Painting with Debra Huse

We met at a dry dock in Newport Beach close to her gallery on Balboa Island. Debra Huse Gallery This was a great opportunity to paint with Debra.  She had just recently won a second place ribbon at the 14th annual LPAPA Invitational. LPAPA



She was painting on a canvas tinted with raw sienna.  Debra said she uses raw sienna because it helps establish the overall tone of the painting and that the color is not too dark.  She started her painting with small dots arranged on the canvas to get the overall size of the boat established on the canvas.  Debra did not start with a thumb nail sketch or any other prep work before she started painting.  She drew her subject with raw sienna as well.  As a marine painter she had a lot of insight that I found helpful.  She said to find the face in the boat.  Start with the windows and work out from them to get all of the elements of the face related to each other properly.  She said if it is not working it is not working and to wipe it out. 

During the course of her drawing in the boat she would smudge sections that did not relate to the rest of the boat.  As she blended in the sections it ended up helping to establish the values of the boat.  It also helped her establish the overall shape of the boat.  Once the shape was set Debra added the main colors of the boat.  Debra said to make sure to get all of the big shapes before you freak out. 

Once the drawing was completed she shared some thoughts about her process.  Debra said she should make some decisions about the painting at this stage because of the light and where the shadows were headed.  With the shadows shifting Debra put them onto the hull of the boat before moving on with her painting.  One of her thoughts was that a boat yard should be "gritty".  The painting shouldn't have too finished a feeling.  One of her big decisions was what to do with the sky.  Should she add masts to the painting, a flag, or how much vibration should be in the sky?