Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Daily Painting Practice- Autumn on the lake - sailing from the color sketch

Starting the  larger painting  from the last post.

 Having completed the color sketch it is time to try and create a larger version.  I think I used an old tube of red lake madder or some strange color like that  to sketch the composition.

I am always amazed that with just three values and two colors you can get the feeling of a quiet lake.
Sketch in  the sky color and the distant shore line.  Remember the reflection is darker than the sky.
 I thought it might be nice to compare the  original color sketch  with the larger version as I go along.
 Time to work on those clouds. In the smaller version the large  block of light clouds worked. In the larger version, I think I need to break up that large cloud mass a bit.
 That's better. Now let's  look at the trees.

 I found it helps to start with a larger mass of color and then break it down into smaller shapes.
There is a big difference between, laying the color on top of the underpainting rather than into the paint of the under painting.  I fight this all the time.  Picking up the paint from the underpainting can kill your color and make everything seem muddy.
That dead branch gave me  a lot of trouble.


 Completed the painting but..... the larger version doesn't hold my attention. I think it needs a focal point.


click on the painting to enlarge the image
 Autumn Sail
12"x16"
oil on hardboard

4 comments:

René PleinAir said...

Just superb.

Anti Money Laundering said...

This is a wonderful painting, i really admire people like you, such a great talent.

Donna said...

This just made my morning. Thank you.

C-Marie said...

Wonderful! How do you get such acurately colored photos? That is a real difficulty for me. Blessings always, C-Marie