4 of 30 Florida Fighting Conch

The Fight Left in Me, (Florida Fighting Conch)

12" X 15"

Watercolor

$270

Click here to purchase

This shell is not particularly pretty on the outside. It is pretty much just white with a brown flaky covering that could probably be removed with a wire brush. (see below). It's pretty large, so the conch living inside must have had a nice long life. However, what it lacks on the outside is made up for on the inside. The glow of the aperture (?) is just magnificent.

I almost did not paint this photo. I knew that the glow I was drawn to would not be easy to capture. There were few other features of the shell that were interesting enough to command attention from that angle. In the end, I decided to give it a shot. I added very light overlapping layers to give depth and interest. I think it turned out beautifully.

Sidenote:
When I went to get this shell to put in front of me while I painted, I noticed that the knobs of the shell do not protrude at equal distances. They closely resemble my knuckles these days, since I broke a bone in my hand in 2011.

Twinsies!

You may also notice that the size of this painting is larger than the last few days. Well, the shell I painted as a model is much larger. Although it doesn't bother me scale UP my tiny shells as on previous days, for some reason, it seems wrong to scale DOWN a larger one. The conch in my painting is roughly life size.