9” x 12” oil by Kristy McNelly
Harbor Morning at Mackinac Island
Fresh off the easel this morning is a small boat and shore scene from Mackinac Island. Our hotel room balcony on Mackinac Island overlooks the harbor and in the morning the sun rises over a chapel.
I find myself struggling to paint on smaller canvases and to try to keep shapes simplified. I recently took an online tutorial from artist Randall Sexton and that is helping. You know, like those little houses in the back can be just blotches of color and look at shapes not what they are.
Initially I had painted all of the modern boats and piers in the painting and it was so super busy it just looked a mess. I had the courage to paint over those boats and wipe off the paint even after spending a whole day on it. Then my husband Chuck suggested I put an old sailboat on the painting instead. Low and behold, I found one on google that was at the same island! So now it’s like a back in time painting. Not my best work, not an awesome horse that I’m comfortable painting, but something different that allows me to grow as an artist. Ahoy mate!
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