Punta Nizuc Reef - WIP

These are two studies based on my sketches from Mexico at our favorite snorkeling spot. They will be the source of a larger studio painting. I am working out the design idea based on my sketches and studies done on site, while relying on the memories of the place and the connection I have to it. It is this visual library of references that I will based the finished work on.

In the studio I ask myself a million questions – how to describe the shadow of these clouds, where is the horizon line seen and what colors are in the Caribbean Sea?, to name a few. Organizing all of the questions and answering them in a color study will aid me in the finished piece. I tried two versions based on my drawings with slightly different vantage points and lighting to establish the mood of the painting. With these I hope to create out of my mind's eye, my memories, and my feelings for the amazing place and experience.

Punta Nizuc Reef, Color Studies I and II, oil on panel,  9 x 12 in, © jserrett

Punta Nizuc Reef, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 

Website - jimserrett.com 
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More Travel Sketches

One of the things I like most about a pocket sketchbook is that, it's such a convenient way to explore the world through drawing. To use our observational skills and record ideas.

In this small format I like to make quick sketches and simplify, virtually creating thumbnail drawings where I filter what I need to leave out and leave in to convey the subject.

Watercolors are a different way of thinking for me then oils, they are much more spontaneous and erratic. I see painting with watercolor as a type of controlled disaster, often you just have to let it do what it wants, but then that is part of the fun.

I like to think of it as a drawing adventure and not get too overcritical about them. Rather, to look at it as developing your vision and sit back and enjoy the process. In the end, everything you put in a sketchbook is important because there are no mistakes, only lessons.

When you create a quick gesture sketch that has nice expressive and loose strokes which convey a sense of place, well that’s the big picture and what really matters.

“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” - Linus Pauling

Sketches are in a Moleskine Watercolor Notebook (3.5 x 5.5 inch)

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 

Website - jimserrett.com 
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com 
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings

Palapa Party !

I’ve got to tell you, there is no better way to boycott winter than to find a little patch of sand along the Caribbean Sea to occupy and just park it. Watch the sunrise, watch the sunset, cold cerveza and do it all again. Palapa party!

Punta Nizuc Reef Cancun Mexico - I could sit there (or lounge) all day and fill my Moleskine journals with sketches and never run out of things to draw or paint. I have said this a thousand times, so it does seem redundant, but the sea along the Caribbean in Cancun is one of the most beautiful in the world, just amazing. I could paint it forever, exploring and studying the colors, all the deep violets and endless cerulean blues.

There is no better way to recharge than fresh air and fresh scenery. For me to just scribble and doodle in a sketchbook in such a serene place, that is the best of all worlds. I carried a couple of sketchbooks, a 3.5x5.5-inch pocket Moleskine, a 5.5x8.5-inch Strathmore Watercolor Journal and a small watercolor pad. I had my old Winsor & Newton Field Box Set but used mostly a Lukas 1862 Artists Watercolors set, it had a color palette that seemed perfect for the sea and sky. I used a Rotring art pen loaded with Noddlers ink, both of which I really enjoyed drawing with. And of course a couple of Pitt Pens and a clutch pencil.

Of course we had to find Mayan ruins to explore and we snorkeled until my lips cracked. I think my wife is really a mermaid and swims like a fish. What I really appreciate is her patience with me when I am sketching on location, especially in El Rey where she had to combat the giant iguanas.

Just another beautiful sunrise in paradise. 

Royal Resort - Royal Islander, Cancun Mexico

El Rey Ruins (Zona Arqueologica El Rey)

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 

Website - jimserrett.com
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com 
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings