Peeling Paint & Collecting Water: Done!

It's done! My eyes are glad.

I didn't go all out on the grass the way I wanted, but I still like it. I think I just got pooped out in the end. My favorite part is the peeling paint...or is it the collected water...

...now to find another nautical scene...

...and thanks again to Liza Carens Salerno for the photo to play with!

The Paint Is Peeling!

I had to take a break because I was going cross-eyed. I've got a good start on the peeling paint--just have to work toward the stern when my eyes recover.

I have to admit, I'v been avoiding that grass. I don't want to imply, rather than explicitly define the it, especially since it's right in the foreground, but I must remind myself that the grass is not the focal point.

Yes, I messed with the sky some more and I need to get busy on the roof shingles (and fix the angle of the foreground gable). Oh, and there's a twiggy brushy thing in the left foreground that I'm going to add once the grass is done. Overall, there are lots of little details that should finish it up nicely.

The next post will be the final, completed work. Hopefully, by the end of the week or sooner.

Collecting Water

 Today I thought I'd post the image I'm working from (taken by Liza Carens Salerno) and a close-up of the boat, since that's the only area I've given attention since I last posted. It's so much fun working on all the boat innards! The outside still needs a whole lot of the work to get the paint peeling, and I'm by no means done with the inside (haven't gotten to the point of overworking, don't you know).

You'll notice I compressed the space between the two subjects (maybe you won't notice, but I did, just a little). I also cut some of the foreground, made some adjustment to compensate for lens distortion, and simplified the composition (that is, I removed the lobster boat and land on the horizon).

What drew me to this picture is, well, the peeling paint, but even more so, the water inside the boat. It's kind of an ironic version of water reflection. I could have simply painted the boat, which is cool in itself, but I love the setting--it gives the overall painting more of the 'feel' I was looking for.

To give you a sense of size, my painting is 8" x 11", and the section above is approximately 6" x 6".Now, back to the drawing table...

Grass & Water

Painting the grass has been challenging. I usually work from the foreground and make my way toward the back, but the grass is sparser in places which means all the water needs to be in place before I can get too detailed with the grass. Aside from that, I've had a bunch of other things going on, so the painting has been slow-going. At any rate, I thought I'd post what I have  so far--yes, it's mostly just grass and water! I hope the difference is obvious...

Peeling Paint and Poor Brushes

I focused mostly on the building and sky this time...still sizing up the grasses while defining them a bit more...and of course, I'm overworking the sky, but I'll fix that ugly ridge above the roof later. I think I want to add some white cloud there, anyway (if I'm going to overwork it, I may as well go all the way!)

And here's a picture of why it took me a few days to get back on track! Poor brushes! I gave them quite a workout. For reference sake, these are size 0 and 5/0 brushes--the old beside the new. What you're looking at is about the top 3/4" of the brushes. Kind of hard to paint good grass without a sharp point...

Peeling Paint Progress

Making some progress, though I have a little bad news--well, not so bad when I consider what it means...
...I've worn my fine point brushes to a frizz. The way I paint--lots of blending (which looks more like scrubbing)--has turned those wispy sable hairs that once held and released paint in a controlled thin line now drags the paint around like a china bristle brush on a clapboard. 
...what that means is I've actually persisted at painting long enough to wear out new brushes! In case you didn't know it, that's a very big deal for me. Those brushes might even be frame-worthy!


Of course, this might hold up progress a little until I can get to an art supply store. Too many fine details are at stake! Then again, Todd says I won't be able to sit on my hands that long...we'll see...

Peeling Paint--Well, Not So Much Peeling Yet

I messed around with the building while I sized up the grasses in the foreground. You know how I love to paint me some grasses, but this grass shall be a challenge, coming out of the water as it does!


I am also reminded how permanent the pigments in cerulean and thalo green are! I got a bit carried away with cerulean--just love that word--on the stern of the boat. I washed some of it out and hope it will mute a bit more as I add the surrounding shades.


Thalo green is a color I don't often use. It's an odd color--sort of an unreal green--but I rather like a tint of it for the boat. The trick will be not laying down too much too fast. There will be no scrubbing it out! and I don't want this to end up in the abandoned heap for Liza's sake!

Peeling Paint: Wash

...and here's the wash. I shall tie in the two main objects using the shaded water reflection. And I'm not sure, but I may make the sky a little stormy--but then, that will change the water reflection...maybe not a good idea...must think on that...


Anyway, I can't wait to define all those boat innards. Makes me think of the research I did on boat building... 

