Galveston Brown Pelican

I’m fairly happy with this pelican, because it conveys his plumage and pelicanesque carriage with a minimum of brushstrokes.  Not so happy with the water.  I will probably go back and paint over the water at some point.  Not only is the water kind of blah, but in addition, with hindsight, I think that it is too dark.  For the pelican to “pop,” he needs to be either substantially darker or lighter than the surrounding water.  My solution would be to lighten the water.  But despite its limitations, I think this is the most successful of my daily paintings so far.... Another note:  with this painting, more than the others, you can see the underpainting color showing through.  When I started doing oils, I found it was easier to paint with an undercoat of phthalo blue (Phthalocyanine Blue).  I like the fact that both lights and darks show up well against it as the painting progresses, and I like its brilliance when it shows through.  In 2011, when I took a painting workshop from Galveston artist Rene Wiley, I learned to use orange as an undercoat, which gives a totally different effect.  Now I use each color about half the time.  (8x8", on Raymar panel, Aug. 27, 2012)