Emerald Boats, Miami Beach (Barbados)

Ahhh, to be in Barbados again....at least I can be reminded by looking at this painting, done on one of the many beaches, down in the south west of the island towards Oistins. The funny thing about the beaches is that the locals do not really swim at all, although they do walk out and stand in the water for hours. Perhaps because of the temperature, it is a little chilly, but I did spend a lot of quality time soaking in the topaz Caribbean sea, when I wasn't having a pint of Bank's beer at the open air bar.

This painting uses a wide array of blues and greens, based mostly on the colours cerulean blue and emerald green, to create a rich topaz sensation. These colours, manufactured by Winsor Newton are very opaque, which means that they are a bit thick and need to be diluted with a little extra water. The boat on the left uses the cerulean blue, while the boat on the right uses emerald green. For both boats I created a shadow by putting a layer of purply-yellow over top of the pure colour. The sea was done with a combination of the two colours, and some yellow was added near the beach to make the water appear to have some warm sand showing through. I also used colour contrast elements to bring out the overall topaz-feeling, the red-green in the trees on the distance, and the warm baby blue sky, both serve to enhance the illusion of a shimmering Caribbean sea.

Emerald Boats, Miami Beach (Barbados), watercolour 5 x7" cold press, November 2001 (No. 1177)