My family and I just returned from Spring Break in Panama City Beach, Florida, where I was able to complete a pair of new oil paintings using my dandy little pochade box from Alla Prima Pochade (the subject of a future post).Panama City Beach has gained a somewhat dubious reputation lately as a college Spring Break mecca and as an example of typical "Florida overdevelopment." But I've been going there since the 1960's and still love the place, warts and all. The area still has some cool natural beaches and wetlands left, like St. Andrews State Park and Shell Island -- an undeveloped barrier island accessible only by boat.
That's where I painted the beach/boat scene above. It took me a couple of hours and a duo of cold Heinekens to pop out this little 8" x 10" and I was pleased with the composition and color. The boat pictured is Lucretia, a 28' Carver cabin cruiser owned by my good friends Glenn and Kris Prechtel. I had to hurry up with the foreground because it was lunchtime and I was hungry!
Here to the left is another little 8" x 10" I painted outside my dad's house, just up the road from St. Andrews State Park.Midway into this one I thought I'd created a mess, but a half hour or so later it really started to come together. I'm very pleased with the composition. The intense colors felt right at the time and the values are good, so what the heck? This painting evokes my feeling in the moment, which was ebullient considering it was 75 degrees and sunny and I'd just come from Chicago where it was 30 degrees and gloomy! I can almost hear Gato Barbieri playing Poinciana on tenor sax when I look at this one. Or maybe Chuck Mangione -- remember that dude?
I painted both of these on canvas covered board, which generally worked fine. I did have a little problem with the canvas detaching from the board a bit, due to the high humidity, but nothing I can't fix pretty easily here at home. Next time I may just go with Gesso-painted board. Not a huge deal, though.
If you get to the Florida panhandle be sure to check out St. Andrews State Park and Shell Island in Panama City Beach. Destin is a great spot, too. My favorite seafood restaurant anywhere is Captain Anderson's in Panama City Beach. And try driving down to Apalachicola, which is reminiscent of the Florida Keys of the 1950's. Boss Oyster in Apalachicola is not to be missed.
You FAMILY went there for Spring break? I would not have thought it would have been a good place for a family trip at such a time. I have a sister in Gulf Breeze (up the coast from Panama City), but it has been an awfully long time since I was in the South. Someday though...
ReplyDeleteI like the paintings, Robert. It's cool that you can dash those off in a relatively brief amount of time without a lot of over-laboring. Must feel nice.
ReplyDeleteNice, too, to hear about PCB, a place that I have a lot of fond memories of as well--mostly associated with you and/or your family. Last time I was there with my family--what, five years ago or so?--we had a blast, including a great time at the sort of homemade-looking little private zoo where the llama threw up on Sam! We've got some great pictures of that. Have you ever gone to that zoo? It's really pretty amazing. You can pet tiger cubs, wolf cubs, get probably a little too close to adult lions in cages, let a giraffe eat out of your hand, etc. It's fun.
Actually, the Spring Break activity is pretty confined. Everyplace else is fine, and Panama City Beach remains a great family vacation spot. I've driven through Gulf Breeze. It's nice. Maybe you can pay your sister a visit, or give her a call. If you do, ask her to check out my blog!
ReplyDeleteNot over-working is quite important, and I've always struggled with it. It's especially important in landscape painting because the light changes. (Not to mention rain, sun, people throwing frisbees over your head, etc.) Going quickly keeps the spontaneity and individuality intact, too, which is one of the main reasons to paint in the first place.
Is that zoo you're talking about called Zooland? I've always wanted a llama to hork on me.