Landlocked

"Old Boat"
watercolor on illus. board, 2013
16" x 24" (40.64cm x 60.96cm)


I saw this old boat in the marina in the LA Harbor and it looked as though at one time it was being restored then was just abandoned midstream.
Although there was plenty in the background my treatment of this subject reflects my impression rather than its reality, its blank existence.

I originally began this as a sunrise scene but more or less let that go in favor of a more ghostly haunting lighting.

The green fencing was needed for compositional reasons but other than that I intentionally left the composition bare and sparse including leaving out some of the struts that held her up.
The dark ground plane helped to anchor the boat, keep it from visually floating away and to weigh it down psychologically.269

Links to similar themes in my work:
Tied up Dog
Gutted like a fish
Spot Lighted
Futility
Urban River 3
Industrial Purgatory