Tybee Island Getaway

Last winter we visited Tybee Island, a barrier island between the Atlantic and Savannah, GA.    We drove from New England to this winter adventure. Traveling by car means we bring the "stuff" that would not make the cut if flying was involved.   For us, that meant our full complement of painting gear came along too.

I've procrastinated in posting these five paintings so I've decided to just share all the images in this one post, sparing you the details.     Potentially I would be making things up about the paint outs - since I can't remember a lot of details now that it is months later.

The exception is the painting with the angry looking clouds which was done from a photo I took.  We had taken a beach walk and we received alerts on our phones that there was a tornado watch (warning? see, I forget...the worser of the two).   It was so dark and stormy looking, and being from New England, we didn't know if it was something to be alarmed about.  I took a photo of the swirling clouds and dark water as we raced back to our VRBO - quite a vivid memory!   I felt it was worthy of a painting as the photo shot captured the beach, the sky and the water in various "unnatural" shades of green and gray.

 

Tybee Dawn from Deck

Tybee Pavilion Pier

Tybee Tornado Watch

Tybee Boathouse Tidal River

 

Tybee Lighthouse

 

 

 

Watercolors in Barbados

People on the Beach - Watercolor

I am an oil painter, and oil paint is a very forgiving medium. If I make a mistake or don't like my result, I can easily paint over the mess and mostly salvage the painting.  

Waterlilies in Watercolor

Watercolor on the other hand is, to me, the most difficult medium.   I have the utmost respect for water-colorists that can produce clean, lovely gems that look effortless.   I say all this because I brought my watercolors on vacation and  I don't have much to show for it.   

I tried hibiscus, beach people and a couple of subjects from photos I brought with me.  Shown are the "best" ones.  It was a great trip and although it was hard to face winter again, at least my oil paints are waiting for me!

Under, At & Over Water (Aka - The Span of Angels)

Folded Sections of 7 foot canvas

This piece is a fairly ambitious undertaking at 84 by 36 inches.   I plan to hang vertically, envisioning a wall with a cathedral ceiling.   I was breaking my own norms and truly making it up as I went.   (What?  Not the usual formula?)

I'll be in a much larger studio soon and it will be a real treat.   In my current studio I worked on sections of the canvas, unfurling each section and clipping up the folded parts.  I worked the elements in succession, the sky, the far distant mountains, the mid-ground meadow, the shrubs on the shoreline, a sandy beach, the chop, and finally, the underwater world.  

The Span of Angels

The angelic cherub in the clouds is fishing (of course :)) and the fishing line spans all the elevations down into the tropical reef, where an angel fish is deciding whether to bite.     Well I've told you too much already, but there is much left to do on this one - mainly making the elements more harmonious with one another.  

Stay tuned for the final product in a few weeks.

Painting and Sketching in Tropical Paradise

In the beautiful island country of Jamaica, the delights were many: people, music, balmy breezes, cuisine and most of all, a rainbow of vibrant and colorful scenes.   I longed to paint with my oils, but this vacation was designed around the theme of "R&R."  Dealing with wet oil paintings in a beautiful hotel setting would have been too scary, and frankly stressful.    My fallback was watercolor and sketching, adequate substitutes and actually good for brushing up on different skills.    

There were many talented musicians strolling along the beach.  They periodically pausing to perform a few songs for tips.   They stayed long enough to be captured in pencil, which I share here.  Sketching on the fly was good practice, especially for a plein air painter like myself.

My favorite musician was Donnavan Darymple, who also performed some evenings at the hotel

We snorkeling along a reef about a mile from the hotel with local guides.   Back ashore, painting the underwater world with watercolor seemed pretty natural. Although I do find watercolor challenging, letting the wet colors run together was fun, as was playing with the masking fluid.      

Underwater I

Underwater II

Underwater III

Bullfrog

The frog is a New England "feller" painted from a photograph.   I actually painted this one first, as I was getting re-accustomed to watercolor.   As you can see, I approached it very much like an oil painting (covering the whole surface, layering, accentuating the darks).

