Seascapes ~ Destiny

This work marks my foray into using oil instead of acrylic to do landscape. It was really exciting as the medium offers so much flexibility and possibility even at the sketch stage. The vividness of the colours stay better unlike acrylic which tends to dull a bit after a week. And of course, oil is removable (in most cases anyway) which makes experimenting and changes easy and is the reason why people say it's the easiest medium for art. Of course, it's not without its minuses, like the smell and having to wait for it to dry relatively before moving to the next stage to avoid muddiness.

With this and the teacher's encouragement to go thick, I "took the plunge" literally and applied really thick (by my standard then) slabs of oil and go with my natural instinct for colours for this scene from my South NZ trip where I had taken a whale-watching trip off Kaikoura. It was a wonderful ride and the photo captured a magic moment when we chanced upon a resident fishing boat that attracted a lot of seabirds including huge albatrosses. I love the photo and hope to capture the spirit and romanticism that this scene conveyed to me - that of a lone boat staying afloat on rocky waters yet optimistically rolling along with the rhythm of the waves towards its destination flanked by birds that seem to aid it on its journey.

Title: Seascapes ~ Destiny (O1)
Description: One of my first oils, a depiction of the joyful sense of purpose this scene of a boat in choppy waters off Kaikoura, South NZ, gave to me. 2005.

Medium: Oil on Ready-to-Hang Canvas.

Dimensions: 50 x 40cm.