Time and Tide....

"Carpinteria Reflections" oil on canvas, 8X10"

I have been so busy painting, that blogging posts have been sparse.  I've done close to 20 small paintings on this trip, many of them oceanscapes, and I am learning a lot about visual memory.

When painting from life, there is no high speed stop to help you see shapes.  Waves are continually in motion and the only way to paint them is to sit and observe, and then paint a bit, then sit and observe again.  Not only are the waves moving, but the tide and the light  also change rapidly.   They change quickly enough that if you don't lay them in right away, you start "chasing" them, rather like a dog chases it's tail.  It gets you no where, and you will never really be done.

In this piece, the reflections in the sand were completely gone before I had finished laying them in, and I had to rely totally on what I remembered seeing when I started.  This requires a lot of focused attention.  So far, my head has not burst into flames, but I still have a few paintings to squeeze out before the end of my trip.

I shall endeavor to keep you posted.

All the best from sunny Santa Barbara!