Original Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, Glare on the Water from Discovery Park, Tugboat Wake, 1:50-2:50pm, 1.20.23, Friday”, watercolor, 30 x 42”, 2023

In making this piece, “en plein air”, outside, from life, I tried placing the horizon line very close to the top of the picture frame.  Less than the water or the land, this piece to me was about rendering the beautiful patterns of the glare within the wakes on Puget Sound, as seen from the cliffs at Discovery Park, looking West.  Mid-afternoon (1:50-2:50pm in this case) is my favorite time of day to paint plein air, given the option.  One tugboat appeared in my view, and I left room on the white of the paper to reflect the boat’s wake through the blue of the water.  However, once the tug was gone, I didn’t have enough visual information to continue to render it.  My patience was rewarded as a second tug, exactly the same model, and heading, as the first came across my view, and I studied and painted its wake and hull as fast as I could.  This piece was one of the earliest pieces made at the 30 x 42” scale, a bit intimidating at the time, and now well-within my comfort zone.

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