Bounty of the sea

I created this seafood painting for use in an upcoming packaging promotion. I wanted to challenge myself with different textures and transparencies - such as the water and ice. I also wanted to convey some depth to the image by having a fishing boat in the background. With the detail I was planning to add to the composition I felt it needed a bit of breathing room up top.

I knew I wanted a lobster as the centerpiece, but figuring out what I wanted surrounding it was a challenge. Not being an aficionado of seafood (eating gummy textures, fishy tastes and creepy crawly things kinda turns me off) I asked my hubby Tyrone for help in brainstorming what people usually eat. From there I collected a bunch of reference and scribbled out some thumbnails. I knew all those wave photos I took on our honeymoon would come in handy one day.

Next I worked on a more refined sketch. I was still unsure of what to include between the lobster's claws.

I tightened up the sketch and still played with what was to be included. Even at the painting stage I switched a mussel for some more shrimp. Normally I wouldn't have the freedom to stray from my linear drawing. But since this was essentially a personal piece I could do whatever I wanted.


I had two weeks for this piece. I spent a couple days figuring it out and then about a week painting it. Lots of time was also spent just letting the image rest. I left it on my drawing board and looked at it a lot. The downtime helped me figure out what wasn't working in the piece, and where color and contrast had to be bumped up. Just as I was finishing it up I ended up getting another high detail packaging job, so the timing was perfect.