ocean study
August 22, 2015
For many years I lived in Vancouver, B. C., which is considered one of the top 3 ‘most livable’ cities in the world. One of its best features is being surrounded by water on three sides. On one occasion I was painting a view from Locarno, one of the many beaches, and was suddenly overcome by a summer storm. It seemed to descend out of nowhere.
As I was not going to escape getting soaked, I soldiered-on and managed to get as much as I could onto paper without the deluge completely washing away everything while working.
‘ocean study Locarno Beach‘, Vancouver, 13cm x 18cm (5″ x 7″)
Fortunately I had some sort of makeshift shelter–even so, rain splattered onto the painting as I worked.
Painting on location has its rewards as well as its hazards. In those years, I wouldn’t paint at all unless it was outdoors. I was something of a purist, and felt watercolour was meant to be done on location–its immediacy and qualities almost demand it being put to use that way. But bad knees are what they are, and now I almost can’t imagine having to go do that again–which is really a shame. Working from photographs is not my idea of what watercolour should be about.
weisserwatercolours 
Can feel the storm in the painting….
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Melanie, your flowers make flowers want to be photographs
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Hi Charlie–I have never been to France, and now get to go there through your work, and it is a great pleasure. thank you again for taking time out to comment here today!
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Andrew, you are an inspiration to all who read your blog and follow your journey. Thank you so much for commenting here on mine.
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Sharon, how generous you are across the blogosphere, encouraging and lavishing your thoughts on many sites we share. Thank you for your inspiration on your own site.
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Sibella, I do so enjoy your ‘arts and rhymes’ postings, and thank you for being so kind with mine.
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Such intensity to this image. Wonderful!
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This is wonderful Lance! Love the rain drops mixing with the piece to create it. That’s pretty amazing to have nature play a role in your painting of her! 😉
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This is a great study. Love the way you work with the colors.
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An amazing piece of artwork on 5×7, I like how the texture of the paper adds another dimension to your watercolor. Thanks for sharing your accompanying text. Very interesting.
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Oh, it’s a gorgeous painting and the rain must have helped a little with that amazing sky. I really love it, it’s very dramatic!
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Teresa, how interesting you were a Vancouverite yourself for awhile, and I presume by alma mater you mean UBC, as it is near Spanish Banks (and even closer to Wreck Beach, lol). I ran a kitchen at one of the small residences at UBC for 7 years! Your blog is fascinating. Thank you for making time.
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Steve, do I EVER enjoy your journeys and your photos and your gift of flowers to all of us. In answer to your question, I was using pigments which naturally leave a sediment on the paper as they dry–an effect called granulization–and, yes, the raindrops only aided that effect, which is why it all appears to mottled.
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Johanna, you have such an interesting blog and life–I do hope you get to return to your homeland on occasion, as nothing here could ever quite compare. Thank you for making such nice remarks for me today.
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Cynthia my dear, anyone with knee issues is a kindred spirit, as you are and have become. Thank you again for being such a tonic.
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Jodi, saying ‘life and age have a way’ is saying it all! Thank you for brightening my day.
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Laura, I do so enjoy following your blog–thank you for stopping in and commenting so encouragingly today, and my knees are ok, but not great enough to kneel and scrunch down with (smile).
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…thank you Carl–I agree it is a clean city–it has some major problems, but cleanliness isn’t among them. Thank you for always bringing a smile with your blog postings!
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I’ll have to follow up on Carl’s comment (there doesn’t seem to be a way to reply to it directly) and add that no city I’ve ever seen in North America is as clean as almost every city and town I visited in New Zealand this February.
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Is all that reticulation in the painting due to the splattering raindrops?
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This is so lovely, I could look at it all day! I miss the sea here in Ohio (wonderful as it is to life here) and I can almost feel the salty breeze in my hair when I look at this image…it makes me very happy! Thanks, Johanna
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I’ve been meeting so many people who have also lived (or still live) in Vancouver via blogging! I miss Vancouver, though not for the congestion these days. What a gorgeous painting! I may only have been at Lacarno once. I hung out more at Jericho and Spanish Banks as they are close to my alma mater. So sorry about your knee.
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Your pigments, your brush, your paper, your heart-mind, and
God’s water…..
(I can only hope your knees are not as bad as mine! 🙂 )
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Wonderful sky and sea! Very dramatic. I love it.
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Yes, but you are a storehouse of impressions, images and color. I really like the accidental texture and color.
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Amazing lance’. Life and age have a way of changing things so as your knees challenge you, cherish the joy you can still derive from painting in new and different ways in the place and time you are in. ☺️
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*argh, stormy place.
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Sorry to hear about your knees, Lance. This is a wonderful study! I’m amazed at the depth and detail you’re able to squeeze into such a small piece. I really have the feeling of being on a stormy piece, gazing at this one. Thank you for sharing it! And have a great weekend.
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I spent a day in Vancouver in 1985. It and Seattle are two of the cleanest and well kept cities I’ve ever seen.
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