Beach Mat

This is a studio painting I did from one of the pics I shot out at the beach. There still are a lot of people enjoying the beach, its not as crowded or as hot as it was in August and September. The woman in the painting is returning from the parking lot so I guess she forgot her beach mat.

11 x 14, oil on linen

Sun on Sea Grapes

The morning sun was catching just the tops of the sea grapes and I aimed at capturing that look. Sea grapes grow all over the beach area here, they can take a lot of abuse by the weather and still look great. There was a beautiful heron stitting in the bushes close by but I figured if I tried painting him he would disappear as soon as I got started so the sea grapes were a much safer subject.

9 x 12 oil on board

Along the River

There's usually a fisherman or two at the shore line fishing or shrimping but the day I painted this must have been a bad day for fishing since no one was there. I tried to capture the feeling of dappled light through the trees.

8x 10, oil on board

View of the Creek

Last week's plein air painting turned out so bad I decided not to post it. Sometimes things just don't go right! This posted one I did several months ago when we were painting out at a local park. It was a sultry hot day which I tried to capture in the painting. No breeze, no nothing on that day, thankfully that kind of weather is pretty well behind us now 'til next June or so.

9 x 12, oil on board

Along the River

The shoreline along this part of the Anclote River is very sandy, in fact there is a beach/park right next to where we were painting. I left out the channel marker, actually forgot about it, but many boats go through this channel to get out to the gulf. I didn't think I wanted to tackle painting a boat on the move so opted for this more serene look.
8 x 10, oil on canvas

Just Splashing Around

I was out at the beach last week in early evening trying to get some candid shots of people going about their leisure activities. Nearby was a family with two small children and they seemed to be having such a good time. The father was keeping very close tabs on the smaller child who was desperately trying to catch one of the birds that was looking for food. The older child, painted here, was fascinated just to be sloshing around in the water.

10 x 8, oil on canvas board

Looking for Treasures

Along the beach at Honeymoon Island there are tons of shells that have washed up on the shore. Most are pretty broken up by the surf and rocks at the shoreline but there are always many people looking for that special treasure.

10 x 8, oil on canvas