Bodensee painting on wood panel

From the hilltop on the Island of Mainau in Lake Constance, or the Bodensee, you can see sailboats gliding past, far below and across the lake.  Paths crisscross the ornate botanical gardens that drape the hill.  A nice breeze makes a walk uphill and then down again to the ferryboat piers quite pleasant.  I had tried my hand at some watercolors of this scene, and lately–with news of hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, cyber-hacks and data breaches, and more surrounding us in current events–moved back to trying out some oil paints.  It’s a very different process from watercolor but keeps one’s mind on colors for the moment.  Also the palette knife, which the watercolorist mainly uses to gently peel a slice of watercolor paper out of a watercolor block, finally comes directly in contact with paint, when oil painting.  Lots to continue trying out…

Illustration: “Bodensee”, Oil on wood panel (10″ x 8″ approx) by Black Elephant Blog author