VENTURA HARBOR IV

VENTURA HARBOR IV

VENTURA HARBOR IV
12x12 oil on gessobord
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Besides painting en plein air in Ventura I also took many photographs so that once I returned home to New Mexico I could continue to paint the boats, water, harbor, and buildings.  I got a very good sense of the setting, could smell the salt water and feel the humidity so missing here at home.

I love the color the paddle and surf boards, flags and canvas sail covers add to the scene.  Adjacent to the building, there are many umbrellas under which to enjoy a fish sandwich or a spicy Mexican meal.

If you haven't been to Ventura you would be missing something.  There are quaint shops, hotels, restaurants and even a weekly flea market.  Ventura is fairly quiet with not a lot of traffic, my kind of place.

I am proud of this painting: VENTURA HARBOR I

VENTURA HARBOR I

12x12 oil on gessobord
Click here to purchase

I love coastal living but here I am in
the beautiful desert of
New Mexico

Within one month I have attended two workshops: one with Leslie Saeta and the other with Dreama Tolle Perry.  Their style of painting couldn't be much different, yet I love them both, style and subject matter.

I painted "VENTURA HARBOR I" with Leslie, en plein air, palette knife only.  We were set up so that the sun was not a bother.  Leslie uses a limited palette of five colors plus white:  Cad Yellow Med, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Green and Sap Green.  On the day we painted the ocean color didn't demand use of Phthalo Green though I have seen it used in many paintings, especially in the ocean paintings of Sorolla I recently saw in Dallas.  The colors I used to get the above ocean color were Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue (for a bit of purple), Sap Green and Cad Yellow Medium.

Yes, I am in love with harbor scenes and boats.  My Pinterest website has a board of gorgeous ship, harbor and ocean paintings.  You really should see it here.  My plan is to continue this thread of painting and I have already scheduled two weeks of painting in Maine, in Andrew Wyeth country near Rockland.

A photo of what I was seeing in Ventura Harbor
You can see I zoomed in and greatly simplified my painting.

VENTURA HARBOR III

PAINTING HARBORS AND BOATS

VENTURA HARBOR III
9x12 oil on canvas covered cradled board
Palette Knife Painting
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After my very recent trip to Ventura, CA, I have completely fallen in love with

PAINTING BOATS AND HARBORS
A few years ago I spent a week in Maine at York Beach getting salt in my blood.
I can't stay away from the ocean at the moment,
 nor studying famous seascape artists,
 so I have decided to return to Maine again in July, this time for two weeks.
 Of course there will be time for sightseeing,
but my main purpose this time is more painting than vacationing.

To see many awesome painting in one place
click here to view my Pinterest board on Ships, Boats and Harbors.
Click here to view my board of Seascape Paintings on Pinterest.