Doing the Wave

Underpainting, acrylic on canvas, 18 X 24 in.

After I finished my last painting, I mixed the left-over paint and used it to paint an underpainting for my next painting. I ran out of the gray-green mix. so I finished the underpainting with ivory black and let it sit for a few days.

When the time came to select the subject for today's painting, my first thought was to do an abstract. But I chickened out. Next thought was to do something that took advantage of the black and gray underpainting. A shaded lane perhaps? I found a few possibilities along that line of thought, but finally settled on one of my nephew's photos: waves coming ashore on one of the Hawaiian Islands. This part of the coast is typical of the islands -- rugged black volcanic rock.

Painting by Vicky Christensen, Acrylic on canvas, 18 X 24 in.