Looking, Seeing and Painting What I Want to See

I've always loved being near the water, especially wandering around harbors looking at the boats, the colors, and the reflections dancing on the surface. But I quickly discovered that loving boats and knowing how to paint them are two very different things!

I remember working on one of my first boat paintings and getting completely frustrated with the shape of the hull. Every time I tried to correct one angle, something else looked wrong. I kept adding details, hoping they would somehow pull everything together. Eventually, I put down my small brush, picked up a larger one, and started thinking about the boat as a collection of simple shapes. Suddenly, things began to make more sense.

As I continued painting, I became more adventurous with color and brushwork. I discovered that I didn't need to reproduce everything exactly as it appeared in a photograph. Sometimes exaggerating a color, simplifying a shape, or leaving an area unfinished made the painting more interesting.The biggest lesson I've learned is to paint what I WANT to see, not what I know.

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"The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore."