Feeling a little nautical this morning. With the weather turning warm and my wanting to be outdoors I thought I might as well get in the mood for spring and summer.
I hope you all like this. I'll probably be doing more nautical paintings in the days and weeks to come.
Alas, that ever present bird has made a comeback on Dabfly Arts. Living by the water, I see them every day. Some days they look like they are having fun floating on gentle ocean breezes, others they look like they are hating life trying to stay warm in a cold winter wind. This guy falls into the former category. He is definitely loving life. Nice warm climate, a nice dock to stand on.
Birds are fun to paint. I don't know why I like them so much. I guess its because each one has its own personality. Every bird I paint gets its own story. This one is definitely looking at something on the dock. Maybe a tasty bit of food has blown onto the wood, he has just seen it, and it about to go over and have a snack.
Whatever his real story, he was a blast to paint. I hope you enjoy it. If you want to see how I did it, I have, as has become my custom, made a video of it. You can see it below. Thanks for the read, and the view if you have the inclination.
I must be on some kind of bird painting kick. Here, I've painted an Oriole. He is sitting on what appears to be a broken branch.
This bird was really fun to paint. The vibrant orange color is made from a couple of different reds, and a couple of different yellows. I did use a pre-mixed grey (payne's grey) but I augmented it myself. I don't usually use the grey right out of the tube. It's mot a bad color, just a little bit flat.
I've given the bird just a few indications of feathers. Just enough to enhance the shape of the bird.
He sits on a stick that has obviously seen better days. Its got some pitting and dents in it.
The background was originally going to be a bit more mottled, but I think I forgot to mix another color into it. As it is, the colors are phthalo blue and ultramarine blue. The green parts are windsor green and viridian. The blue behind the orange really makes this bird pop off the page.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the painting and the quick read. If you want to see how I painted it, check out the following video.
Abalone Shell Beach is my name for the beach and not the official name of the beach. I believe its actually Bluff Park Beach. I call it Abalone Shell Beach because the beach is made of abalone shells that are probably 10 ft deep or more. There used to be an abalone cannery that sat at the top of the hill. What became this beach was the area where they discarded their shells. As a result they just stacked up and stacked up and stacked up. Standing on the beach, you can look back at the bluff above you and see several feet of shells above the height of the beach, and looking into the water, the shells stretch as far as you can see into the water. Its a fantastic place sit. There are lots of boats tied up there, and I have tried to paint them before. This is my best effort. Hope you enjoy.
This is, as the title says, the Natural History Museum in Morro Bay. It really does sit atop a little cliff overlooking the bay. It has stunning views and when the tide is out, like in this picture, the rocks at the the base of the cliff are visible. I think I made the building a little small in this picture, but I'll get it all right at some point. Just gonna keep working at it. If I were to turn about 160 degrees to my right from where I was standing to take this picture, I would have Morro Bay rock directly in front of me.
I really like the look of this building sitting up there and am going to keep painting it until I get it right. Oh, and by the way, until the 1950's, this was the clubhouse for Morro Bay Golf Course.
This is a very quick painting of a couple of fishing boats in the fog in Morro Bay Harbor.
These are two quick sketches I did of the Harbor Hut tower. Save the power plant stacks it is the highest thing around the south pier in Morro Bay Harbor. It is obviously a south pacific themed restaurant.
The first picture is painted from Bayshore Bluff Park in Morro Bay facing north. The second is from the same position facing south. The building is the Inn at Morro Bay. The north facing painting is the first one I did with my new travel pack. I think it turned out pretty good for the first try. The south facing painting is only my second. I think it turned out miles better!
Feeling a little nautical this morning. With the weather turning warm and my wanting to be outdoors I thought I might as well get in the mood for spring and summer. 
