beach rocks Archives - Dora Sislian Themelis Art

Quality Supplies Makes Quality Work

Shells ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×10 Watercolor on Arches paper

Sunflower Petals ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×10 Watercolor on Arches paper

Rocks ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
8×10 Watercolor on Strathmore paper

One day last week I was determined to keep at the painting schedule. Twenty minutes per painting and if I pushed myself I could do a few, one after another. Inspiration was running low, the shells and pebbles have been painted over and over, no new sunflowers around either. But after my artist date I had a bit of motivation so I gathered my stuff and went at it.

Shells, rocks, pebbles were thrown on my table and I just painted what I saw. Next! I decided to crop one of the sunflower photos are paint that view. Great! Then I went for an even quicker sketch of the shells and pebbles. I used paper that I had cut from larger sheets to make these smaller works, not realizing amid the Arches papers was a student grade of paper from a long while ago.

As I began sketching the last painting, as has become my style, the paint beaded up on the paper. The paper seemed to resist the watery paint. I had a hard time with that, and worked harder than I had been doing lately. Twenty minutes and I was not happy with the process of that last painting. Nope.

The moral of the story is to make sure to use quality equipment whenever possible. Taking short cuts is just not worth the trouble. I’ll be careful of that at the next session.

Photos for Friday and the Latest Work

Back at the dining room table again. This time I decided to use three small rocks as my subjects. I had to laugh because I sent the last still life to the blog of The Twenty Minute Challenge and one commenter thought I could finish that painting with line around the egg. So I was thinking, what egg?Then I realized that one of the rocks I painted certainly did look like an egg! I had such a good laugh that day.

Here is the beginning of the latest work. I thought I could try to make these rocks look like rocks instead of eggs! I am still laughing, can you tell? Anyway, this is what my start looks like. I am still using too much water on this Arches paper. Rats! I’m not going to get twenty minutes out of this. More like two days! (Still laughing!)

After a little bit of drying time, I try again. I don’t know how I remembered to take photos of this! Besides, my granddaughter was asleep and I wanted to work quickly so I could be done by the time she woke up. Not a twenty minute deal. Nope.You can see how I try to sketch out the subjects. When I work, I try to move around the whole surface so that most of the painting is moving together and evolving at the same time. I usually work this way so I’m not surprised by having one element fully developed before the rest comes together. Because if I do that, it never works for me. That one element ends up standing out or floating in space. It’s very action oriented even though I’m stationary. My painting arm is moving around alot and sometimes I stand, then I sit. If I do one or the other too long, I lose my focus. But then I lose my perspective, I can’t help it.

How did Monet paint the same scene at different times of the day? Did he paint a quick twenty minutes, an hour, and do another one of the same scene a few hours later? Or did he come back the next day, but later, or earlier? If you sit there and paint a landscape on the scene the light and shadows change with the hours. This is what I was pondering as the afternoon slipped away.

By this stage in the painting I had very little natural light left. The whole painting time was maybe about an hour. I began later than I wanted, mainly for the light. Drying takes time and I couldn’t move on until it dried. My mantra was ‘Less water’. I wouldn’t listen.

I must figure out this water thing. The longer I take on my work, the more details I see and want to add. It’s my opinion but, I think the paintings lose spontaneity if I go too long. Not good, not bad, I don’t know. This is not the finished work. It looks done, but that’s just because it got really dark when I took this photo and I had to edit it to see anything! Do these rocks look like eggs?

Thought for Thursday

“Maggie and Millie and Molly and May

went down to the beach (to play one day)

and Maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,

and Millie befriended a stranded star

who’s rays five languid fingers were;

and Molly was chased by a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:

and May came home with a smooth round stone

as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.”

E. E. Cummings, American poet 1894-1962

Rocks on the Beach

Beach vacations are pretty much similar where ever you travel, some more luxurious than others. We’ve been to quite a few different places where the beach is the main idea and each destination is unique.

Cancun, Acapulco, Nassau Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Greece, Long Island, Las Vegas, oops Las Vegas has pools, all have some aspects that are similar and different. Some have sandy beaches and others have rocks.

The Mr. was born in a Greek island with rocky beaches so that’s what he looks for in a beach. In fact, most Greeks are lured by calm waters and a rocky beach, something that resembles home to them. But I’m a New York girl so what do I know other than sand and waves like Jones Beach and Pt. Lookout? Rarely did we travel to the Long Island Sound with it’s calm waters. It’s fine with me, I’m drawn to the water, rocks or not.

One fascination Greek island people have is watching the ferry arrive with it’s passengers, trucks loaded with produce, cars and stuff. The ferry is so huge and things keep coming off. Then it gets loaded back up with the same stuff going the other way.

In Greenport there are ferries that shuttle all the same kind of stuff and people to Shelter Island, all day and night, back and forth. So of course, we’re fascinated by all the action. They loaded a huge tractor trailer onto this little ferry, plus people in cars, people with bicycles, and just people on foot! I was in awe, just like we are when we’re in Greece! I know, whacko.

When we were finished gawking at the ferry coming and going we were ready to head back to the beach. The sun was high in the sky and glistening off the clear blue water. Not many people were on the beach so it was all for us to enjoy. Like I said, Heaven is an empty beach!

Except for the seagulls. No matter where you go seagulls will take your food, throw it around the beach and eat it.

Our last full day I took out the watercolors at the urging of The Mr. He said, You brought your set out here, now get to work! Oh gee, thanks. I was so happy to do nothing on this trip, absolutely no brain waves nothing. But OK, it was time, and the rocks looked so interesting.

I began sketching out a few nearby rocks with some dried seaweed clinging to them. So The Mr. says, You’re going to paint rocks? What’s wrong with the water and the sky? I don’t know why but rocks are neat and painting the scenery was sort of intimidating with watercolors. And anyway, I have pictures for later.

Without penciling in the subject I just went with the paint. The brushes I keep with the set have a great point so I can sketch with color and blend in the paint with the side of the brush. I added color and tried my best to keep the whites white. The good thing about this little travel set is the limited palette. That seems to keep me in line or I’d add every color I can get my brush into. Bad, good, I don’t know, but that’s what my brain tells me to do.

I thought I would try to paint every day on the trip, but thinking about doing it was stressful. I needed to wind down my brain and think of nothing and of doing nothing. Once I started painting I guess by that time I was really ready for it.

OK, when’s the next trip?