"Gulf Sea Oats"

Oil on RayMar - 8x6

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This panel was painted from sketches and earlier paintings of the view of the Gulf from the dunes at Cape San Blas State Park.

 

Here is my evaluation, and I welcome critiques.

• Sky - OK, I like the hint of yellow in the clouds and the use of ult blue with a hint of cobalt blue.
• Gulf -OK, but it could be a little more to the green side of blue. I used a #6 synthetic bristle to do the waves.
• Dunes - sand is too brown. It needs to be more gray/blue with more blue in the shadows. These dunes are almost as white as snow.
• Dune on the left - too dark and too loosely executed.
• Dune in the foreground - much to much, it's too busy, and ill defined. The bushes are too con color.
• Sea oats - I like a few points that came from the use of a palette knife. Still the color is too same across the picture and too yellow.
• Overall design - the painting is too busy to see if the design works.
• My wife, Patty, suggested that the dune on the left is too tall and seems to dominate the design. It could be shortened to the horizon line or just above.
• Value / Contrast - the values are too close with not enough contrast.

"Breaking Late"

Oil on canvas panel - 6x6

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When storms have made the slope of the beach more steep, the waves break later and closer to shore. This is what I have tried to capture in this painting. The sky is overcast, and there are no clear reflections. The water color seems to be more green and gray.

I have done waves several times in pastel, but this is my first effort in oil. I am pleased with the result, and encouraged to do more seascapes in oil.

Bright Morning

Oil on canvas panel, 12x9

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This is another study of the a palm thicket and the dunes at Cape San Blas. The painting began as a sketch and water color. I have tried to capture the heat and bright sun of a summer morning. The painting is oil on canvas panel.

This is a view of the secluded beach and dunes near where my son Rod, my father-in-law, and I spent many, many hours fishing.

A personal note:

As a painting progresses toward completion, it seems often to take a life of its own. It moves steadily away from the view before me and even away from my original intention. I do not know if this is a result of my inner "natural artistic eye" or the product of my artistic inability together with some conscious or even unconscious compensations. In either case, I am pleased with this result even as it has moved beyond my original scene and impression.