Wednesday, July 21, 2010 was a day for me to try something really challenging! As if getting out of my comfort zone by driving from the heat in the Inland Empire to the perceived cold of the far, far away San Pedro harbor was not enough.
My painting buddy, Ada m. passaro and I arrived around 9 ish and scouted around for the best possible locations in this murky, gray, drizzly day. We decided the best place was away from the crowds so we opted for the area near the fire station. I spied the fire boats and immediately fell in love. There were four lined up in a row waiting for the crew to come on board and waiting for me to paint them. Of course I had to do all four. Their names were "Scout," "Admiral," "Leader," and I could not see the fourth since it was way in back. Perhaps I will see it when I review the photos that I took for reference material. Plein Air Artists of Riverside (PAAR) plans on doing an exhibit with our small plein air paintings next to a studio painting of the same same subject. That of course will be a new post.
This painting is quite different in application from what I normally do. It is quite loose and impressionistic. I kept seeing the crew coming on board getting ready to move out so I knew that if I was going to capture them that I had to work very fast. The crew waved and was appreciative when I raised my painting up for them to see. I really like this painting. I hope you do too.
In the next few days, look for a series of small Folklorico paintings that I am painting for an exhibit in September.
