Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Oil rigs -- doesn't everybody LOVE them?

S. Belridge Oil Rigs, gouache on paper, 6x9"


My husband and I were driving north on Interstate 5 to Cambria, and took a highway that cut west to the central coast. Soon we stumbled upon the largest oil fields I've ever seen in my life, and there are lots in Southern California. Oil rigs pumping as far as I could see. There were hundreds if not thousands of rigs, many in bright colors, and at all angles. I loved the almost architectural imagery. I quickly snapped two bad photos and vowed to take more on the way home, but we took a different route back. Recently I painted the scene with gouache paints (above), but I forgot to use my artistic license -- my two photos didn't capture many rigs and I forgot to slip more in, so the whole point is kind of missed. At least I'm a honest painter, eh?

1 comment:

Teri said...

Gosh, you managed to capture so much detail!! It looks awesome. Good coice for a subject.