Every time I paint a new marine painting, I'm reminded of why these can be so difficult to do well. Although I had the background for this piece worked out, finding the right resource for the water and the sailboat became a great challenge. I needed to find one where the waves, water, wind and light all worked with the reference photo of the clouds. Basically, I needed three photos. Actually, that's not as many as I used for my large marine piece, "Before the Reef". But still, even with finding photos that worked for all those factors, I was still confronted with the color issue. How to make all these disparate factors come together for a harmonious painting.
I find in these cases the best thing to do is to put it all together on Photoshop, work on getting the light and values to work together and then changing the whole image to black and white. Then I can use what ever colors work best for the piece without being influenced by what I see in a photo. That's what I did here. I may change things a bit later on. I sometimes do. But I think it's OK for now. Anyway, it needs to go in my upcoming show at Gallery 9 in December. Wish me luck.
"Running with the Wind"
17 1/2" x 23 1/2"
Oil on Panel
I just finished number seven in a series of skyscapes for a show in August when I'll be featured artist at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend, WA. I usually show a variety of work but with the advent of spring and now summer, my eyes have been cast heavenward at the spectacular show of clouds we've been enjoying over our waters and mountains here.
I've also been trying to master the technique of glazing the difficult colors that emerge in sunsets. Pigment, unlike light, is a gross substance. It doesn't do what light does and although nature can get away with very intense color, when an artist does it, it can come out positively garish. Also, in order to get the ethereal effects of rim light on a cloud, I'm forced to change the colors that nature displays. For instance, I have to add small amounts of yellow to my whites in order to make them brighter and cast violet into the areas around the cloud so that when I glaze them later, the blue areas around the clouds don't turn green. It's a tricky thing. But very satisfying when it comes out right.
I now have about nine paintings for this show and I'm fairly satisfied with the results. Still have one on the easel I'm toying with but I should work out the problems fairly soon and then be done with the piece. Frames ordered. Now to move on to other things.
I recently finished this piece for an upcoming show at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend when I will be the featured artist. The show will be called "The Sky's no Limit". Actually, that might change but for the moment it seems to fit. I've completed a number of cloudscapes over the past year and I'd like to present them together in one show.
Like most folks, I'm always looking up at the sky. I find clouds fascinating and a touch spiritual. They're always changing and so ephemeral. I've recently adopted a few new techniques for capturing them. The best is to work in glazes from the very first but I find this frustrating as it means only working a painting for an hour or so before having to put it aside to dry. And I'm not one to work on several paintings at a time. Maybe two or so but rarely more than that. So I've adopted a technique that once I'm through with the initial first pass, I can start working in combinations of opaque and glaze. It generally takes about four or five passes before the work is finished. A fully glazed painting could have as many as 20 or more - many more, passes. This technique seems to work best for me although I'm always looking to improve or innovate.
Stop by Gallery 9 on first Saturday in July. I'll be there about 5:30 and am always happy to talk about my technique.
