While visiting the North Carolina coast last summer, I spotted this small boy chasing and feeding the seagulls and snapped a few photos. Of course he was not posing and when I later reviewed the shots for a painting reference, I found that he was not well positioned in any of them. Further, the background was not good as he was not on a beach but in a harbor area with sidewalk and trashcan behind him. I still liked the concept for a painting so I reworked the design to change the boy’s posture and invented a beach background. It took a bit of work to convert the idea into this painting. Sometimes what looks like a spontaneous scene is actually the result of a great deal of struggle. You have to work with what you have.

The painting is available in a gold frame for $400.