Remake - Sausalito Houseboat

Original with a few adjustments already begun

Almost finished, but not quite, 20x16

This is a remake of an old one I did when in class over 10 years ago. It is quite ugly and every time I came across it I wondered why I didn’t just throw it away. It is of a houseboat in Sausalito CA. Richard and I had stopped there on our way back from San Fransisco to his parents house. It isn’t a pretty boat to begin with, but I sure didn’t improve it any! I could not find where I had ever taken a photo of it that is how much I disliked this painting.

So as you can see, the top one is the ‘original’ from class, when we were studying textures. Which I did very well as far as that goes. But it was so dark. I had already decided to take out the wooden structure on the left and you can see my corrected drawing, in pink, as to the top of the boat so there would be more sky and better proportions. The siding should be white but it looked so gray and dingy. So will it ever be a great painting? No. But it gives me a feeling of satisfaction to fix something like this. I still have to finish the big window and put the bike back in a few more finishing touches, but you can see the difference, which is all I wanted for today. Side note: I wrote this almost two weeks ago and then was distracted by a bathroom remodel so never posted. Here is the painting today as I did get some work done on it between painting walls and trim.

I used the side of an old credit card to get the illusion of rough wood with peeling paint. It is fun to do, although would not work for most of what I paint, it works well for this. 

Sausalito Houseboat, 16x20, oil on panel, available

Here is the 'finished' painting, at least for now. From the last photo, I dulled down the wooden screen in the window, finished the plant, redid the reflection and finished the bike.