Artist Oil Painting : Marveling in Freedom
Oil painting of “Marvel” the sea turtle, done as a holiday gift for a very dear friend who has symbolically adopted one because she is especially concerned about these amazing creatures who face many dangers in their habitat. Sea turtles are in trouble from not only encountering and becoming entangled in discarded plastic bags, but also hatchlings who are guided by moonlight, are often confused by automobile lights being shone towards the beaches they inhabit…and there are others they face constantly.
I was given kind permission to use this beautiful photo, by photographer Linda Willason; (Paint My Photo), as a reference to paint from. The colors I used varied from intense cobalt blue in the water, to shades of teal; (achieved by using “Thalo” blue and green for the coral in the foreground). In the photo, I saw different pink and orange shades in the coloring of “Marvel’s” head; which I then covered with a layer of turquoise whichI lightened with some white, that helped me to achieve a more luminous effect. Much deeper shades of orange and some magenta, highlighted the underside of his shell; which was very colorful since it appears that light-source was coming from below as well as from the sunlight above. I really loved being able to accentuate all the colors I saw in the darker areas on the top of the flippers; which were each set off by the bright yellowish-green; almost honeycomb shapes. I got to use that yellow-green color again in a much more vibrant and intense way on the lower flippers, which even had some purplish shades in the shadow that was projected by Marvel’s shell. I thoroughly enjoyed painting this, and I may decide to do a larger version at some point, since this one was fairly small in size.
Although the original painting of “Marvel” was a gift, it can be painted in sizes ranging from 8″ x 10″ up to 20′ x 24″. To buy this, one of my other paintings, or to commission a painting…you can contact me by filling out the contact form below.
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