largest pieces I did during the Forgotten Coast event.  Painting this size is feeling a little more comfortable now. 

 

Early Summer, Port St. Joe, 12 x 12 inches, oil on linen

This painting is available. Please contact me for more information.