"Sand Flying"
This week - the joy of painting my very first sea turtle hatchling. I begin with a sketch:
This week - the joy of painting my very first sea turtle hatchling. I begin with a sketch:
Then I use pre-cut watercolor paper that I attach drafting tape to (rolled up on the center of the back of my art card). The miniature sized 'canvas' is adhered to a piece of recycled copy paper. I use this as my test palette while I progress through the painting. Generally, I only need a one half sheet size for testing my colors. This allows me to use one piece of copy paper for up to four art cards - refolding it to find a clean surface as needed.
The finished painting: a newly hatched sea turtle beginning the precarious journey from sand to sea. I had the pleasure of working with one of the most endangered of these beautiful creatures - Kemp's Ridley sea turtle from the Gulf of Mexico - many moons ago. What a wonderful experience it was to care for several very healthy active individuals. They grew so quickly and thoroughly enjoyed their meals of fish, squid and scallops. At feeding time - it was literally a splashing fest! The care taker was always soaked - I gave up on the apron idea very early on as it did not do much to keep my face, neck and shoes dry anyway.
Visit Coral2Cove Gallery to view this art card.
Sand Flying
Website: Coral2Cove
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I was so happy to see you visited my blog. I'm not sure where I'm going to go with it but I love having a place to post my photos and stories. One of my favorite things is your stories that go with your paintings and this adorable little sea turtle has me laughing picturing you without an apron and enjoying the splash time with the little turtles. Who wrote that phrase 'every picture tells a story'? I try to do that with my photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Jan. I enjoy having a complete creative connection with my art and often times as I'm painting, images from the past or things I've heard come flooding through the tip of the brush.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is beautiful! The poetry and waves blend perfectly together in 'Mama Ocean'. Please continue to share - I'm eager for more. All the Very Best, Colleen