New Daily Oil Painting "Spoons"

Spoons
Mark Nesmith
Oil on oil primed linen panel
5" x 7"
2014

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I'm not a really a bird watcher, but if you spend enough time around the coast you can't help but notice the abundance and variety of winged creatures hanging around.  These two Roseate Spoonbills recently caught my eye near the Bolivar Lighthouse just before the ferry to Galveston.


There are several wildlife preserves and bird sanctuaries on or near the Bolivar Peninsula, so each year thousands of birds stop off at the beach.  Spoonbills wade in the shallow coastal waters and tidal pools, swinging their bills side to side and sifting through the mud to feast on crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, newts and small fish.  Their vivid colors are a result of their diet and can range from pale pinks to bright reds and magentas and makes for great contrast against the green weeds and salt grass. 


This small oil painting started as a pencil sketch.  I then laid in the darker values on the birds and the background.  The reflections and ripples in the water proved to be lots of fun to paint and I saved some of the juiciest brush strokes the foreground.

New Daily Oil Painting "Yellow Feet"

Yellow Feet
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Oil Primed Linen Panel
7" x 5"
2014

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People often associate the beach with sunshine and surf, but it's also a fantastic place to get a little closer with nature.  The Bolivar Peninsula is home to many bird sanctuaries including my often cited favorite beach, Bolivar Flats, but just about any stretch of the coast along the Gulf of Mexico can be a great place for watching our winged friends.

From the mundane seagull to spoonbills, pelicans, and egrets, there are thousands upon thousands of birds that make an annual stop off along the Texas coast. 

Here a white egret enjoys wading in one of the many tidal pools that crop up every day with the tide.  The curvaceous neck gives most egrets a graceful appearance akin to swans, but it was the vibrant yellow highlights along this bird's feet and eyes that caught my attention.  On an otherwise overcast day, those flashes of yellow just seemed to pop out of nowhere.

It can be a challenge to keep interest in the white areas of a painting.  Here I alternating tints of light blue on the left side of the bird with warmer, yellow and greenish tints on the right.  Placing the bird against the muted earth tones of the background created a strong contrast that really helped the whites pop.



New Daily Oil Painting "Dusk on the Dunes"

Dusk on the Dunes
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
12" x 16"
2014

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It's been a hectic week in the classroom with STAAR testing going on, so I needed a little vacation.  No days off left to use so I had to settle for the next best thing...I painted myself a day at the beach.

Growing up in Beaumont, TX the beach was just a short drive away.  My family and I often visited Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Penninsula and crossed the ferry to Galveston. Over the fifteen years or so that I lived in or near Dallas, trips to the coast became less and less frequent.  Since moving back to SE Texas after my divorce I've made it a point to visit the coast as often as I can.

I've posted many paintings of Bolivar Flats, one of my favorite stretches of beach.  It's a birding area and less frequented by the tourist trade.  It sits just a short distance before the ferry landing to Galveston so lots of people miss it in their rush to make it to the island. 

Bolivar Flats is a beautiful, open stretch of beach with lots of dunes and vegetation. Turn to your right and you can see Galveston in the distance.  Turn to the left and you can get a glimpse of some of the homes along Crystal Beach, but look towards the Gulf and it's easy to imagine yourself completely alone in a remote, un-spoiled part of the world. 

Here I've painted the beach late in the day when the last rays of light start to slip away at dusk.  During my week of standardized testing, this serene scene helped me keep my sanity!

New Daily Oil Painting "Push and Shove"

Push and Shove
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2014

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One of my current favorite spots is the deck at the Down Under Restaurant at Crystal Beach.  It sits on the canal side giving an up close view of the steady stream of tugs pushing barges along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  It's always interesting to see these mighty little ships pushing barges the length of a football field.

This is usually a common sight, although lately it was more like a parking lot while they were cleaning up the oil spill after the recent collision that left a barge partially submerged.  Hopefully they contained and cleaned up the spill quick enough and there won't be any major long term damage.

