No. 390: Post-It Boat

No. 390: Quintessence 2, watercolor and colored pencil, November 2017.

It's a wicked 14 degrees out there and there's a lake effect snow warning.
When this painting was conceived, however, Lake Erie reflected sunlight and recreation. Party people and weekenders were riding waves of relaxation -- not shoveling themselves out.

About those flags ... read on ...

The clients and I looked through a few photos of Quintessence, and chose none until late summer when a weekend trip to Sandusky produced this shot of the boat docked at Cedar Point. "That's the one!" I was informed.
Quintessence means "the most perfect example."

Choosing the mat before framing.

"Can you do it?"
Well, I had painted Lake Erie before: The lighthouse and the railroad bridge at Ashtabula Harbor, to name two. The water wouldn't be a problem, I reasoned. And the photo of Quintessence was nice and detailed. So I dove in.

This sketch is the backbone of the painting.

It was November when I had her finished. By then the leaves were falling and the boat, I am sure, was tarped and stored for the season.

Before the flags.

Also by that point the Ohio State Buckeyes were well into their season. And the owners of this vessel are serious Ohio State fans.

Nope. Wrong way in the wind.

To highlight that point, I was asked to add to a Buckeye banner to the boat.
And, while I was at it, the Stars and Stripes, too.
This involved some guessing: How big? What shape?  Which way would they blow in the wind?
My solution was to draw various flags on Post-It Notes, stick them to the nearly-finished painting and email them back and forth. It worked, and we settled on two choices.
You can see in the photos how we changed our minds.

Nope. Wrong choice for Ohio State banner.

By the time Quintessence, The Painting, was delivered at Christmas. the Buckeyes were ending their season and the winds over Lake Erie were burying places such as Erie, Pa. and Buffalo, N.Y. 

Yep. There it is.

It does give me a warm feeling, looking at the trees on the shore, light on the water and the sun on the wood. I've visited the lake enough and have been on enough boats to know what that feels, sounds and smells like.  I'd call it "alive."

Before the red and white paint.

Stay toasty, my friends. until you can fly your flags again in 2018. 
Happy New Year.