These quick pastel studies were done to work out color and composition for a series of large oil paintings. They are scenes from boatyards and marshes around Harkers Island, North Carolina. My plan was to use these very small 5″x7″ studies to really push the color so that when I enlarged them to a 4′ canvas size they would take on an abstract quality, concentrating on loose brushstrokes of color as opposed to realistic images. We’ll see what happens.

While waiting to start the paintings, these studies were sold to hang as a group in a Hilton Head condo. Maybe I’ll keep doing studies and delay the paintings.