Alternation

Day 3 of my Boothbay Harbor Workshop.  Today we went to one of my favorite locations:  Brown's Wharf, which overlooks the working waterfront.  At first I thought my lesson on saving whites and establishing alternation might really confound the students, but they rose to the occasion, and most painted their best painting of the week so far.  Strange, because the subject matter was so complicated and texturally rich.

Saving a river of white that flows through the painting starts with carving out a big white shape and then eventually cutting into it with midtones and darks.  The goal is to create a checkerboard effect, alternating between dark and light (white)  If you add a midtone, each white shape should be touched by a midtone and a dark.

Here's my demo.