some progress and some problems

Class tonight was great, as always. I made some real progress on the painting - and I gave myself some problems to deal with, as well. If you look at the picture, below...



you will notice that the boat doesn't quite seem to fit the picture right now. It is actually not the right color, and of course there is a world of detail to be added when the color gets to be right. The question lies in whether the color of the boat needs to be fixed or whether (which may actually be the right answer) the hills in the background need to shift colors. On the other hand, the boat's current color is temporary - just a thin wash, at the moment - and it will look little like it does right now when it is done.

There is a LOT of work to do on this piece. The quay was one element of the overall piece I dreaded working on. I didn't feel I had a good handle on how to portray the stonework that makes up the quay. Fortunately, Marilyn, my teacher, was able to give me the idea you see expressed in the painting as of now - there is a grass top to the quay I will add after the current paint dries - and it worked out rather well, I think.

Much to do, still, but it's coming along.

Working on the road

I've done a bit of work on the road. What I'm going for here is a muddy track filled with water - I've adjusted the borders of the road to account for perspective, I've begun to repaint the grass on the harbor side of the road and begun to fill in some grass on the lee side. When the paint dries I'll go back to the grass borders and apply some detail. See the changes below ....



I'm probably going to work some more 'mud' into the waterside border of the road, under the grass. After that comes the hard stuff.

I have gone off in a completely unexpected and unplanned direction with the study. That's the second time I've done something like that and I think I understand that it has to do with planning. The reason I can come back to the big piece and pick up where I left off (more or less), or at least make reasonable changes that make sense given the original goals of the picture, is because the original goals of the picture were stated in the underpainting. I gave myself enough of an outline so that I have defined borders within which to work. So, I don't know much about how artists are supposed to work, or how some artists do work, but I'm beginning to realize that I have to work within boundaries established when I do the underpainting. The more guidance I can give myself (given that the style of painting I seem to be gravitating toward dictates that a painting will almost always take multiple sessions to complete) the better my chances of achieving my goals. So, if I've learned anything, it's that I have to learn how to prepare - how to properly underpaint.