Sand Island

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This started out as a plein air painting. This past Wednesday we went down to the public docks in St. Helens, Oregon and sat out on the furthest string in folding chairs. On this particular outing I only brought along my water brushes. I've struggled with too little water coming through the brush only this time it was too much water and so often it was too much of a puddle to control the pigment. I could only work the image so far before bringing it home to my regular brushes to finish it. At the beginning of our time out on the dock it was windy and grey and threatening to rain. By the time we called it a day the clouds were breaking up and the sun peeking out here and there so it was hard to keep the light and shadows consistent because they kept constantly changing. This is Sand Island. Watercolor. Yes, you read that right - watercolor.