The Great Barrier Reef, 34

day 5: a day (or more) of rest

Although I was trying to create a thing-of-beauty, I'm now wondering if my over-exaggeration of color was an expression of concern for the state of the world: Are these the beautiful fish of the deep, or are they the glowing inhabitants of our troubled waters?

day 4: the finished painting

I started out with a soft paintbrush, blending the underwater blues evenly and adding thicker paints for the sunlit highlights. But it was underwhelming. When I tried wielding a finer brush with noticeable brushwork, something good happened. I was then able to relax and enjoy the painting process. (The blues in the water are actually more vibrant in the actual finished painting...)

This painting has been sold.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF, 8x10" original oil painting by puci

day 3: creating the pre-painting composition (using Adobe Photoshop)

Can't decide how to approach this painting. Do i want something soft and sort of ethereal, or something with more saturated colors that sort-of pop?

day 2: capturing the selected image

OK, this is awesome! We are swimming in the waters of The Great Barrier Reef (Heron Island)!!! with the Google camera person(s) as our guide(s). Here's the link that will get you there:

https://www.google.com/mapsll=-23.441032,151.904054&spn=0.00879,0.015213&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-23.441103,151.904176&panoid=0Gu6eoWlrurprZQlhN1K3A&cbp=12,131.07,,0,-34.37

day 1: planning the destination

Ever been scuba diving? Not me! I can't even swim. Hope I live to paint about this!