The capelin are rolling once more on local beaches. These little fish swarm the shallow waters every year to spawn and are gathered by people for food, and by me for painting. Capelin are my favourite fish to paint. Perfect size and shape, I see amazing colours in what most people see as simple grey/silver fish. Pink, purple, blue, green...they're beautiful!
I went to Torbay Beach yesterday to see if the capelin were in. The huge flock of seagulls on the water and circling overhead gave me my answer long before I could see the fish in the water or on the beach. I also like to watch people who brave the cold, cold water and wade out to gather them in buckets and dip nets and this young girl caught my eye. Her stance in the water and the red hair and pale blue dress were perfect and I could see the painting in my mind already.
I took a lot of photos as well as doing some on site thumbnail sketches for future paintings. These were started with pencil and pen and I added Faber Castell markers to preserve the colour memory for painting later. If I run out of space, i just add in objects or sections that I need to make the image work later. This year, I feel as if I'm really using my sketchbook as a better tool to assist in my paintings. Every medium I want goes in it and nothing is precious anymore.
Gulls where everywhere, grabbing capelin and squabbling. The noise was amazing. I'm sure the whales weren't far away either.
The dark shadow in the water in the photo above is the shoal of capelin, about 15 feet out in the water, easily accessed when the tide is low.
9 comments:
Great sketches and photos!
Thanks Rhonda, glad you enjoyed them.
Wow, amazing, and encouraging, to see so many.
Love the sketch of the girl--the turn of her head, the dress.
Laura, it seems to vary both in time and numbers each year for capelin. Water temperature is a factor I believe.
Yes, it is what appealed to me as soon as I saw this child standing in the water. It was too perfect to pass up.
Fab sketches & photos. I look forward to the painting of the girl.
there is so much colour in those fish! not boring grey at all
yes, those fish are indeed beautiful! Lovely sketches--great trip to the sea.
really really nice sketches and snaps! the last one would make an amazing painting...in fact i thought you'd already painted it! the colors on the fish are so subtle they look like brush strokes!
We all admire the beauty of capelins thanks to you! Also, like the comment posted above, love the sketch of the girl.
Such a lovely place to sketch. Thanks for sharing.
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