A Tale of Two Ships

I know I've been pretty quiet on the painting front these last few weeks, but I've actually been working really hard! Here's 2 pieces that I finished recently. I needed to do something with water, and couldn't decide between the 2, so I did both! Here they are:

Ship 1: "Blue Sunset" (or as I call it, Camouflage Boat)

I had very good intentions of sketching out every single detail of this painting, but after I finished the sky, I threw in the towel and decided to wing the ocean when I got to it. My eyes had started to cross.

 And finally.......

Blue Sunset - 18" x 24" Acrylic

I love it. I think it looks kinda camo, kinda like a globe. Very cool.

Here is Ship 2:  "Retro Sunset"

As you can kind of see, I started out with the boat smack dab in the middle of the canvas. When I stood back to look at it and realized what I'd done, the voice of my high school art teacher started screaming in my head about never putting the focal point of a painting dead center. Muttering a few choice four letter words under my breath, I grabbed an eraser and took out my irritation on the canvas.

Boat now slightly off center

 And finally....

Retro Sunset - 18" x 24" Acrylic

Both of these paintings took forever because I had to go over everything with a second coat of paint to give it a very clean matte look, with no brushstrokes visible. I'm currently working on a very cool Beauty & The Beast piece that is coming along really nicely.

As for running, I ran another 9 today with very little pain (and no trots)! The pain was there in the beginning but dulled down as I went along. Besides the Turtle's Rx, I've also quit doing my hula exercises. I figure that kind of movement and strain probably wasn't helping my cause. I remember 4 years ago when I had a similar pain, I laid off them and the pain went away. With almost one hula-free week and two 9 milers under my belt, my hip continues to get better with each day. I really really hope I am finally on the road to complete recovery.

Belly dancing / Hula = Angry hip