My Journey Creating the Explore the Reef Collection

After months of hard work, I am pleased to say that I have finished my Explore the Reef collection. These paintings are my most complicated and most detailed pieces yet. I pushed myself to develop my skill set by creating precise detail through multiple layers of shading, glazing, and brush strokes.

I tried to keep the wildlife in the paintings as realistic and biologically accurate as I could. I took some artistic liberties; however, each fish, coral, seaweed, and sea creature is based on a real aquatic organism. Each of the 50 fish in the painting can be found in nature. I used a collection of reference photos to make the fish accurate. The whole piece was designed through my imagination. Several weeks were spent on sketching alone.

This series was designed to work as one continuous landscape, with the reef blending seamlessly between the paintings. If the paintings were laid side by side, each piece of coral and seaweed would match up perfectly. There are several pieces of coral and sea fauna that are present in every piece to create cohesion between the units. In addition, the Octopus and the Jellyfish paintings are mirrored images of each other. The Golden Ratio was kept in mind, as the mirrored red precious coral creates an arch in the painting that draws the eye across the pieces. The Golden Ratio, also known as the divine proportion, is created through the mathematical Fibonacci sequence. This sequence is found throughout nature and is known to be aesthetically pleasing. The spiral in the artwork rounds up with the coral and peaks at the head of the middle jellyfish. This is the highest point in the painting, and from there it slopes down with the angelfish, runs past the octopus’s legs, and finishes again at the same coral species. The spiral in itself creates visual unity.

In the finer details, I hand painted hundreds of dots on the artwork. I wanted to reflect the algae of the rocks and give them texture. Many people have told me that my level of detail sounds stressful, but I find it very relaxing. Even though there are a billion dots, each one has a purpose to shape the overall look of the painting. Each seaweed leaf was formed through its own individual stroke by a tiny brush. The colors of the rocks were achieved through multiple glaze layers of Alizarin Crimson, Pthalo Blue, and Dioxazine Purple. Glazing is a very thin layer of a paint mixed with a medium that creates a translucent layer. Vibrancy is thus created and the painted color can appear to change depending on how the light reflects off of the painting into the viewer’s eye. Each glaze layer needs to dry before the next layer is applied. A glaze layer may take 1-3 days to dry.

I am ecstatic with how the series turned out. I have bonded with the painting through the hours I spent pouring over the baby fishes and the sea. If I sell the paintings, it will be sad to see it go. Artwork always has a piece of the artist buried within. However, there are always more things to paint and become attached to.

There is now a new tab under my “Shop” labeled “The Ocean Collection“. There will be many more paintings to come of this style and level of detail. But shhh… I won’t mention them yet. For future information on these paintings follow me on Instagram @gracenestorlouie to keep up to date. Feel free to drop a comment below to let me know what you think!

Photos

Octopus, 48” by 24”, Oil on Canvas * Coral Reef, 30” by 30”, Oil on Canvas * Jellyfish, 48” by 24”, Oil on Canvas