Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Boat Works 10" x 12" O/P
I think that autumn is in the air. Today was bright and sunny with a chill in the air and a steady breeze. This painting was painted in full sunlight on the surface of the panel. It was a real chore to paint, fearing that the dark colours would not be dark enough and the light colours would be to light. My experience usually tells me that pieces painted under such conditions (for me) usually "die" when taken inside and viewed under artificial light. So, I played with adjusting the colours as I painted.
The support for this painting was a Masonite panel that had been coated with two coats of gesso and under painted with a wash (o.m.s.) of red-orange rubbed into the surface with a paper towel.
My palette for this painting was my usual limited palette. No other additional favourite colours were added. I did use a medium for this paintng (o.m.s.) The procedure (see pic. rt.) was to draw and paint as I searched the scene for the next object to lay in. I worked between painting the light and dark colours all the while looking for contrasts in colour values, warm and cool colours and shapes of objects as I proceeded . Mainly, I was aware that the scene was front lit and lacked the definition between objects that I wanted.
As the day passed, shadows did appear. I was aware of them and had to remind myself not to start chasing the shadows around only to end up with a confused looking painting.
The photo on the right shows the painting in front of the scene. Adjustments were still being made at this stage of the painting. It was a challenge from start to finish and I could see that the end was coming close. From this point on it was a case of adjusting some values and edges and placing a few nuances and flourishes in some effective areas.
'til next..












4 comments:

Teuvo Vehkalahti said...

Fine paintings and a good read and katsottavablogi. I like very much my paintings. Come and see the pictures Teuvo www.ttvehkalahti.blogspot.com blog from there you can find more themes for painting. Sincerely, Teuvo Vehkalahti Suomi Finland

Nancy Everett said...

Nice composition. I enjoyed seeing the photo of the location you painted from. You did a great job editing what to put into your painting! There is an awful lot going on in that scene!

Frank A. said...

Teuvo..Thank you very much for your comments.
I will check out your blog and the themes.

Take care..

Frank A. said...

Nancy,.. thank you very much for your comment. Ha Ha.. You are so right about the mess in that scene.
It was a challenge to keep to one theme as many people came and left the scene,not to mention cars and boats. :) Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned here...

Cheers..