Thursday, July 23, 2009

How I Miss The Beach!

This painting is a nice reminder of our time at the beach. The beach is on the Gulf of Mexico side of the island, which means that it faces east. Most of the time, my chair was facing the water, but if I wanted sun on my face in the late afternoon, I'd turn my chair around and this would be my view. Well, nearly. I need to work on the grasses, which are just blocked in right now, and warm up the beach a little more from where I toned it down Tuesday night. It's a lovely dance, keeping all the tones and values in relation to one another.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

2nd Night

I knew the sky color was wrong and shouldn't have left it, but working on it last night was a lesson on getting things right. I grayed it up quite a bit and now it looks like a more natural atmospheric sky for the beach. I also grayed up the shadows and beach, adding warms where the sun hits it the most. It was a magical night of palette knifing, with most of it spent mixing piles of paint!

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Loving the Blocking In

I started a new painting last night of a sand dune I watched all week long at S. Padre. In the late afternoon, the sun was low enough to make some great shadows and entice me into thinking I could paint them. I spent almost 3 hours last night at studio painting session, blocking it in. Not finished with the block in, but it already has a nice feel to it. And I love that it's another big canvas, 30x40", which works so well for using a palette knife. I've got a friend wanting to commission a really big painting of the Pennybacker Bridge. The subject matter sounds like fun; I just don't know what size to go for. My idea of big may not be his idea, so there will be some sorting out of the format and size. He's not been known to stay anywhere more than a couple of years, so a really large painting becomes a bit of an albatross when you have to pack it and haul it wherever you go. Which had me thinking that I might suggest doing it as a triptych so it's 1)easier to move and 2) can be hung seperately in different spaces if he moves to a place with smaller wall space. That would just be more challenging for me to do three complete paintings that can stand on their own. I might need another easel to keep all the works together. This is sure sounding like fun!!!