Figure and Portrait Drawing & Painting Lessons

A painting demonstration in oil on a 14x20" panel. - 1983

By William Whitaker

This painting was inspired by a visit to the Alaska panhandle.  I called it Elfin Cove after the fishing village on Chichagof Island.  It actually looks nothing like Elfin Cove except for the typical boardwalk.   By this stage I'd laid in just about everything.  I continued to have a lovely time with the wood textures.  The smooth panel made it easy to create visual texture.

In Sitka, I'd seen a building with a window boarded up on the inside, the glass still in place.  I included it.  The pots came from my own garden.  The "VE" is the end of a sign that reads "Elfin Cove".  If I'd had more panel, I could have included more letters.

I have lots of prop dresses for my models.  I got this one in Mexico.  I never saw anybody in Alaska wear anything like this.  I painted this work in 1983.  My eyes were much better then.  To paint a figure this size now (about 5 and a half inches), I have to wear close-up glasses as thick as the bottom of old coke bottles.  

The last thing I did was work on the roof.  I saw some wonderfully mossy green roofs in Alaska and I worked on these shingles with loving care.   I felt the painting looked too dry for Alaska.  Had I painted it on location rather than in the studio, it might have looked wetter and cooler.

By William Whitaker

Visit William's Site: http://www.williamwhitaker.com/

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