New daily oil painting "Bolivar Afternoon"

Bolivar Afternoon
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2014

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I've been spending a lot of time at Crystal Beach. My girlfriend started managing a restaurant there and I've played a few acoustic shows there too. The coast has always called to me, and getting to spend more time there has been very inspirational to me.

In the past few weeks I've completed and sold several small paintings of the marina area, and just finished a 12" x 24" painting of some of the beach houses nearby.

News has been spreading of the barge accident this past weekend that spilled oil into the bay and has shut down part of the ship Chanel and even the ferry service to Galveston. One of the biggest concerns is the nearby habitats frequented by tens of thousands of migratory birds. This is the time of year when they usually start flocking here. Crews have been working non-stop trying to contain and clean up the spill. Hopefully there won't be too much long term damage to the area, although I'm sure local fisherman and the shipping industry are already feeling a few pains about the situation.

This 8" x 10" painting is of  a stretch of beach called Bolivar Flats. It's just before the ferry landing on Hwy 87. It's one of my favorite local beaches. It's a birding area and less frequented by people so it's expansive beach front is usually less cluttered. I often paint the view along the beach looking towards Galveston, but today I favored the simple straight on view if the Gulf.

There's something that stirs inside me when I look out over the water towards the distant horizon. It's like standing at the edge if the world. I can imagine how sailors all those years ago might have thought the world was flat and comes to an abrupt end out there in the distance.

New Daily Painting "Against the Tide"

Against the Tide
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Oil Primed Linen Panel
5" x 7"
2014

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The weather hasn't exactly felt like Spring around here lately, but that hasn't kept me away from the beach.  The Texas Gulf Coast is only about 45 minutes away, and just a bit farther down the highway is one of my favorite beaches, Bolivar Flats.


Bolivar Flats is right before the ferry landing to Galveston.  It's a favorite of bird watchers, but being so close to Galveston and farther down from Crystal, most of the tourists don't frequent the flats.  I like that because there's often hardly anyone else around.


Here's a row of pylons heading out in the ocean.  I've always loved the look of these posts being reclaimed by the ocean.  It's the beach equivalent of my favorite pine trees.  I've drawn and painted similar scenes quite often.  Eventually I'll settle on a composition and make a larger painting.

New Daily Oil Painting "Waiting for Lunch"



Waiting for Lunch
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Oil Primed Linen Panel
7" x 5"
2014

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Sunday I was out at a Crystal Beach helping out a bit at the Down Under Bar. It was a chilly and overcast day, but regardless of the weather I always enjoy spending the day at the coast. When I wasn't working I passed my time walking around the marina and enjoying the sights and sounds.

I had just walked outside and was planning to take a few pictures of a nearby fishing boat when these two Pelicans came flying in. It's amazing how graceful these big, awkward looking birds can be as they glide just inches above the water looking for their next meal.

After making a pass and coming up with empty mouths they flapped their wings and perched on the posts right in front of me. There were several people who quickly whipped out their phones to snap a few pictures. The birds seemed happy to oblige and sat there long enough for me to take a dozen pictures from different vantage points. 

This 5" x 7" oil painting is a combination of a couple of the better photos, and I edited out the cars parked in the background. I believe I could happily paint the gulf coast beaches and marinas everyday and never grow tired of the endless variety.

New Daily Oil Painting "Stingaree" A Painting in Progress

Stingaree
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2014

This is my first ever painting of a boat. I spent a lot of time out at Crystal Beach this past weekend. I played an acoustic show at the Down Under Bar Friday evening, lucked into a beach cabin for the night, then went back to the restaurant on Sunday to help out. I've done lots of paintings of the beach over the years, but never of the marina area. This sailboat belongs to the owner of the Stingaree Restaurant and is docked out back. I didn't really think about how complicated this little painting would be. It was quite a challenge but I had a lot of fun painting it! I'm planning to do a few more paintings of the boats and marina area there.