Under the Shade Tree

One very nice aspect of the hotel's beach was that it had a large swathe of shade trees.    There was no problem shifting our chairs from shade to sunshine and back again.   This painting was done from under the tree where I spent most of my vacation.

Watercolor by Paul Thomas

 Last but not least is a painting done by Jamaican Watercolorist Paul Thomas.  He and I had a nice conversation at our beach where he was set up selling his beautiful depictions of the local scenes.   His hummingbird paintings were amazing - I wish I had taken a photo!    I gave him a block of watercolor paper as it had come to my attention that getting supplies on the island was not easy.   He most graciously painted the scene shown here.   He sure knows how to mix that beautiful turquoise that I was having a hard time achieving!  Thank you Paul!

Traveling With the Brand New Set Up

Six Vieques Paintings

I've already shared my six tropical paintings from Vieques, but I didn't talk about the challenge of painting with a complete change in my usual painting parameters. You'll take one look at the ultra-gorgeous scene I painted that first day and most likely have zero sympathy when I state that it was difficult to get started.  Okay, yes, I'm thinking of that old saying,  "a bad day of fishing beats a great day at the office."

So in the context of being fortunate and grateful to even be on this trip, I'll say that there were challenges. Among them:

• A new lightweight easel (disassembled for flight) 
• A new palette board (no familiar color spots marking my usual placements)
• Unfamiliar hardware used to attach the palette to new easel

  

  Not Exactly Travelling Light

• Stark white, non-toned substrates (usually I use toned surfaces).
• No turpentine (not allowed by security)
• Tropical colors! No recipes on the brain  (especially for that dazzling turquoise ocean)

Yes I suffered through it :)  item by item...

• Once the new easel was put together on Day One, it didn't need to be disassembled again until it was time to fly home.   The assembled easel stowed easily in the back of the rented Jeep for the duration of the trip. 
• The newly cut (and lightweight) 12x16x.25 inch birchwood panel travelled well and though it took some time initially, it felt no different than my heavyweight palette at home once populated with the oil colors.



Modified Aluminum Easel

• The new aluminum easel had "L" brackets attached with couplings that slid up and down on its respective tripod leg.   Three matching drilled holes in the birch palette lined up with three "L's" on easel legs.  See the three red arrows in photo that shows modified easel that allows palette panel to sit in between tripod.
• I typically apply a neutral undertone over the white canvas and let it dry at least overnight.  All the canvases I brought on this trip were stark white and I discovered that because everything here was so brightly lit, the white surface helped me maintain a high, clear color key.
• Oil painting without turpentine was tough.   I wiped my brushes often and used my walnut oil to clean them as well.   This wasn't an acceptable workaround though, and we located the local hardware store where we purchased a small can for $7.
• Color matching was a matter of trial and error.    I had brought the right ingredients (Cerulean blue, pthalo blue, emerald green).  It was a matter of blending these in the right amounts and combinations.    By Day Two - the required rework was reduced somewhat.

So that is the story.  What I didn't cover here about traveling with the oils is the packing and flying, which I'll share in a future post.  If anyone has questions about the customizations to the easel, the palette or color combinations, let me know and I'll be happy to share more.

Vieques - Mouth of Media Luna Beach

Mouth of Media Luna - Stage One

This post describes the last plein air painting of our trip to beautiful Vieques, PR - and the second painting of the day.   Although I was a little wary of travelling home with wet paintings, using up the rest of the paint on my palette trumped the aforementioned concern.   Not wasting any paint resulted in a very thick and juicy rendering!



This lovely little beach, like all the others, was almost deserted and just as picturesque.    Media Luna's opening to the Caribbean Sea is depicted in this scene.  There were rock formations on each side, natural breakers for the large surf beyond, so it was very nice for swimming and snorkeling.    Although I'm always happy to get home, the warm, tropical look and feel already seems like ages ago!  

