Working on this painting of a boy pulling his toy boat through the water very much reminded me of the days I spent playing in warm shallow tide pools at the beach. I did this painting in watercolor and gouache paints and this time wanted to keep the color palette limited to misty greys, blues and browns. My goal was for the painting to look like an early 20th century story book illustration. The family of the boy supplied photos for me to use as reference material but they didn’t have a particular favorite that had to be painted. I like when that happens as it gives me some freedom to invent a new composition. In the end I was pleased to have been able to render a likeness of the boy and capture a sense of his playful, carefree activity at the beach. The family loved their painting too.
These types of paintings show that even without having the best or most complete photos to work from it is still possible to create a piece of meaningful artwork. If you have an idea for a painting you’d like done for you please contact me. I’m always happy to have those conversations!
Min
Really great beach painting – splashing through the water pulling his boat – can see the energy of this little boy – great talent Otter
Look forward to your art.
Otter Boyd
Thanks, I’m looking forward to completing and sharing more paintings here.