"Dora Mae" and painting with Donald Demers

I had a wonderful time at "Florida's Forgotten Coast Plein Air Invitational" this year, largely due to the fact that I got to meet and paint with an artist I've looked up to for many years--Donald Demers. Don is a highly respected artist from Maine that is mostly known for his maritime paintings. Not only is Don a masterful painter, he is a very knowledgeable and articulate instructor. I had the privilege of watching two of his demos, one of which is chronicled in this post. It turns out that Don and I choose the same subject on this particular day. Below is my painting of the Dora Mae that I worked on in the early afternoon. Later that day, when Don did his second demo, he choose the same boat but from a little different vantage point. This made it a real delight for me to watch as I was already so familiar with the subject. It's always fun to see how another artist portrays the same subject. Following the two pictures of my painting, you will see Don's demo and his completed piece.




"Dora Mae" 6" x 8" oil on linen. Private Collection.

Above, is my painting in progress and starting below, you will see Don's demo.

I was excited to see Don start his painting much in the same way I start mine--a thin wash of color to serve as an under painting and to tone the canvas. Then he used a small "round " to sketch in the subject.

Now, on to some color. Don puts in the sky first using a mixture of colors with an Alkyd White as a base. Alkyd is a fast drying oil paint which will set up much quicker that standard oils, allowing him to detail the rigging of the boats over an almost dry background at the later stages of the painting. I should mention here, that Don does a lot of painting in the North East where it is much cooler than it is here in Florida. I've found that, at least for me, Alkyd white sets up too quick for my taste here in the hot months (which is most of them). My usual titanium white dries pretty fast on its own. But, like most things in life, painting is full of personal preferences. It's really just a matter of what works for each individual.

The finished picture below does a poor job of representing just how nice this little piece turned out but the photo I shot had too much glare and I had to steal this one from the "Florida's Forgotten Coast Plein Air Invitational" website. I encourage you to take a look at more of Donald Demers' work on his site here. He's a great guy and I hope to paint with him sometime soon up in Maine!