Worn Whelk

This is a large, mostly white worn whelk shell.  It is about 10 inches long.  It is one of the largest I have found.  These animals bury themselves in the sand with the pointed end sticking out at low tide. 

This painting was purely experimental.  I started with smooth paper and water colorpencils as line.  Then I shadowed and contoured with a brush.  I used pigments that granulate and separate, painting wet into wet, in the background.  Where water is not painted the color will not flow, which protected the shell.

At the end I scraped more white out with knife and then brushed some of the green cascade pigment into some of the shadows.  Putting some of the background color into the shell helps unify the painting.

I like this.  My husband says he is not a fan.  My efforts did capture the roughness and the patina of the old shell.