Boat, Beara

Well, let's get started. So my goal is to develop a freer style of painting while also putting in some detail. Yes, I can paint free roses or skies and sometimes landscapes. But I would like to merge my urban sketching subjects with my watercolour style. Or I might change my mind half way through and stick to skies! That is what I love after all!

So, this is my starting point. A fishing boat in the harbour near Helen's Bar, on the Beara peninsula from a photo I (or Deb?) took while we were there last summer. It's probably Deb's photo actually - she took better photos than me! Done in one pass, except for the little aerials on top of the boat.

Beautiful spot if you're ever in that part of the world. Lovely seafood platter. I was driving, so only drinking 0-alcohol beer. Thinking of the driving there. We were staying in Tuosist. And Google maps kept bringing me over the top of the mountain, on tiny boreens, through woods, and the road kept twisting and turning, and then you'd see the view ahead, and it was breathtaking. Not too many tourists there, thankfully. So when we encountered another car on a bend, I just stopped, rolled down my window, and asked the other driver "what do you want me to do? forward or back?" I can't remember his answer, but we managed to pass without a scratch. There'll be no adventures with Deb this year. But as soon as there is a vaccine for this virus, we'll have to go travelling together again!