Boats, WIP

I'm working on a painting and (((gasp))) it's not of a cat! ;P It's based on a picture Ross took at Kanuga. I'm doing this painting in oils on a 16"x20" canvas.

I began by doing a rough sketch in charcoal directly onto the canvas. I have learned the hard way not to use graphite because it will keep floating to the surface of the paint and then you have these ugly gray lines through your painting.

I apologize the color is so off in these pictures. This canvas is actually the normal white color ;P
After finishing the drawing I attempted to mix a gray color using alizarion crimson, cobalt blue, and white. According to an oil painting book I own this is supposed to make gray. I should have known better! Oh well, it will be a sunny day picture instead of a gloomy day picture :) Next I began blocking in the boats and the dock using white, naples yellow, ultramarine blue and raw umber. I also began painting the shadows of the boats on the water using raw umber and ultramarine blue.
Next I began correcting some of the drawing mistakes with the shape of the boat on the far left and the shadows.

I can already tell that this painting is going to take awhile to finish but it's fun doing something different and it's a good learning experience. If it doesn't turn out well I'm definitely going to try again because there are already some things I would like to do differently.

Paintings from Kanuga

Here are a couple of watercolors I did while we were away at Kanuga.

Butterfly

Kanuga Pictures

With everything that happened a week and a half ago our Kanuga trip suddenly had a big question mark over it. I wondered if it would be safe, if I would miss my family too much, if it would be somehow inappropriate. Ultimately we decided that a week with chirping crickets, cool mountain breezes, and lapping lake waters would be a blessing and went ahead with our plans.

What I looked forward to most was quite times and solitude but what I think ended up helping me the most was being surrounded by families. Many of the campers represented three generations of a family. Seeing grandparents, parents and children all around the same table and knowing that many of these families had been coming here for decades gave me glimpses of a bigger picture. God willing, Ross and I will have decades together. This one tragic summer will be a part of our story, but there will be so many more summers, and who knows what good things are in store?

The Cangelosis were wonderful. After the shock of the miscarriage I felt sorta like I was walking around on a different planet than everyone else, but everyone was gentle and kind and made me feel loved.

I have a TON of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites. I'll post more here later and create a new facebook album as well.