We take a family beach vacation every year, with kids, parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all sharing a house and spending long days together hanging out at the beach. But this year, for the first time, Fred and I had a chance to spend a second week at Oak Island, NC, later in the year, and this time it was just the two of us.
It was a perfect week with beautiful weather every day. I spent most of each day at the beach, reading for hours on end and just watching the waves and the people walking by. The water was end-of-summer warm, and, even though I loved having such a huge chunk of down time, we both kept missing our grandchildren and thinking about how much fun they would have had if they had been there.
We practically had the place to ourselves. I got up early every morning to walk on the beach and watch the sunrise…
and the view of the sunset from our balcony was spectacular!
I was pretty lazy that week and didn’t do a lot of sketching, but one morning I met a friend in nearby Southport (which is the cutest town!) and we spent a beautiful morning together, sketching the views from a covered deck suspended out over the marsh.
I was so excited about the gorgeous views in every direction that I decided to include three of them on one little 7″ x 7″ sketchbook page. I roughed in the grid boxes with pencil first, then inked them with a Pigma Micron 01 pen and proceeded to sketch each scene very simply. I kept the lines to a minimum, figuring I could add most of the detailing during the painting phase.
It was a breezy day, but the paint took forever to dry because of the high humidity. Nevertheless, I was able to finish most of the sketch onsite. The leaf green border and lettering were added later at home.
I wanted to use both green and blue in the lettering, so I came up with this cute, chunky style that has plenty of open space for watercolor.
Another day I tossed a minimalist sketch kit into my bag when I headed out to the beach, just in case I felt inspired. After hours of reading, walking, and embroidering, I finally pulled it out and did this light and breezy sketch…
The sketch began with a barely-there drawing done with a Koh-I-Noor Magic Pencil, one with shades of blue, green, yellow, and magenta.
I flipped over a boogie board to use as a desk…
and used a tiny party favor palette that I’ve managed to squeeze eleven colors into. With that and a water brush, I had all I needed to whip out a sketch that, while not my greatest work, captures the feeling of a day at the beach.
I had packed all my oil painting gear along on this trip, too, and was looking forward to trying out a new En Plein Air Pro Advanced Series Oil and Acrylic Easel that I had gotten from Cheap Joe’s. So one hot afternoon I set out in my van and drove to the marsh, determined to finally do some plein air oil painting.
It took me twenty minutes to figure out how to set everything up – easel, umbrella, palette, paints and brushes, solvent, and paper towels – but when I finally turned to get out a painting panel, I realized that I had left them all back at the condo! There I was, ready to paint, with nothing to paint on. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I was there, and I was going to paint!
I started searching in the van and happened upon a cheapie little softcover sketchbook with 90 lb. paper. I ripped out a page, taped it to a piece of foam core, fitted it into the canvas holder on the easel, and started painting!
I spent the next hour and a half working on my tiny paper oil painting, and, surprisingly enough, it turned out okay. It wasn’t easy painting that small, but I was proud of myself for getting out there and doing it. For months I’ve been psyching myself up to go painting with oils outdoors, but this was the first time I actually did it. And I loved it!
The next day I went back (this time with a painting surface!) and painted this late afternoon scene…
I had just finished reading Limited Palette, Unlimited Color by Jon Pototschnik and wanted to try one of his limited palette suggestions, so I only used three colors (plus white) for the painting:
- Ultramarine Blue
- Yellow Orange
- Violet
- Titanium White
It was a fun exercise and I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to use just blue, yellow-orange, and purple to make the greens, browns, and deep blues that I needed for this scene. I think using a limited number of colors does add a certain cohesiveness to the painting, and I plan to try more of the 46 different color schemes detailed in the book. Just wish I had more time to paint!
We’ve been so busy with new house stuff lately that it’s hard to find time to make it to the studio, but I snatch moments when I can, and it’s been enough to keep me sane during this stressful time of life. We haven’t moved yet, but our new place is almost finished……maybe by Thanksgiving? We’ll see. I’m just taking it one day at a time.
20 Comments
All of your work is lovely, no matter the size or the medium. Thank you for sharing this beautiful part of the country with us. It’s a blessing on this cold, rainy day in the land locked Midwest.
It was a wonderful vacation, but even two weeks at the beach every year isn’t enough! There’s just something that draws me there. Wish we lived closer, and we could just pop over for the day.
Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for taking the time to write.
So happy you were able to sketch and enjoy our beautiful Southport/Oak Island area. It is a wonderful place to sketch! Love all your sketches and your oil painting, you captured the character and feeling of the area. This is a great place to live, glad you were able to visit.
I’ll be back next year!
Doesn’t matter whether you are painting in oils or watercolor, small or large, your work is beautiful. Thanks for sharing, especially the part about using 3 colors, which would also be useful for watercolors.
I thought, too, that it would be fun to try some of the color schemes with watercolor. Stay tuned!
Oil on paper. Who knew? It worked beautifully!! So glad you are finding a bit of time to paint during all the house stuff. Sounds like you are getting close! ❤️❤️
Have you tried the Arches Oil Paper? It works well for oils, and it’s a lot heavier than my makeshift little piece of paper was. It feels a lot like 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper.
Leslie! Such a joy sketching again with you! Your incredibly beautiful paintings of our beloved Southport and Oak Island are a marvelous tribute to your talent and place! LOVE THESE❤❤❤❤❤
That was such a perfect day, sketching together! I just wish it didn’t have to be a once a year thing. Lucky you, to live in such a beautiful place!
I so love the watercolors of the beaches. That hint of rosy lavender/pale pink in the foreground of the sand is so perfect and I don’t think I would have ever thought of that. What a glorious place — I know it had to be a very relaxing holiday!
HI Jeanie – I love that touch of pink in the sand, too. I seem to give myself permission to play with color more when I’m painting on location. It seems counterintuitive. You’d think I would feel compelled to copy what’s in front of me, but instead I tend to paint looser and have a greater sense of freedom and a willingness to experiment. Just another reason why it’s good to get outside and sketch whenever I have the chance.
Lovely and inspirational as always. Wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing your embroidery! Embroidery seems to be all the rage now …Pinterest is “awash” with it. Hope you posted your beautiful bouquet! Such a talented lady u are.
It’s such a relaxing, meditative activity. I did post my jacket on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/418623727873523502/
I’m looking forward to adding more embroidery to the jacket. I can work on it all winter, because it’ll be too cold to wear it here in PA until April.
Thank you for sharing your work and your vacation. It is always a joy to see how you capture the nature around you.
It is delightful to see where you go and what you see! Each painting is lovely with the surprise of the small oil on paper!
Thank you for sharing!
Leslie: Thank you so much for sharing your lovely watercolor projects! You are such a wonderful inspiration!!! Looking forward to your next adventure!
Nancy Hoffman
You are such an inspiration to me. I’ve spent the last month or so accumulating the tools and supplies I’ve needed. Now I only need to follow through. Practice makes progress! Thanks for so generously sharing your time and experience.
So glad you were able to get the downtime you needed, love your work. Next time you visit Oak Island perhaps we can get together. Thanks for sharing!!
I’d love that, Kim.