Day 16 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I started working on two paintings late on the 14th.  My sister-in-law took this underwater photo as part of the rescue project studying the destruction of the Coral Reef on the Big Island in Hawaii due to the change in the ocean's temperature.  The coral is so beautiful and I wanted to pay tribute to the coral and hope that others will contribute in any they can to help reduce the number of coral which will not recover from this change in the ocean temperatures.


I started by masking the lightest part of the coral using a nib and Incredible White Mask.  I then sprayed the yellow in the middle, the turquoise blue on the top and sides and then the blue aqua on the bottom.  I used sepia and a little of the phalo blue to begin the darker structure underneath the coral.  Tomorrow I will begin the process of both lifting and adding color to make the coral's structure come out.  It could take me longer than one day tomorrow.  I want to do this one justice.  I needed a break from my shoe series as well.
​The Big Island's rescue of the coral reef project   12x12 Watercolor on 300 lb.