Punta Sur Is Located At The Southern End Of Isla Mujeres ..

And is again the inspiration of another piece of art. This piece of art I want to show you today, there’s no masterpiece, but it did take some time to create and left me with a feeling of accomplishment. You see, I haven’t been creating as much as I want to recently, so this is an accomplishment of sorts. Now that the north east is beginning the end stages of autumn and nearing winter, the days are growing longer and I am longing for a return trip to paradise! For now, I will settle by letting my imagination take me there through art.

The Trip.. The Inspiration..

The inspiration for this newest drawing, a pen and ink coupled with pencil, was derived from some traveling my wife and I did a few years ago to an area of Mexico called Isla Mujeres. Several years ago now, primarily due to travel restrictions and Covid concerns, we took a trip to the Cancun area of Mexico. We have visited this area of the Yucatan Peninsula many times over the last decade, and absolutely love it for the amount of money spent. It's affordable and we tend to get a good 'bang for our buck' near Cancun, not to mention it's only about a 3 hour flight from the Southern NJ area, where we live.

We always end up staying at a very nice resort in Playa Mujeres, just North of Cancun, or another area close by. During a few of our stays, we took day trips to the island of Mujeres (Isla Mujeres). It is only a short ferry ride from a port near Cancun. We spend most of the day there riding around in a golf cart, eating too much, drinking too much, and enjoying the bright sun and the beautiful landscape.

Isla Mujeres is a beautiful LITTLE island .. or at least the majority of it is. There are a few not so wonderful parts that look run down. Trash has accumulated in these areas, but for the most part it was in the kind of shape you would expect a small, minimally populated, and generally poor island to be in. It's par for the course I suppose, but it never ceases to amaze me that those with hands and will, do not try to keep things nice. If some of this trash is from the tourists themselves, then shame on them too!

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of why I was inspired to create, from what I experienced and saw while trekking around.

This was taken on the ferry trip over to the island. The ride from the Cancun area takes about an hour and cost roughly $20.00USD (round trip).

Golf cart rental options are plentiful and run approximately $45-50 USD for the day. They make cruising around the island so fun and easy, since the roads can get a bit narrow. It also makes parking a breeze since we stop EVERYWHERE to enjoy what the island has to offer. Those are our friends there in the background. They braved the island with us and had a blast!

I may have mentioned in a previous post about our trip, and another art work, that there is no lack of places to stop and visit.. especially if you are in need of "Refreshment"! There are a ton of neat bars and restaurants scattered around the island. One of which is named 'The Soggy Peso'. We may or may not have left here walking straight.

Punta Sur!

Punta Sur is located at the Southern most tip of the island. See the red arrow that I placed on the map below.

Punta Sur is an ecological park with bathrooms, a restaurant, small store, a lighthouse, sculptures (or what's left of them as most of them have rusted away), pathways, cliffs overlooking the Caribbean, and lots of blue water and HOT sun to go around. I think it's beauty is truly inspirational. So much so that it has inspired several pieces of art out from my creative self.

For example .. back in February of 2021 I created a painting called 'The Punta Sur Coastline'.
The 5 inch by 7 inch mixed media painting captured a bit of that feeling I felt while we were exploring the coast. I utilized both a watercolor and oil paint while creating the impressionistic style painting.

Back to the photos of Punta Sur...
Here we have an example of some of the sculpture types that can be found placed throughout the park.

Below is the lighthouse, the shops and refreshment area, closer to the entrance of the park.

Again, the lighthouse, pathways, and very little shade.. BUT those views are breathtaking!

There are steps that lead down to the water. You can access the water at certain points along the path, although I found the water to be very rough. If you take a moment, there are a bunch of photo opportunities to be had.

The pathways seemed to go on forever, and wrapped almost the whole way around the edges of the park. While we were there last visit, we did notice a few improvement projects being started to repair these paths. Some parts were a bit sketchy and most likely damaged by the rough surf. Wildlife could also be found scurrying around.

