Hawaii Day 5!

Didn't take too many photos on this day, so just starting off with the painting!

(you can start to see those weird focusing problems I mentioned...)

On this day we went to Makapu'u and hiked to the lighthouse end of the trail. It was a pretty easy hike, much more spacious than Diamond Head, and even though it was windy and started to rain a little bit, I was able to paint on site.

I think my favorite part of this painting was the middle ground mountains. Since I had painted a mountain top view the day before, I wanted to make sure this one looked different, and was able to accomplish that through the angle I saw it, as well as my color choices. My only gripe was that I wasn't able to punch up the foreground as much as I wanted. Perhaps I needed more saturation, or just darker values? I tried to amend it with thicker line art, but I'm still not totally happy with it since it just isn't as clear. But oh well! Live and learn.

The lighting on that day was something I wanted to pay particular attention too, as it was kind of overcast, but there were clear shadows as well.

I was pretty pleased with how the water turned out though! Ocean and water painting is something I've struggled with for a long time, in part because I find it difficult trying to get the illusion of waves and sea foam without it looking too weird. So with this, I was very happy I was able to get some white in as an indication of white caps, as well as foam along the shoreline.

Fun fact, the bit of white I managed to save in the water is called sparkle. I'm not sure if it's the technical term, but it's what my watercolor teacher called it! Essentially, when you take your brush and do a wash or broad painting, especially if you're painting water, you like to preserve some white. If your brush is more to the dry side, then the streaks that result produce the sparkle. It took me a while to get the hang of, but a light sweeping touch that isn't too meticulous will go a long way.

Also, pay special attention to those tidepools towards the bottom of the image...we might visit them soon!

Today was also the day I had my first official Hawaiian 7-11 musubi! I officially wish the 7-11s in LA sold musubi, because it was so good.

Musubi is sticky rice topped with cooked spam and wrapped in dried seaweed. The one I got was a little extra special as it had an egg included. It's a Hawaiian classic inspired by Japanese food, and we ate plenty of it throughout the rest of the trip.

Later that day we chilled since our friend had class, and then met up with him in the evening to eat and have some drinks with his classmates.

Another great day in Hawaii!

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