Lobster Boat View 22 1/4" x 30"

Prowling around Stonington again I came across this scene at Billings Boat Yard. I observed most of it but added some of the items such as the two people and the clouds.  I was drawn to the dramatic perspective of the lobster boat profile which framed the lobster boats in the distance.  The lighting was also dramatic.  The lobster boat in the foreground is a white boat, but it was in shadow and had to be portrayed in colors.  I worked on using  the whole color wheel as a basis for grey colors, and that approach helps keep it alive I think. If I had done them all in variations of black it would certainly lose some interest.  I started this painting with the clouds, which are imaginary, mostly because working from the top down keeps my hands out of the wet paint.  That day there were no clouds but I felt that the amount of space allowed for the sky needed some interest and break up of space.  At first I used very strong purple for all the sky between the clouds.  I was feeling bold that day I guess.  I also put some lobster boat shaped clouds in near the horizon.  I was feeling a little goofy too! Later I brought this painting to my watercolor students and got some honest feedback that the clouds were too strong.  I agreed and softened most of it by wetting the area and pulling the pigment off the paper.  I used brushes and a sponge.  I also softened the further body of land as it deminished to the distance.  This helped tame the overall effect and allowed the background to fulfill its place as something further away and not competitive with the forground.  It is always good to get some feedback and to let a painting sit for a few days to make any ajustments necessary. I like boats and people in paintings, they have character, personality, add a sense of drama, so I used both in this one.  I had to make up where the people would go and figure out how they would fit in.  I used to work in animation and we always had some people or animals moving around in front of a background. I am comfortable making up stuff. I also love figure drawing and feel like I have only begun to scratch the surface of potential for figures in landscape painting, so this is a start. There really was an orange cord in the lobster boat, a perfect detail that added a great color zinger which bounces off the blue and purple tones. As in life opposites attract and zingers result.