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Reference Photo: Blue Boat Reflections

Reference Photos for Painting: Landscapes

This photo is the subject for the Painting Photos Challenge #14.
Artist's Reference Photo Blue Boat Reflections in the Sea
Photo ©2010 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.

When painting this scene I would apply artistic license to remove the cars from the jetty (they distract from the boats) and make the water a more interesting color (deep, dark blues, not bright blue which will distract from the blue boat). The blue boat would be the focal point of the painting, as the splash of color immediately demands you attention and pulls your eye into the scene.

Consider your composition: do you want it as long and wide as the photo? Do you want more to the left of the blue boat? Do you want to show some sky above the horizon of the sea (which has a potential problem in three stacks bands: a band of jetty, a band of sea, and a band of sky). Do you want one boat or two?

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