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The dominant blues in this painting are contrasted by the smaller areas of orange. Dominant cools next to warmer colors. Small lights encircled by larger darks surrounded by midtones. Large wet-into-wet soft areas versus harder edges and lacy textures. These are not accidental. Consider the elements and principles before and while you paint.
The previous post featured a sketch of the cove in front of my cottage. Translating that into a painting can be daunting.
I decided to limit the palette to dulled reds and greens surrounded by neutrals. Too many colors can destroy unity, so I restricted the color choices and concentrated on values.
Also I used a lot of wet-into-wet for the background foliage so your eyes focus on the large tree and the rocks in the foreground. Wetting the whole area makes dropping in the colors easier.
When I return home, I can try this again with more vibrant, purer colors.
Verticals are stately, horizontals are restful, and obliques create tension and energy.
When verticals or horizontals are dominant, I always look for ways to incorporate the relief of some obliques.
Obliques can also act as pointers.
Here is a sketch of the cove out my front door. Look for the obliques which provide relief, creating interest around the focal point.
Here's the painting I did from one of the sketches. I had thought it was going to be a sunny scene, but the past two days have been foggy, and I just couldn't force a sunny day in the painting.
I'll wait for a brighter day to paint the second scene.
A couple more sketches/value studies. These were both created from my dock. In the next few days I'll turn these into paintings.
Drawing, sketching, thumbnails, value studies. There is some confusion among aspiring artists about these terms.
Drawing concerns itself with outlines, contours.
Sketching is a looser, rough, unfinished drawing.
Sketch
Thumbnails are always small and mostly focused on placement of shapes and values.
Value Studies can contain several of these elements.
Value Study
All these preparations work well in the planning of your painting.
I painted yesterday with the plein air painters of Maine at Cozy Harbor. I haven't done a full sheet all summer, but thought I'd try it. The problem is not the painting any more; the problem is the framing afterwards.
Framing a full sheet is expensive, making the shipping also expensive. The advantage is that most of the national shows respect the ability of painters to paint large. It's a gamble.
Still, I want to challenge myself, so I went for it. The whole concept of painting in bright colors is my focus this summer. I wanted to apply it to a larger painting just to see if I could.
Pushing the limits is the challenge, and I have not shied away from it this year. Push yourself, and enjoy the results!
Making literal and accurate statements are less and less important to me. Design is more important to me than reporting a scene the way it is. Color is a dominant concern more so than details that are objects.
Today I went painting with two friends at one of my favorite spots in Boothbay Harbor. I was more interested in creating shapes with interesting colors.
I began with a wet-into-wet underpainting. Then I chose the elements of the scene that most represented my response to the scene. A vignette came to mind after that. I like to keep the values in the midtone range and feather them out at the edges.
One thing that became evident to me when looking at the efforts of my painting companions was the hesitancy to go really dark with the values around the middle of the focal points. Using lots of pigment in the central part of the painting is crucial to forcing the viewer's attention to the area of interest. Refrain from placing darks and lights near the outside edges of the paper. Putting down darks near the focal point and gradating outward will keep the eye focused around the center of interest.
Yesterday the surf was up, and I was determined to paint it. I went to Boothbay Shores where I knew the surf would be good.
The problem is always not to have a preconceived idea about what your subject will look like. I had thought that I would depict the waves crashing against the rocks. But when I arrived on location, the rocks didn't really appeal to me. I also thought there wouldn't be enough interest.
While I was thinking about the possibilities, a lobster boat with its stabilizer sail set came by to haul traps. Forget the rocks! I just needed the conflict of the boat and the rough sea.
One year at the same spot, I was pondering what to paint when a woman came by walking her dog. As we were talking, a flock of geese flew by overhead. Then I had my scene! Lady, dog, path, and geese.
So my suggestion is when you're not sure what to paint while on location, wait for something to happen, and let that inspire you.
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