Boats at Wellfleet Harbor: A Painting for Debbie and Ricky

Debbie and Ricky are getting married and they have asked me to create a painting for them, subject unspecified!! Lynn suggested I do a painting about Cape Cod, so I thought I would revisit an old friend, fishing boats at Wellfleet harbor. This was an interesting challenge for me, as I haven't looked at this subject in many years, and most of the paintings that I did at the harbor were in gouache and not oil paint. Far be it from me to step away from a challenge. I was also curious to see how my take on the boats would have changed over the years.

Inspiration for this particular composition came from two main sources: a photo I had taken years ago of fishing boats at the dock, and the beautiful "save the date" photo that Debbie and Ricky sent out for their wedding. So, I wanted to paint two boats that would be docked close together as a way of expressing this closeness and regard.

Here is the original photo that the painting came from:

The first step involved developing a basic sketch of the painting. I wanted to simplify the composition somewhat by taking out all the other boats. What struck me most about the save the date photo was the singularity of the image: they are together and for each other so intensely! I decided to place the boats at the center of the canvas, rather than in the foreground. This would define space around the boats and set them off (or so I thought). Here is the preliminary sketch for the painting placed on a canvas that I had prepared for the painting:



I decided to put in the sky first, as that color would be reflected in the water and would be a basic tone for the painting. In addition, I wanted to put in the dark colors in the windows and shadows around the pier. I also began to paint in the background and the water behind the boats.



Then the water in the foreground was painted in. I decided not to extend the water all the way to the edge of the painting, but to develop some interest at the bottom in the form of a planked walk way. This would also set off the boats and help to define the inside space of the painting.



I then painted in the green boat from the photo. I wanted to work on the boats one at a time to provide each with separate attention to reflect my view of Debbie and Ricky as very distinct individuals but with lots of common interests.



I decided, as I was painting in the boats, to have the boat on the left be blue (I don't know why except that I thought it would look better than white or gray). I like this decision and think that it helped to balance out that side of the painting without introducing yet another color.I added shadows below the boats and some of the rigging at this point.



I then worked on some the details in the background to straighten out the horizon line and create a more Cape Cod landscape there. Work also continued on defining select details in the boats and cleaning up some of the paint.



At this point, I brought the painting out of the studio and into my favorite space for critiquing paintings: the dining room. Here is the painting as it appeared in the dining room:



Except for cleaning up some of the paint in the foreground water area, the painting is essentially done. I am very happy with how it came out and I think it expresses my impression of Debbie and Ricky together.

Got some helpful feedback from Deb. She and Ricky felt that the blue boat wasn't as bright as the green boat and they would like them to be equal. I thought this was a great idea. I went back in to lighten the blue using cian blue which is brighter than the aquamarine/cobalt blue combination I used. I also used a neon yellow to make a "racing stripe" on the side of the boat, put on a yellow/orange roof, and, for good measure, added a yellow/orange flag to the side of the boat to bring the eye back. The cian blue just doesn't have the brightness of the green that I used on the other boat, so I felt that these changes would balance out the painting nicely.

That done, I also redid the water behind the boats all the way to the opposite shore and repainted and neatened the plank sidewalk at the front. The painting is shaping up nicely.



After leaving the painting for a month, I waded back in and toned down the yellow highlights on the blue boat. I also heightened contrast in the background. With these changes, the painting in, for all practical purposes, complete.