The Boat Challenge

It's sleek. It's a beauty. It's new. It goes fast. It's a guy's's pride and joy, his boat. I've been asked to do a painting of this one parked--no moored--at the dock with the couple's summer home in the background. It has to be completed in time for his birthday, two plus months from now. The painting would be a gift from his wife.

This is quite a challenge for me--an artistic one that is not a twenty minute dash off,--but a highly detailed land/waterscape that will take days to paint with lots of ups and downs. And it's a contest in people pleasing--two folks--the wife first, then the husband who, I have no doubt, adores his new toy and will definitely be more judgmental of the painting than his wife. This is a scary, risky project. This is not the joy of making art as your heart dictates. This is a job, a business transaction that requires compensation, policies and agreements--just like in our design/build business.



I haven't agreed to take on the challenge as yet--just to do some drawings to see if this was something I wanted to do. I like boats and have photographed them often as possible subjects. Plus I do do a drawing a day, so why not this fella's boat?

I started this drawing yesterday by dimensioning off first the blown up photograph I placed in a plastic sleeve on which I could use a ball point pen to make the grid. Then by measuring out the same scale graph on 90 lb wt. watercolor paper. I chose the paper for its slight texture, which would be good with either colored pencils, (wax or pastels), or watercolor; I haven't made up my mind. Then I began slowly drawing in the boat, square by square. The first get acquainted efforts took a couple of hours. Drawing-in is a slow procedure with erasures and redos. Today,I'll complete the pencil drawing and start working out the palette.