Tropical Salad

16 × 20" Original Oil on Canvas

Tropical Salad was the first painting in a series of seven tropical fish and reef paintings I created. With the brilliant yellows, oranges, blues, greens and purples found in tropical fish and coral reefs, this series gave me a chance to do something I especially enjoy as an artist—play with a lot of color.

The idea for the series actually started with an unusual project. I had painted all four sides of one of the large utility boxes you see along the streets where I live, using an underwater theme with tropical fish and coral. I enjoyed working with the subject so much that I decided to bring the idea back to the studio and create a series of oil paintings.

This painting features Yellow Tangs, Clownfish and Angelfish swimming through a colorful coral reef. While working on it, I was having trouble getting the texture I wanted in the coral and background. Finally, I put on a pair of protective gloves, set the brushes aside and started finger painting.

It worked so well that I ended up painting much of the fish with my fingers too, using brushes mainly for the final details. The technique gave me the loose texture and movement I was looking for and helped keep the painting bright, spontaneous and full of color.

Sometimes the best solution in painting is simply to put down the brush and try something different.

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