Ladner Harbour Boats
11 x 14
oil on canvas
My paintings reflect my life in some ways - constantly moving between the desert and the coast. So here we are back on the coast in the little fishing village of Ladner. I ventured out in my car on a cool winter morning, parked in the marina parking lot facing these boats and set up my paint box (pictured below) right on my lap never leaving the warmth and privacy of the vehicle. It was so lovely and relaxing, listening to music and painting away - almost a timeless feel. I used my plein air paper sketch as a guide for this larger canvas piece along with some photo reference, my usual process these days.
And this is my paint box, a summer project starting with a basic box, adding a hinged palette lined with glass and two hinged side pieces for holding brushes or medium and a piece of paper towel for wiping excess paint. Paint tubes and brushes store underneath and two panels can store in the lid. I can paint with the box on my lap or attach it to a tripod. I'm 'going green' by using a glass palette which can be scraped with a blade and excess paint piled in a corner to use as an undercoat for the next painting and by pinning down a small square of paper towel which can hold an astounding amount more paint than a crumpled up piece in one's hand. I usually work with one brush rubbing off excess paint when changing colors and making sure I load up enough new paint on the brush to gently drop in the color without the old color seeping through. This means no solvents necessary and again fewer paper towels. Of course this works for now while painting small, we'll see when I start painting big outside!