The Caribbean Blue Waters are amazing at Punta Sur. The waves crash onto the rocks, the salt water sprays up into the air in various shades of white, while the water reflects several shades of blue green. I could spend hours here just watching the water move in and out.

This is looking up the coast toward the Northeast.

The Art ..

Today's art is not a painting, but rather a drawing made in pen and ink. Like I mentioned above, I gathered my inspiration from This place of beauty along the Caribbean blue waters. In particular, my inspiration was gathered from a building located at the entrance of the park. It’s a small building that could hold no more than a couple of people, and positioned where are you would start your walk through sculptures, landscapes, along the paths and areas where you would view the sculptures.

On every occasion that we had visited the park, there was no one in this building. There were some pamphlets at one time, a place to sign in and out, and a box to leave a donation if you felt so inclined. The shack was very weathered, but not so much that it was in any disrepair. It actually looked quite good given the beatings it most likely takes from storms, sun and wind, throughout the year.

While looking through my photographs, I came upon one I had taken of the shack, and the pathway that led by it along the coast. At that moment I was inspired to draw the shack. I decided that I wanted to just simply draw it then finish the drawing using pen and ink. So that’s what I did. I created a drawing and I called it ‘Watching Over Punta Sur’. I feel like that’s what this building is really doing, watching over park.

‘Watching Over Punta Sur’ ~ By BD Miller

The Process ..

I started this piece of art off like many others, with a base drawing. I used a number two pencil and lightly sketched out the main details of the drawing. I included the building, some general pathways, plants, and a horizon line.

After my base drawing was finished, I moved on to utilizing my pen of choice. It’s just a basic fine point black pen. At first I sketched in the background that included clouds and the water line.

I then moved on to the building. I traced out the outline of the building and then began to lay in some shading and some basic lines of the siding and roof. At this point I also put some reference lines in around the pathways and plant material. I can now feel the drawing beginning to take shape.

Now that my drawing has some depth and definition to it, I begin two ink in some plants in the ground material. I am careful to try and keep proportions accurate. I don’t want the plants to look too small, nor the building to look too big.

Moving on, I begin to lay more of the plant material out along the ground, and begin to shade some of the structure and patio that lies under the windows. I also add a few more details to the clouds and water. You will also notice that I added some details to the pathway. I tried to make the path look like it contained cracks or crevices, like one would find on a stone path.

Besides a few touchups that will occur later, I am done with the pen and ink. I now pick up a number 5B pencil and utilize that for shading by drawing. I am using a mix of pen and ink and pencil. I start by shading the background and moving forward.

I am now nearing the completion of the piece. All I have to do is adjust some of the shading to my taste, add a few touch ups to the ink, and then the final element.. My Signature! It's at the bottom right. I know, it's hard to see within the business of all that plant life.

In Summary..

I’ll end my post by including a summary photo of the entire creative process. It’s a neat element for those who do not prefer to read the entire post or like to see the entire process unfold in one photo. I for one love the process photo.

I Had A Blast!

In both creating this piece of art and taking those trips to Mexico!!! Maybe not everyone can create art from the trips they take, and I can appreciate that, but I am also grateful for being able to express myself through art and share my unique experiences as they unfold in my mind. It’s fun to create these sketches and relive the good times I’ve had in the past. Maybe one day I will create something similar but in color. For now I think the black and white drawling I had created, is still powerful enough to convey what I was feeling.

One Last Time.. 'Watching Over Punta Sur' ..

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!

All words, pictures and art pieces are the sole property of B D Miller Gallery, unless otherwise noted and credited, and are not to be reproduced or copied without the prior written consent of B D Miller Gallery.

The Orchid Lovers Community!

Love Orchids? Consider joining our community. We look forward to seeing you there!!!

The Orchid Lovers Community

A place for people who Love Orchids!