I took a few pictures of my progress while painting "Stingaree." I started with a pretty accurate pencil sketch then laid in the darker areas of the boat and foreground water before painting the background and sky.  I worked through the different light tints for the boat and the lettering on the back, then added the sails and rigging.  I finished with some brighter, warm highlights on the top and edges of the boat. 

All in all I'm pretty pleased with this little boat.  I think I managed to convey a sense of the atmosphere and feeling of the marina, and have a pretty good mix of details and looser brush work that belies the small size of the canvas.

New Daily Oil Painting "The Old and Lost"

The Old and Lost
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
12" x 16"
2014

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I commute about 50 miles to the school where I teach art in Baytown. The drive would be a best if it weren't for the incredible sunrises and beautiful scenery. One of my favorite stretches is the long bridge that crosses The Old and Lost River. It's essentially an old branch of the Trinity River that's now a swamp like slough.

I've always loved the rhythms of the tall reeds and aquatic plants that border the side of the bridge and blanket the small islands that dot the waterway. On this particular morning a front was moving in. The sky was filled with a blanket of blue and purple hued clouds with the sun casting it's radiant glow just above the horizon.

I started this painting late Thursday afternoon, then managed a few minutes working on it during lunch on Friday. I had most of the sky laid in when I had to leave to make it to my music gig Friday after school. I didn't get back to it until today. I favored a flat bristle brush on this painting and tried to minimize unnecessary detail in favor of a lively surface and brushwork to capture the incredible movement and energy I felt that morning.

New Daily Oil Painting "Reaching"

Reaching
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
2014

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When I first passed by these two massive Oak trees on a hazy, softly lit morning, I was struck by their resemblance to giant hands reaching out of the ground.  I tried to hint at that idea, particularly in the forward tree, by emphasizing the knobby, knuckle like joins and finger like branches. 

I started this painting with a pencil sketch, then went to work on the Oaks. After I was satisfied with the trees I painted the negative spaces of sky between the branches.  There's a push and pull about painting branches this way, and often smaller branches are repainted or even scratched out.  The end effect is a complex weaving of positive and negative space.  I kept the grasses in the foreground and distant tree line loosely painted, but tried to play up the contrast between the brightly lit fields in the background and the cooler, shaded greens up front.

This is another view from Oak Knoll Farms on Hwy 124 just outside of Beaumont, Texas.  After spending a couple of hours on this painting yesterday I intended to come in this morning and do a little bit more to it, but when I came in and gave it a once over I decided to leave it be.  I often think a painting needs a touch more work, and sometimes this gets the better of me.  There's often a freshness to a spontaneous work that can't be duplicated and is easy to lose.



New Daily Painting "Kaleidoscope"

Kaleidoscope
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
12" x 12"
2014

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I've had this image in my head for a while. Back in October I made a quick 8" x 10" oil painting on canvas mounted on board. It was very rough and expressionistic and didn't quite hit the mark.  Yesterday I pulled out that old painting and a few reference photos and started again, this time on a 12" x 12" canvas. 


I started with a pretty loose pencil sketch on a lightly toned canvas.  I knew the sky would make or break this painting so I focused on conveying the movement of the clouds while retaining enough definition to keep the canvas from dissolving into a multi-colored mush. I only managed an hour and a half or so yesterday, but managed to get the sky mostly put together. 


Today I came in a bit early and worked on the tree line and grass in the foreground.  After I had the whole canvas covered with paint, I began layering a bit thicker paint on top, finally finishing with a few more brush flourishes in the sky and the bright highlighted clouds at the center of the composition.


What keeps this image in my mind is the way the clouds seem to explode from the hotspot of the sun behind the trees. I always feel such energy watching the world as it seems to die at sunset, yet at the same time I'm filled with peace. I've tried to let the paint handling convey a bit of the vibrant, charged atmosphere while the calm blue sky and soft greens and reddish hues of the foreground lend a bit of tranquility.


I'm calling this one "Kaleidoscope" because the swirling multi-colored clouds reminded me of the circular patterns of my old child's toy.