Beach Fantasy #1, 11 x 14, Richeson “terra cotta” on gatorfoam

Beach Fantasy #2, 11 x 14, Richeson “terra cotta” on gatorfoam

Yesterday I decided it was time for something different! I wanted to give myself the chance to play. Today is my birthday and I decided that creating a painting more from my imagination would be a good way to spend the day. The first painting was done from a black and white photo and color study, so the composition was pretty much set. The second was done from a different photo and the one I used for #1. I wanted to include the sea in this one, but I used a similar color palette.  This is about as close to abstract painting as I get! It’s all about shape, value and color, pushing here and pulling there.  Working on the Richeson was interesting as I haven’t really used it in years. It’s very rough and allows for a lot of broken color. The warm red surface was a good backdrop for the violets and browns, but I found myself wanting too much to fill it all in. The sky is more successful in the first one as there is much less of it–just pieces of color. The sky in the second was more of a struggle. There is more aqua in it, which doesn’t show in this image. I decided to add some light clouds to break it up, but it’s still reading like a large gray mass!   I’m calling these both fantasies because the colors are totally intuitive, as is the composition in the second. I have flowers on the bushes but no greens!  I didn’t want any.  Sometimes we need to get out our artistic license and use whatever colors we want!