Oliver Overcast | 12×16 | Oil on Linen

Inspiration for Oliver Overcast

I started Oliver Overcast en plein air at my usual shrimp boat marina in Pensacola, Florida. The Oliver has appeared in a couple other paintings, but never has it really been the star of the show. (Ironically, even my earlier painting named after this boat doesn’t focus primarily on it!) After completing a small plein air piece of the Oliver one evening, I figured it was high time to devote a studio piece to reward its humble patience. The boat’s more neutral color harmony lent itself to the natural palette of a cloudy day. And thank goodness for good clean rust! (To paraphrase Dick Van Dyke’s “Burt” from Mary Poppins.) It adds much-needed visual interest to otherwise dull white rigging.