Pilings

A common approach to depicting pilings and stanchions, as well as trees, is to paint them all the same dark value and color.  Look carefully at the actual scene and you will see that there are lighter areas of the logs and darker shadow areas, as well as a variety of colors due to shadows, moss, and bleached surfaces.

In this painting of a dock outside my room here in Eastpoint, Florida, I was drawn to the pelicans roosting on a neighboring dock.  The variety of colors and values were especially attractive to me.

Basically it was a three color study:  cobalt blue, yellow ochre and burnt sienna with a bit of black thrown in.  Staying with three colors has its advantages, the primary one being unity of color.

Gradation of values and changing colors will keep the pilings from being boring.  Also, pay attention to the intervals between the verticals in the structure.  It looks like a fairly simple study until you take into consideration these factors.

Wet-Into-Wet Glazing

When you want a soft edge, painting wet-into-wet works well.  What never occurred to me was that once your first wash is completely dry, you can still achieve a soft edge by glazing wet-into-wet.

In this painting of rocks at Boothbay Shores, I painted the colors of the rocks and the beach first.  When completely dry, I lightly re-wet the areas that I wanted to paint in the shadows.  Be careful not to brush hard and disturb the paint underneath.  Then, while completely saturated with clear water, brush in the glaze.  Don't apply paint up to the wetted area or you'll get a hard edge.

This technique would also work well with shadows on trees where you want a soft edge.  Paint the local color of the lighted area of the trunk, let it dry completely, re-wet the areas where you want the shadows, then drop in the paint.  Be sure to make it dark enough, too.

Christmas Cards

Many years ago, I hand painted my Christmas cards for friends and family.  I used an eighth of a sheet and folded it in half.  Then I taped one half of the folded card to a board, making for a crisp white border.  Paint was applied quickly with very little mixing on the palette.  Here are some results.

Merry Christmas!