Here's hoping for some Massachusetts "local color" very soon, beyond black, white, grey and tan!




Vieques - Under the Sea Grape Trees at Media Luna

Media Luna - Setting Up

Media Luna - Mid Stage

This was the final paint-out day of our vacation.   The beach was called Media Luna - just as pretty as all the rest of the beaches, and no surprise, a beautiful Vieques day.   There were - maybe - a dozen other people scattered along the medium sized, white beach.   I faced southwest and began with the gorgeous cerulean sky and treeline.   A few larger palm trees towered over the uniform scrubby trees.  Closer to our spot, there were several mature sea grape trees.   The sea grape seemed to be the most predominant tree/shrub along the sandy beaches. Having observed their habit and painting them in earlier paintings, I felt more daring laying in some circular impasto strokes.  The thick impressionistic swirls of color included bright gold green with red (representing veins and stems).  

Just as I was getting ready to add the pale turquoise water, a person settled into a shady spot under one of the trees in the painting.   Good timing!  Their shaded form complete with a large wide-brimmed black hat created a distinct silhouette against the bright white sand beyond.   They stayed put long enough for me to rough in their shape. 

Under the Sea Grape



Vieques - Isabel II Mayor's Office from Rivera Plaza

Mayor's Office - Stage One

Our painting location on this day was in the middle of the town square in Isabel II, Vieques, Puerto Rico.   It was sunny and 82 degrees with a gentle breeze.   Ahhh, yes!   The big old trees in the plaza cast pretty blue shadows on the pinkish concrete pathways.   Most of the buildings were stucco in pastel colors and just as pretty as could be.   This trip truly was a dream come true.



Mayor's Office - Stage Two

The bright warm colors in the buildings and street were screaming to be painted thickly.  Why don't we have pastel colored buildings at home?  We seem to gravitate to white, grey, black, just like our winters!   So despite a gnawing worry about transporting a thick, wet painting on a plane back to New England, I buttered on the thick color with wild abandon!



Mayor's Office - Isabel II, Vieques, PR

There was a moderate amount of activity until mid-afternoon when school let out.   At that point lots of (middle-school?) students were relaxing on the steps and grass, many of whom, I discovered were waiting for their rides.      I was sorry that I hadn't brushed up on my Spanish before this trip.  Several students stopped and asked questions; I couldn't understand them and they didn't speak English.  One very animated young student marched over to another group of girls and came back with another friend, bilingual, who became our translator.

So sweet and curious...art is a universal language, as we still engaged with less dependence on words.

Here is a 40 second look at the spot from where I painted.

http://youtu.be/Qv5Jlc6oEeQ


Vieques Beachchair Under Palm

Stage One

Yes that beach chair was mine.  We had just discovered a sandy path to the shore in the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge.   At the end of the road was a deserted beach and a covered gazebo (good for sheltering during the two passing tropical showers we had).   The conditions weren't as perfect as the first two Vieques paint-outs, but I'll take a quick shot of wind and rain with 82 degrees over anything New England has dished out in the past six months!


Downpour Coming

In this painting the sun and southeast facing beach were to my right which made for better color matching.   I'm sure that's why there is more pumped up color.  

Beach Chair Under the Palm

At the risk of you thinking I'm trying to rub it in that I'm here painting in paradise while you were weathering a brutally cold March, here is a very short video of the location of this paint-out.

http://youtu.be/II8BuypgpZU

Vieques - Hectors by the Sea Southwest View

Hector's Southwest View - Mid-Stage

At Hector's by the Sea, Vieques, Puerto Rico, there are scenic views in every direction.   Toward the bottom of the property closest to the ocean, there is a large, open-air covered patio used for special events.   On this day we were the only people using the space, and it was perfect for painting while avoiding the strong midday sun.  

Most residents of Vieques have horses and there are three pet horses on this property.   They usually wander the property during the day, pretty much ignoring guests - even if you walk close by.   During the paint out, the horses were still in their corral allowing me to capture one horse posing at the fence (Bella? I think).

