Letter O and Ocean

Letter O an Ocean

Letter O and ocean are part of a watercolor and ink study in letter styles and object styles beginning with that letter. Each study will focus on one letter and one object beginning with that letter in order to collect and practice various artistic styles and alphabets.

I waffled with letter O for several days before landing on ocean at the last minute. It felt like I didn’t decide until I had to write my word for the study to post on my Instagram feed. I considered oregano. Our bees love the dainty flowers from the herbs in our herb garden. I thought about oats, orcs (though I don’t really want to think about them as long as I would if I were painting them. Too many heebie-jeebies), oranges (that’s a delicious one), October, and on.  During letter N, my galaxy owl filled my mind with possibilities. I do love a good owl sketch. Those eyes …

It finally came down to owl and ocean. I wanted to practice the texture and eyes of the owl, but I also wanted to learn more about the colors and feelings of the ocean. Have you noticed the feelings of the ocean? It’s mesmerizing. Just think of the stormy, dark waves or the pristine calm of a blue sky laced with clear turquoise stillness, the gentle lull of the waves on a long, flat beach, the winking of the ripples as the sun shines on their playfulness, and the breathtaking sunset reflected on the water.

Here is what I learned as I thought about the letter O and ocean.

Dip Pen Letter O Styles

• O, O, O. How do you find variety? I managed to find a little variety, but none of them wowed me with their brilliance.
• Favorites: 12 and 17, even if a little shaky. It can’t be the coffee, I’m sure of it. It’s not allowed to be. Maybe I forgot to do some warm up strokes that day. Yea, that’s it. 
• Least favorite: 2, I think. I’m not sure I like my O resembling a heart. I might be able to pull it off on the right piece, but it feels a little like  grade school.

Watercolor and Ink Letter O Styles

• These Os have much more character! Maybe I just needed color and paint to make O interesting.
• Favorites: top left and the gothic style.
• Least favorite: lower left. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of a big, alien eyeball. It makes me laugh. I’m open to O suggestions in this style.

Watercolor and Ink Ocean Styles

• I thoroughly enjoyed studying ocean. It has so many forms, colors and moods.
• Each style was delightful and challenging in its own way with so many areas that begged for color blending.
• In many ways, it felt like I stepped away from my rainy home with its flooding rivers and streams and onto an island reprieve.
• Favorites: the top four, though I love pieces of all of them.
• I think I can improve the wave in the lower left. I’m not sure how to change it, but the shading needs something.  
• I need to work on the look of water reflections in the lower right. It works for an abstract but not for a true to life.

There you have it! O and ocean.

What have you worked on lately? I’m also interested in your ideas for future studies. Please share them in the comment section below the post.

If you are new to this study and interested in past letters, you can find links to them here.

Happy creating!