Shell Seeker

After a hurricane there are usually lots of shells washed to shore.  The weekend after Irene, I had the wonderful opportunity to go shell seeking several times.  One of those hunts was a hike down to the jetty at the tip of Bogue Banks.  We found lots of beautiful shells.  The image of the rocks and shells at the inlet just wouldn't leave my mind.  I had intended to create this scene on a canvas, but experimented instead in my art journal.  I may mount this on a wood board, haven't decided yet.

I created the rocks with Golden's pumice stone medium in several layers, the sand is real and so are the shells.  I painted the water with Golden's fluid acrylics and the sailboat with watercolors.  The sailboat is drawn from a real sailboat we watched the day before.  I was very pleased with the way it turned out.  Sometimes the image in my head doesn't translate to paper, this one did.