Beach Boy, Acrylic 11 X 14

This is a painting of my grandson who visited us for two weeks this summer!  He really likes to go to eastern NC beaches - particularly Atlantic beach.  He also loved to boogie board!  He is a great grandson.  This painting is in honor of him and the great time we had this summer.

As usual, I started by lightly painting, then rubbing most of it off with a mixture of burnt umber and yellow ochre on the board.  I then sketched his figure in and then painted in the darks and lights (painting a grisaille).

This is a picture of my palette - I use a masterson box with a liner - so I can keep my paints moist).  The colors I mostly used for this painting were - starting from bottom left - burnt umber, yellow ochre, cadmium lemon, naples yellow, hansa yellow medium, quinicrodone nickel azo gold, naphtol red, cadmium orange , flesh tint (windsor newton), dioxazine purple, phalo blue, anthroquinone blue, cobalt blue, phalo green, titanium white and buff, mars black.

The painting with  color and no added shadows other than that which appears through the underpainting of the darks.  I felt like the sand area was a little dark so I lighted it up in the final painting.

This is the final painting with a little lightening up to give it a little bit of  a dreamy look!

Thanks for taking a look!

Shackleford Shells No. 3, Orange Whelk and Scallop Shell

This is the third in a series of  shell portraits.  Shells are so perfect in design  but always with 

imperfections - kind of like us as humans.  Just love shells with their mottled colors , ridge details and knobby formations. Once again, fond memories in collecting them - precious time with my grandchildren!

This is what my palette looks like.  Kind of messy - however it works for me.  I use a Masterson box  with a thin sponge beneath the paper which keeps the acrylic paint moist for a while.  It also has a top which kind of snaps on like a plastic ware top.  Great invention and has enabled me to extend the life of my palette.  Most of the time I keep warm colors on the left and cool colors on the right.

I first started with a sketch of my composition in pencil and then sprayed with fix it to keep the graphite from mixing with the paint.  I then define my darks and lights with a mixture of burnt umber quincridone burnt-orange, titanium white and titanium buff.

Here I am adding a little more color using  mostly yellow ochre, naples yellow, cadmium yellow medium, hansa yellow medium, mars black, anthroquinone blue  and dioxazine purple.

This portrait came out darker and with more contrast that the other shell portraits due to the chrome of the one orange whelk. 

The finished painting.  Thanks for taking a look!