All Eight: A Peek Behind the Series

“All Eight” is a painting series about Navy Rowing, and will be available online at shop.easelonstribling.com at 12 est on October 15, 2025.

Read the behind the scenes below, or scroll to the very bottom for a full preview of the work!

“All Eight” is a painting series that focuses on the mundane and intimate moments within the Navy Rowing community. The synchronized teamwork, the freezing cold mornings, the pre and post practice routines… Just like most of my work with Easel on Stribling, the work is less focused on the highlighted moments of glory, and instead on the rituals of dedication that is so apparent within this sport.

A note on voice:

I often feel like a series happens through me: I’m not entirely sure where it will lead, but I try to be open to it as I work. This writing will sometimes refer to the series as if it were in charge, not me. To be honest, I think that’s true. Sound a little nuts? Just go with it ;)

“we row at dawn” 12”x16” gouache on board

Why?

The root of Easel on Stribling lies in the “everyman {and woman} experience.” The core of what I aim to capture are moments any midshipman could relate to, because that invites such a wonderful common ground where a community can connect with one another and find empathy in each individual experience. I love it.

For that reason, the initial body of work explored in the coffee table book, A Midshipman’s Journey, intentionally omitted specific narratives about individual sports.

I gave myself permission to explore them after the book was published. So why start with sailing (2023) and rowing (2025)?

… The honest answer?The impressionist in me is a total sucker for painting boats and light. Which is like 90% of the visuals in both sports. Deep, I know.

And, I had some pretty consistent requests from alumni :)

I do hope to explore other sports, and this one taught me a lot about how to approach the next round.

And maybe I was wrong…

But even with the specificity of a single sport, I noticed the point of view still tends to sneak through. Intimate moments, quiet rituals, community, and discipline are themes that echo in every series I make. Perhaps these moments never had to be left out the first time around. They always find a way to sneak themselves into my paintings.

How it Started: Research

Since I live and work in Florida and prefer to take my own reference photos, I had to work with the imagery available to me. While I cannot possibly express everything within these constraints, I hoped to capture the essence of the sport and surrounding community.

In preparing for this series, some wonderful alumni helped get me out on the water with the men’s teams in preparation for Nationals (May 2024). The weather was overcast, and this presented a different challenge with light that resulted in some delightfully unexpected outcomes.

But then… As I was sketching out ideas, I uncovered a roll of photos I took as a high school senior on a drag weekend in January 2007 of the women’s team. I did not even remember taking them! That morning was incredibly cold and the light was perfect. I always aim to keep my figures somewhat anonymous - It’s less about specific people and more about a moment. But, to have actual images of the women’s team was a sign to move forward with this series.

Looking back, I wish I had more dialogue with rowers to hear more specific stories, especially before I got on the water. At the same time, if I waited for ideas to be perfect, I would never share them. It just means there’s more to make and that is endlessly exciting to me.

Creative Exploration

Nearing the end of my previous series, “Morning Colors,” I discovered a way of omitting details and using a flat background color to become part of the subject. I took that idea into this body of work as a way to work through the less than exciting lighting in a lot of my reference photos.

(A misty overcast day can result in some really lovely colors, but I often wrestle more through those than paintings with a strong light and shadows. It can be done, I just personally find them harder to get right.)

A “Morning Colors” painting that shows the background color approach I pulled into this series. No pun intended.

I started with that idea for a grouping of paintings in this series. This one began with a gray-blue ground and I loved leaving out any horizon line or background details as it developed.

Saved Round: Accidental Breakthrough

In retrospect, they always happen after I think I’m done :)

I declared the series complete, and then had a conversation with an alumni which cracked open my idea bank. A lot of these were images of the mens team before (and after) practice on the dock.

The gray/brown colors in the dock and atmosphere weren’t ideal for light filled impressionism, but I had a handful of moments I still really hoped to capture. I found myself back in the studio, using some linen panels and really liking the unfinished drawings underneath the actual painting.

Things clicked when I drew in the dock… and left it like that.

Using clear primed linen panels (versus the typical white you think of when you picture a blank canvas), I realized I could apply that same idea but instead of using a strong color as a ground, I could allow the natural color of the linen to act as that dull gray/brown base. I’d already been exploring this idea over in my non USNA artwork side of things, but never thought to apply it to smaller, narrative style work.

a 5 foot painting where the raw canvas has a moment from my other painting life (www.kristincronic.com)

Staying Open to the Process…

The more I worked, the more I realized I needed to lean on the “line,” that elemental part of drawing that I honestly tend to underemphasize as a painter who really likes shapes and gesture. I teach as a drawing professor at a local university (ironic), and we had just spent three weeks only drawing with lines. It was in my head, I guess.

Allowing the neutral linen color to be the base for this sub-series, I relied a lot more on the “line” than “shapes” (my usual instinct). In this painting of “Catch,” I loved what happened when the line defined the figure.

This sub series also portrays a range of approaches for filling in the shapes. Some are cleaner and tighter, but others are moments of color. A few needed cleaner development, but I really loved the way others looked with just notes of color. Exhibit A…

Leaving some areas as just notes of color ended up feeling really good for some of these pieces. “Creek Stories” 16”x20” oil on linen

A Moment for sketches

I decided to include two of these as a bit of a tangent, so perhaps you deserve an explanation. During a pause of this series, I worked on some illustrations for Maryland Avenues Old Fox Books (aka the most magical bookstore you’ll ever enter!) and in the process, discovered the whimsical JOY of colored pencil drawings.

An image that wasn’t working as a painting became a drawing I loved. There are only two drawings here, but I hope to continue this thought process as Easel on Stribling evolves. Thanks for entertaining my rabbit holes, there are lots of them.

Artist Influences

No artist creates in a vacuum, and I try to find little ways to explore or pay tribute to artists I admire. Or at the very least, mentally note when an experiment looks a little like an artist! (For example, there were moments I thought of the British painter Morag Caister in the mini series I talked about above. Her figures and portraits are so fascinating!!)

I also look at a lot of art. As a drawing professor, a contemporary artist, and a habit of scrolling instagram where my feed is full of wonderful creators, I process quite a lot of visuals every day.

“Oars (After Jim Drouet)”
18”x24” oil on canvas

Sometimes, an artist has a point of view that I obsess over, and have to apply what they’ve taught me to my own work. In this series, there’s a painting called “Oars- After Jim Drouet.” A few years ago I discovered Drouet’s work and couldn’t get enough of the way he played with backgrounds and fragmenting his subject with bits of paint, especially with his warm color palette. “Oars” was the first painting in this series, made in 2024, and his work very directly influenced the way I approached this painting.

I departed from this direct influence as the series evolved, but I am sure Drouet’s work inevitably influenced moments throughout the creation of the series.

What It’s Missing

I recognize I can’t possibly capture everything within 30 pieces of art. Right as I was finishing, I received a beautiful list of moments that I wasn’t able to capture in this series this time around. It will be wonderful to return to them eventually in paint. In the meantime, hope this work offering of observation is a heartfelt even if incomplete exploration of a team rich in tradition and history.