Cutter Study

As long as I was close to the sea in my other paintings, I thought I might as well try a maritime painting. I'm pleased with the way the waves turned out -- I had sketched them in rather quickly and expected to have to fiddle with them, but they just seemed to work. The cutter, I knew, was going to be a problem. I wanted it up close, but knew that I could not get the details -- both because I did not have anything to work from to get the rigging and sails just right, and also, given the sketchy nature of the painting, it would not look right if the cutter was painted in great detail, so different from its setting. It turned out about as well as I could have expected, I guess. But all in all, I think I will try to explore other ways of painting ships and the sea... hopefully (since I like painting waves....)

12x16" 30x40cm acrylic on hardboard