Octopus Vs Ship : Old Yeller, upcycled vintage painting

Old Yeller | Octopus Vs Ship
2x3 feet plus frame

This old painting has been hanging in a local antique thrift shop for years… I had passed it over about five times, until finally deciding I wanted to bring it home to give a bit of a refresh.

Painted in 1950 by Jean Godwin, the board was warped and coming out of the frame. There were a few chips out of the paint. The original artist did a lovely job of the ship and the colour of the water. I repaired the framing, gave it a gentle wash, then started my plan for making it a bit more fun…

…and painted in this enormous yellow octopus! Yellow seemed the best colour for this one, as the artist had used yellow ochre in places for little zings of colour. I added little flecks of aqua in the octopus, to tie in with the artist’s colour choice for the water.

I also finished off the edges of the water… using the original artists texture, I hit it with some white to brighten it, then using photo reference added in detail of the water droplets flying through the air where the waves hit the ship and octopus.