This month Mick Carney chose the subject, obviously a beach scene - I don't know where - with the boat in the foreground the centre of interest, and the buildings and other smaller boats as the supporting cast. How to handle it? As part of this process I printed a black and white version of the photo but it didn't help a lot.
My initial approach was to make a loose but reasonably accurate drawing using my version (!) of Charles Reid's modified contour drawing. The reason I say `my version' is that I don't do it as well as he does.
Version 1
20" x 14" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140lb (300gsm) not
Version 2
16" x 12" Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140lb (300gsm) not
I prefer version 1 but with my `warts and all' policy I decided to show the second attempt where the main change is to make the boat much larger. That painting isn't sufficiently developed but I don't like going over the same areas time and time again. The main problem (to me) with this painting is that the original scene is on the dull side with the derelict boat framed by a motley collection of buildings and dull tree foliage in the background. However `jazzing' it up tends to make the whole thing look artificial.
In both instances I painted the boat first then the sky and then the buildings followed by odds and ends like the boats on the left hand side. Initially I put masking fluid on various bits of the boat to save the small whites. This was removed after the boat was fully dry and I also used a little white gouache. Colours were various greys mixed from different solutions of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. Raw Umber on some of the buildings. Some Cerulean Blue in there also. The boat was Cerulean, mixed greys and Raw Sienna. The large darks in the boat were Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna with Perylene Maroon dropped in to give them some variation.
Brushes used were the Isabeys 6228's, mainly the number 8.
After the initial drawing, which I was pleased with, I found the going hard and finished up somewhat unhappy with the result(s).
