Plein air

The first time I ever saw a unicorn

| Gina Lento

The first time I saw a unicorn, I was on Chincoteague Island. I was painting plein air in the woods on Assateague… I was trying to capture the memory of when Paul Beebe saw Misty for the first time…I rubbed my eyes, (ended up with pastel all over my face), but yes, it was still there! A REAL unicorn! It shimmered and it was almost ethereal, like it was a vapor, or maybe it was a mist rolling in. I don’t know but I’ll never forget when I saw that unicorn!

The unicorn

This was a painting that I did several years ago. I came across it recently and thought it would be perfect for an assignment/prompt from Carla Sonheim’s ‘Best of 365.’ I added the unicorn with Procreate.

As far as painting it on location in Assateague, this is true and I actually was trying to capture the feeling Paul Beebe had when seeing Misty for the first time (as described in the story; Misty of Chincoteague.’)

Maybe some day I’ll meet another unicorn on Assateague.

Siamese Kitty

| Gina Lento

My mom used to have three bratty Siamese. When the last one passed away, my sisters and I figured we’d see more of her. Nope. She adopted two homeless cats soon after the last Siamese passed away.

Here’s a Siamese kitty that I know my mom will love!

Also, these paintings below will be in the wet paint show and sale tomorrow and are available to purchase!

Last Alive After Five of the summer

| Gina Lento

Tonight brings the summer to a sad close….yes, we still have a little over a week to Labor Day, but tonight was the final AA5 of the summer☹️.

This is also the week of Paint the Great South Bay. So far it has rained, I was swarmed by flies and bit by a yellow jacket. (Little bastard died for that one.)

I was out painting this evening and did this painting

And took a photo and turned it into a postcard for my mom (see if you can find kitty)

I had a rough week which led to a lot of this

Here is my set up and you can see how the painting came together….

More to come!

Sketching out

| Gina Lento

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I had to go out to sketch. I took a ride up to the North Shore of LI to join a group that was painting there.

I wanted to mount my little guerrilla box on the tripod but alas, it didn’t come with the tripod adapter mounting plate so I need to order that. In the meantime I took a large board that John made for me over the summer and I used the car and the tripod as a makeshift mount.

It was so surprisingly warm, that the only reason why I was wearing my jacket so as to not be stupid and catch a chill. It was worth it to get out in the sun to do a quick watercolor and ink sketch. The ride home I was cranking up Coldplay. For just that wee bit of time it was indeed, Paradise.

And….winter is back…..sigh.