Following In Her Footsteps

Following in her Footsteps, 16x20" oil, ©Diane Mannion

Studio Version

Was happy with the 8x10" study, so painted a larger version with more detail and polish.  Although the small version is loose and spontaneous, I'm pleased with the more considered effect of the studio painting.  

My daughter and granddaughter visited during a blustery winter day, too cold to go swimming, so we walked along Englewood Beach.  I snapped photos (of course).  Most were not painting material but there was something about one snapshot that caught my attention.  

Made my granddaughter younger and almost completely painted the water from visual memory.  No photo could capture the feeling of that day.  My granddaughter lives in NY and my daughter is half way around the world on business.  Bittersweet image for me.

Following in her Footsteps, study, 8x10" oil, ©Diane Mannion

Boca Grande Pass

Boca Grande Pass, 8x10" oil, ©Diane Mannion

HOT!

Boca Grande Pass, world famous for tarpon fishing and HUMONGOUS sharks.

While painting this, a manatee swam by.  The huge shape and slow movement was distinct in the crystal clear water.  Once kayaked around this point and was thrilled when one swam directly underneath. 

Almost July here and HOT!  Didn't get out until late morning, stood under the shade of my tiny painting umbrella for about an hour.  Got the color notes, memorized as much as possible and finished in the studio.  Photo reference was almost useless next to the colors I saw in real life! 

What caught my eye first about this scene was the gorgeous, break-your-heart light blue reflection on the water.  Turquoise and purple, glorious greens, flecks of yellow all playing in swift currents that flow through this pass. 

Surf Study

Surf Study, 8x10" oil, ©Diane Mannion

Practice

Have read E John Robinson's Painting the Sea books again and again.  Have watched Don Demers, Marine Painting: Art of the Waves about twenty-five times.  Have spent years of my life staring at the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico trying to figure it out.  Have painted at the beach a lot!  I still find painting the surf challenging. 

Surf Study is practice for spending a week in Maine painting the Atlantic this summer.  Water painting is also an important element in my work and I'm determined to figure it out.  

This small painting sat around my studio for months in various stages of frustrated wipe-outs.  One problem was the terrible reference photo I took one gloomy day and started working with.  Finally had to abandon it and use visual memory and imagination. 

After getting tight and loosing up, blurring, scrubbing, and blending... finally got angry and slapped strokes on to finish or else!  And sheesh... now I like it.

Fishery Tree

Fishery Tree, 9x12" oil, plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Placida Fishery

Lovely morning painting with several plein air groups, Lee, Charlotte, and Sarasota counties all joined together for the last paintout for this season of the Peace River Painters.  Cool breeze and shade, although a few tough artists roasted in direct sunlight!

Seminole Trader was still floating and rumor has it, the folks who thought they could sell her for scrap have given up.  Also, the idea of towing her sixty miles out to sea to be sunk as an artificial reef was not approved of by Charlotte County.  (See my last post for the painting.)

Seminole Trader

Seminole Trader, 8x10" oil, plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Last Voyage

Seminole Trader's disappearing fast... roof removed and piece by piece cut apart for scrap.  I've painted this old shrimper in Placida, Florida many times.  Always wondered about the stormy seas survived, and glorious sunrises witnessed.  She'll be missed by many artists!

Cabbage Palms

Cabbage Palms, 8x10" oil, plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Heatstrokes

Painted with the Heatstrokes yesterday at Manasota Key Beach.  Fine HOT weather!  But we didn't mind while standing in the shade with a sea breeze coming in from the Gulf.  Folks were toasting right out in the sun, turning colorful shades of pink to scarlet orange. 

Another study for a larger painting.  Now that I know my plein air sketches are simply a way of gathering information, I feel less pressure about finishing on location.  A lot more fun!  Happy with this one.  Focused on color, light flow and composition.

Historical notes from Wikipedia: (also, an alert FB friend said they are a favorite food of bears.)
The cabbage-like terminal bud has been eaten as hearts of palm. The bristles on the sheaths of young leaves have been made into scrubbing brushes. The trunks have been used as wharf piles. On June 28, 1776, Charleston patriots under William Moultrie made a fort of palmetto trunks and from it defended successfully against the British in the Revolutionary War.[13]

Fresh Paint

Fresh Paint, 6x6" oil, plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Fishery Cottage

Took my new Strada Mini on a test drive at the Fishery in Placida, Florida.  This cottage had a fresh coat of paint which made me wish I had brought along some of my pthalo colors.  A few shades of purple and teal simply can't be mixed with my simple limited palette.  

Will be painting here next Monday with the Peace River Painters, last paintout of the season.  Plenty of shade and colorful scenery.  One of the last tiny villages in this area with real old Florida character.  Won't last long, sale signs everywhere.  The shrimp boat, Seminole Trader is being cut up for scrap metal.  Sad.

The Strada Mini... everything I hoped for! 

Two Sisters Again

Two Sisters Again, 16x20" oil, ©Diane Mannion

Plein Air to Studio

Two Sisters are a well known pair of trees on the Venice, Florida shoreline.

Working up some of my field studies into larger versions.  Made so many changes on this one that it's at least three paintings deep!  Got close to my original idea then the painting seemed to have a mind of it's own and pulled me in another direction.

So much of painting on location depends on simplifying what's there; so much of studio painting relies on visual memory and imagination.  Could not have painted this studio version without the experience of painting on this location often.  Photo reference does not capture the sense of place and lies about colors and values.

The other difference between plein air and studio is TIME.  Field studies are painted in a couple of hours before the light changes.  The technique is loose and energetic.  It's always a thrill to drop a few in the box before noon.

Studio works take a lot longer, so PATIENCE is needed!  It takes days or weeks for one painting... polishing and refining and taking the work as far as possible.  Or letting the work take YOU as far as possible.

Hot Floridian summer's a great time to chill in the air conditioning and explore new painting directions.  But I'll still venture outside to paint on location with the Heat Strokes (my private group, usually just me and a friend).  There's always a bit of shade and breeze somewhere early in the morning.

Venice Park

Venice Park, 8x10" oil, plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Peace River Painters in Venice

Beautiful morning painting with the Peace River Painters in Venice.  

Resisted the impulse to fiddle with this later, simply signed and let it go.  I'm sort of pleased with the light.  Someone asked why I had painted the sky yellow... that's the way it looked early this morning.  Was tempted to add the dog obedience class that appeared in the background, but kept it simple instead, true to my first impression of the scene.  It was really all about the light.

I used limited palette of red, yellow, blue, white, plus red iron oxide.  Absolutely NO solvents, and not a drop of linseed oil.  Paint pushed around with stiff Silver Bristlon brushes and paper towels on linen panel.  Simply pulled paint off brush to change colors, or used another brush.  It works!

First stage roughed and rubbed in:

Afterwards, we gathered in Karen Hitt's Studio (who's still away on her Cinderella honeymoon) and enjoyed the cool air conditioning, refreshments, and art talk.  Was wonderful meeting new artists and looking at the morning's output.

Sally, Cory, and me, while leading the critique. 
We learn from each other.

Photo thanks to Marina

RIPTIDE

RIPTIDE, 11x14" oil, ©Diane Mannion

Dangerous Riptide

Floridian winter weather can be unpredictable!  Tough to explain to a five year old why she could not go swimming!  Dangerous riptide warnings posted, high winds, rough seas, and darn cold.  This explains her moody, calm before the storm, attitude. 

First stage worked up from a 6x6" study.

One of many middle stages.