The RSS Taiji is nearing completion!  I have recently acquired a Masterson Stay-Wet pallette, which keeps acrylic paint wet for days!  That, and the revelation that glazing medium exists, and we are looking at some serious game changers...

The "SS Taiji" is under way!

 Every once in a while I am blessed with an entirely free day to mess around in the studio and paint (and the motivation to do so)...  Today was one of those days!  The sky is "done"...

 A method to the madness...

 Tony is quite dashing, but he's a pretty lousy art director.

Maquette for dolphin monster light studies (sculpey & acrylic paint).

The dolphins are mad...

Watching The Cove, a documentary about a tragic yearly dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, I was struck with a sense of purpose (no, not porpoise), and decided to act on it a bit.  While I'm not in a position to join up with Sea Shepard and travel overseas to risk life and limb in protest like the heros in the film did, I am in the position to paint some horrendous dolphin monsters attacking a vulnerable ship in a storm.  So I will. 

Here are the original collection of sketches that I dropped into PS and worked out into a pretty usable composition, as well as the color comp of the sky and water to set the mood for the painting.  The board is all masked and prepped to go...  More to follow.

3 little ships

My collection thus far.  Today I will apply a semi gloss wood finish to the plaques. 

The August Moon

Finished August Moon under glass.  This bottle had a bit of a turquoise tinge to it that, while I was initially worried about working with tinted glass, I found it really added to the piece in a most pleasing way!

And a summer slips under the radar...

Almost done and ready to attach the bottle.  A couple more details here and there, and we're ready to move on to #4.  A friend recently suggested that I put a sealant on the wood, as opposed to leaving the wood just stained and raw looking... I got a can of semi-gloss wood finish, and was about to apply it to a test piece outside, but wouldn't you know it, the heavens opened up and it is just too wet out for that sort of thing today.

A month slips by...

The drawing is transferred and blocking in begins...

And after an evening of working it's starting to come together above the water!  Speaking of above water, I haven't been much lately.  I know I haven't really done much work on this piece in a month, but I've been in some pretty heavy training for an escape from Alcatraz swim at the end of this month.  I've been taking the time bobbing around in the Bay to really study water from a split perspective, and I think it's showing!