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| Green Harbor River from Brant Rock Side Stage One |
It's late April and with each passing week, there is more activity at the docks here in Green Harbor. I returned to the same dock from which I painted the "Three Boats" a couple of weeks ago. There were lobster boats being loaded up with bright yellow traps, large boats being launched off their trailers and towed to their moorings. It wasn't crowded, but there was a steady stream of activity. After a rainy morning, the clouds were giving way to sunshine. The luxury boats in their slips across the river in the Green Harbor Marina were reflecting the bright sunrays, making the water look even darker and bluer. I decided on capturing a scene facing the 30 foot commercial fishing boat called the Erin Lynn.
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| Green Harbor River from Brant Rock - Stage Two |
I began with the sky, which was patches of blue and breaking clouds. Using my palette knife, I partially blended cobalt, cerulean, rose and white on the palette. I then scraped up the mound of paint and spread it onto the canvas. Each of the colors were distinguishable up close but from a distance the marbling blended nicely.
I decided to continue with the knife, mixing the treeline color next and spreading it so that it sat right below the sky. Next was the strip of gold seagrasses that border the river. Matching the next color would be important, that being the furthest water. It seemed dark blue, but the first mix of ultramarine with some white was too intense. I added my transparent brown (asphaltum) to the blue mixture along with a little dioxine purple. The slate blue that resulted was just right when I held up the sample color to the water to compare, even though I was sure it was going to be too gray. Comparing to the real thing is the best verification on color.
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| Moored Erin Lynn |
I continued to mix and match mounds of paint and layered it on very thickly. I tried to make the more distant stroked be smaller and straighter horizontally. As I worked down the canvas, the palette strokes were stronger, wider more varied. The foreground water was golden green as is often the case at the docks.
Commercial fishing boat Erin Lynn swayed left, then right with the strong wind and high tide. At the point when the boat was positioned as I wanted it in the painting, I snapped a couple of reference photos. The vessel is actually almost 30 feet long yet in the angle in the painting, where the rear view of the cabin in almost straight on, makes it look much smaller. Perhaps a few stronger hints of orange would add a little more excitement.
