Reflecting on Reflections
Reflections took about six months from beginning to end. I took photos along the way to share my painting process.
Step 1: I apply flexible modeling paste mixed with a little paint (the blue) with a palette knife to create a stucco-like surface on the canvas. Then I use paint thinned with water to draw out the basic composition.
Step 2: I block in the major colors in a medium value (except for the figure).
I started with a photo of my son I took right at sunset at Topsail Island, North Carolina several years ago. I always liked the very monochromatic (one color) look of the painting. It is that point in the evening where all the light turns blue and everything is very calm and relaxing.
Step 3: Working from the background to the foreground, I work the painting into a loosely, realistic state.
After getting the back waves painted in, I decided I didn't like the composition of the diagonals. I added another layer of water in the middle picture. I felt it also helped keep the focus on the boy in the center to have the waves converging behind him.
For most of this painting I kept my palette to a bare minimum: Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Orange, Titanium White, and Mars Black. When I got to the shading on the boy, the orange was just too harsh, I add several more colors at that point to get the look I was trying to achieve.
Step 4: The figure. The first image is getting the shape and middle value blocked in. In the second picture, I correct some proportional imbalances in the arm on the left and the shape of the stomach & hips on the right. In the 3rd picture, I realize that my limited palette isn't going to give the depth in his body so by the 4th image, I've expanded the palette to sharpen the focus on the boy and his reflection on the shallow water on the sand.
Reflections is about reflecting, the light on the ocean, the wet sand & the boy. The boy on the wet sand. The final painting, Reflections, 36" x 24" acrylic on canvas.
Step 1: I apply flexible modeling paste mixed with a little paint (the blue) with a palette knife to create a stucco-like surface on the canvas. Then I use paint thinned with water to draw out the basic composition.Step 2: I block in the major colors in a medium value (except for the figure).
I started with a photo of my son I took right at sunset at Topsail Island, North Carolina several years ago. I always liked the very monochromatic (one color) look of the painting. It is that point in the evening where all the light turns blue and everything is very calm and relaxing.
Step 3: Working from the background to the foreground, I work the painting into a loosely, realistic state.After getting the back waves painted in, I decided I didn't like the composition of the diagonals. I added another layer of water in the middle picture. I felt it also helped keep the focus on the boy in the center to have the waves converging behind him.
For most of this painting I kept my palette to a bare minimum: Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Orange, Titanium White, and Mars Black. When I got to the shading on the boy, the orange was just too harsh, I add several more colors at that point to get the look I was trying to achieve.
Step 4: The figure. The first image is getting the shape and middle value blocked in. In the second picture, I correct some proportional imbalances in the arm on the left and the shape of the stomach & hips on the right. In the 3rd picture, I realize that my limited palette isn't going to give the depth in his body so by the 4th image, I've expanded the palette to sharpen the focus on the boy and his reflection on the shallow water on the sand.
Reflections is about reflecting, the light on the ocean, the wet sand & the boy. The boy on the wet sand. The final painting, Reflections, 36" x 24" acrylic on canvas.
Labels: acrylic painting, Coastal, in progress, ocean, Reflections
posted by Charlotte at 4:27 PM
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