I've been re-adjusting to life in St. Louis, and have barely had time to think about painting. But here's one I did based on a photo taken in New Brunswick, Canada of a lighthouse at Cape Enrage.
For a subject like this one, strong color would not be appropriate for the mood I wanted to convey. I had to depend upon values to project the moonlit Bay of Fundy.
Mixing darks takes LOTS of pigment. Do NOT skimp on paint when portraying dark values. I mixed the darks on the paper to avoid a flat black. I glazed over an underpainting of green because moonlight has a green essence. Violet is a warm counterpoint to the green, so I also applied that pigment to the dark area of the cliffside. I also softened the circle depicting the moon to imply a misty feel to the scene.
Inventive color is fun to play with, but it must be used to transmit a mood. Neutrals are best to convey a more somber mood.
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