next to last class ...

Class tonight was, as always, great! Very informative. And I feel I've made some real progress on my painting. The boat is taking shape and the water in the harbor has begun to acquire the reflections that will lend the realism that the painting requires. The water in the bay has also taken new coloring and texturing that make it look more 'real' than it did before. See below.



I have a substantial amount of work to do, still. The hills and clouds and sky above and beyond the hills all require work, there are finishing touches to apply to the road and the water in the harbor needs the reflection of the quay. But I'm a lot closer now - I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. I would really like to be able to finish this painting at the next class. In order to do that, however, I am going to have to force myself to find time to paint between now and next Wednesday. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

I am also beginning to see this for what it is - a very amateurish depiction of the scene. But then again, that's just what I am - an amateur - and this is my first painting. A year from now, were I to paint this scene again, it would certainly look much different than it will when it's done. But, that said, I am satisifed with this one (so far) - knowing that I have done the best that I know how to do.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Further updates as they become possible.

Plans for tonight ...

I've been in Arizona for most of the last week. My father-in-law passed away and the needs of family dominated. I am home, now, while my wife remains in AZ waiting for the funeral on
Friday.

Tonight is the next-to-last class under Marilyn. I need to fix the boat so that it is rendered properly. Once that is done I can move on to the finishing details of the piece - I hope that by class next week I will be ready to put the final touches in place and, therefore, be ready to start the next painting. I know what the next painting will be - as a matter of fact, I know what the painting after THAT one will be, as well. I have a backlog already. But I'm not going to hurry anything. To paraphrase Orson Welles, I will paint no painting before its time.

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.

first pic of study

I have partly done the first study - oil over acrylic - the blue is acrylic everything else is oil.


The idea here was to figure out a better way to render the road than I had done when blocking in color in the big painting. I think I've done that - at least it looks good from a distance. My next task will be to render the stonework in the quay, which I will do in this study. I may, actually, wind up with a smaller edition of the big painting, although I'm not sure I'm going to include the boat - at least, not the big one. What I might do is put the small sailboat that I'm leaving out of the first painting in the study because my intention is to paint that boat in my second painting, anyway.
I've got to give this one some time to dry - the other two boards aren't ready yet - so I guess I'm stuck until tomorrow. Unless, of course, I go out and buy a couple or three tubes of acrylic paint so I can keep on going. I need a tube of red and one of yellow so I can make colors - I have blue and white so I just need those and I can make any color I need.

Well, I guess I'm off to Hobby Lobby. Ta!

And the winner is ...

Liquin. I love this stuff and what it does to paint. In toning the three boards, I found the best painting experience working with Liquin. You mix your paint, you add some of the Liquin gel, and then mix some more. It doesn't change your color and it makes the paint a) go farther and b) go on like soft butter. The paint gets to be so smooth it's incredible. So, in the future, I will use Liquin to establish the underpaint unless I'm in a hurry - in which case I'll use acrylic. Actually, I like acrylic - it flows on much like the Liquin/oil paint mix. I used an extender for the acrylic that looks and works similarly to Liquin, which is probably why it flowed as well as it did while painting. I think I may try an acrylic painting at some point, but not now. Anyway, the next step is the study. Oh, and by the way - I figured out why my road looks so bad - the fact that it's blue notwithstanding. There is no perspective established in the current rendition of the road - there is no feeling of near going to far. In the picture, it's obvious, but somehow I missed that when I started to block in the color in the painting. So the study ought to look better, if for no other reason than I will establish that missing perspective right from the start.

Here's hoping.

No class Wednesday

Another skipped Wednesday. Again, not something I voted for, but it happened, nonetheless. In honor of the class I should be having, I am going to do a little experimentation as I start a couple of studies.

I am going to tone three canvas boards with a light blue underpaint; one with acrylic paint, one with oil paint with drying linseed oil as medium and one with oil paint with Liquin as medium. The idea is to see which of these will dry fast. At the same time, I want to experiment with using acrylic paint as an underpaint with oils over the top. I want to do the same study on the Liquin to see how it might feel different than the acrylic.

The studies I'm going to do are related to the road and how I'm going to eventually portray it in the painting. The third board is going to go to a study that will support my next painting, which is actually of an element in the photograph that I'm leaving out of the current painting. If all turns out well, I should be working on the next piece before Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I really hope somebody looks at my wishlist on dickblick.com. Ahem. I really need a good easel.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day. Hope all is well with everyone.