Vieques - Hector's by the Sea Southwest View

The colors were so bright, warm and yellow - almost blinding.  Afterall, I have been accustomed to the white, black and gray of our
New England winter of 2015.  I felt like I was forcing the bright yellow while applying it, but upon review, even more could have been added!  Photographs lie, especially in translating yellow, so you'll have to believe me....the yellow was there in abundance.

Vieques - La Playa Chiva

Vieques - La Playa Chiva

After the winter we have experienced in the Northeast, I was practically delirious to see the bright tropical colors of Vieques, Puerto Rico.   The sky was pure cerulean blue, the water was radiant turquoise and the lush vegetation was bright gold and green.   The fact that we got to paint on this trip was a dream come true.   Words are certain to be insufficient when describing the execution of this painting.   The YouTube video at the following link says at least a thousand words.  

http://youtu.be/AADQ3_kFBC8

More Tropical Watercolors

 

Towel Exchange

One of the daily rituals at the tropical resort is to do a beach towel swap.   There was a thatch roof towel hut where beach goers had to get to by 5 pm.   They would have to make their way past the margaritas and pina coladas shack to get there.   I did this watercolor sitting with the strong afternoon sun behind me. 


More tropical scenes below.   One of my favorite destinations this year was the Butterfly Farm - absolutely mesmerizing!





Rock Formations Along the Shore




Butterflies



Catamarans

Tropical Watercolors - Loose

View from Mars

Yellow Lady Slipper

I was fortunate to be able to travel to Aruba this year and just like in years past, I brought my watercolors.  Watercolors, although not my preferred medium - provided a nice to change.   I used 4x6 inch and 6x9 inch Canon brand blocks, but I relaxed my past ways.  Rather than using photos or framing tight little scenes,  I just tried to match scenery color, only loosely matching the view.   I let the colors flow into one another using lots of Caribbean Sea water.   


This was more like playing around and experimenting, with no expectation of a worthwhile end product. What was worthwhile was more the process and relaxation of staring at swirling color starting to dry under the strong Equator sun.

These few are the "loosest" of the watercolors.  A forthcoming post will include some "tighter" watercolors.




Yellow Flower Spray





Sea Monster Emerging at Sunset





Tropical Fish

Rocky Shoreline in Tropical Paradise

Tropical Rocky Shore - Stage One

Moist tropical breezes, warm turquoise water and "effectual" sunshine.  Is there any wonder why these came to mind on this, the night of shoveling out from yet another snowstorm - this time wet heavy snow.     Continuous cold and snow is to be expected for this northern latitude, but by working on this painting (started last spring), I relived a bit of the tropical attributes of Vieques, Puerto Rico.   On this unspoiled oasis, the absence of commercial development was astounding,   We literally saw no other people as we trekked and waded for more than a mile along this rocky shore - half in the water and half on the sand.     The strong sun made all the colors look brighter and more vivid water, rocks and palm trees.    And it looks so warm!


Tropical Rocky Shore

Rock Formations Beautiful Vieques

I painted with watercolor while on vacation in beautiful Vieques, Puerto Rico this past Spring.  This week I finally made time to revisit their beautiful, tropical beaches with the dazzling turquoise water in my favorite medium - oil.   



Vieques - Media Luna (Half Moon)

With the watercolors and painting plein air, I never did feel like I quite matched the ocean's tropical green.   With oil, that's a different story.   I used Emerald Green, Gamblin's "Cote d'Azur and some cerulean blue with titanium white in varying amounts to make what I thought was a good match for that fabulous tropical water's colors.   The rocks had a mid value pinkish purple color.   I used my tropical sea water with alizarin to get the local color of the rocks.   In the deepest shadows I used Prussian Blue (very similar to Pthalo Blue).
 
The sand was primarily buff titanium with some swirls of my existing palette colors for interest.  I like how bright it looks - certainly not the blinding light of standing there, but relative brightness feels similar.   I'd like to figure out a way of having the canvas emit the associated solar heat.