Peeling Paint & Collecting Water

I've been itching to paint lately--just looking for the right subject. I've had a nautical theme in mind. Something coastal--something one might see if they were to visit Wesleyville, Maine (if in fact that provincial little town existed outside of my imagination!). In my novel UNCHARTED, there's a dilapidated old pram, disintegrating into a heap of old lobster traps and buoys. This isn't the exact scene, but it puts me in that same place. It's such a sad sight, in a way. This little skiff used to have a mast and likely provided hours of leisurely sailing...now it's just peeling paint and collecting water


Thanks to Liza Carens Salerno for providing me an inspiring image (to be posted later). Many of you know her from her Middle Passages, her writing blog, where she has links to some of her other beautiful photography. She also has a professional copywriter Website, LCS Writes.

Toy Boat: Complete

Toy Boat is finished, complete with a string to keep a stiff breeze from taking it to the middle of the lake.

It’s always a little tricky getting the colors to scan and post just right—doesn’t really matter I suppose, every monitor’s color calibration is a little different. Just the same, it's worth mentioning that the hues in this version are much closer to my actual painting.

Perhaps tomorrow I will convert it to gray scale and see how it looks as a ‘black and white’ photo…

...So, can you see any difference between the previous stage and this one? If it didn't have the string attached, would it still look like a 'toy' boat?

Toy Boat: Nearly Done

I’m posting this one as the last step before I add white and my final hard-line edges—it's a good way to mark the contrast between this step and its completion. Also, it distances the finished painting from the photo, so it’s harder for you to scrutinize how closely I stuck to the original piece—yes, very tricky of me, I know. In fact, I have deviated from the color scheme just a little—I want the water to look more like fresh lake water rather than murky, city river water (no offense, Paris!).

Toy Boat and Photo

Well, this isn’t huge progress, but at least here is the photo from which I’m working.  I did a Google Image search for “toy boat” and found it on Steph and Mike McDowell’s Blog. Of course, I asked permission to use their photo—Toy Boat at Jardin de Luxembourg—and Mike so graciously allowed it. Thanks again, Mike!









 ...and the color of mine here looks more ultramarine than my actual painting--it's actually much closer to the color scheme of the photo...

 

Toy Boat Progress

Painting reflections on water reminds me of paint-by-numbers.

If I were to try and duplicate the exact pattern of reflections, I’d really go nuts—it’s much that way with painting grass also. I like to be detailed, but I simply repeat a pattern more than copy it precisely.

I think in my next post, I’ll include the photo I’m working from…

Toy Boat: Next Step

I’m never certain just how much I should paint before posting—it’s hard to gauge progress as I’m working on it. So, I scan it, compare it to the last post, and if it looks considerably different, it ends up here…

Perhaps today I will give the boat itself a little more detail and put in some additional green reflections.

Toy Boat: Wash

There’s not a whole lot to the wash in this one—just varying shades of blue and greenish-blue, with a bit of varnished mahogany. The background will be the labor-intensive part.

…ooops, I missed the tiny hatch on the deck, oh well, I’ll fill it in later…

Toy Boat Started

Here’s the first stage—the drawing of Toy Boat (yet another imaginative name). It has a simple color scheme, and lots of opportunity for repetitive motifs, but not like grass (yes, I'm tired of grass). I feel fairly confident painting reflective water, since I’ve done it here, here, and I particularly like it here. The trick is to convey the boat's ‘Toyness’—hopefully, the scale of it compared to the ripples of the water will help…

Moorings: Finished

Well, it’s done. Finished size: 10"x 15" (Oh my aching eyes!)

It puts me in mind of a scene from my novel, Story for a Shipwright, where Sam Wesley is sitting in the local diner, looking out over the harbor on Sunday morning:

"It wasn’t truly the best seat, but the corner booth, partially overlooking the harbor and a few lobster boats suited me fine. While Billy perused his options, my attention wandered to the boats in the harbor—many of them were out for the day baiting traps, which is all they’re allowed on Sundays, from June through August. I thought about how consistent lobstermen are—they seem to recognize no distinction of day or season, heat or cold, rain or shine. Glancing around the diner, at old lobster traps hung from the ceiling, and picturesque scenes behind glass, I chuckled at how we who live here take their trade for granted. Funny, how tourists romanticize the industry, carrying it home in calendars or placemats, rarely appreciating the sweat that goes into the lobster on their plate."

…and thanks, again, to photographer Doug Wood…

"Stonington, Sunday Morning"

It’s time to post the image from which I’m working ! It’s called stonington, sunday morning, photographed by Doug Wood.

If you look closely, you'll notice that I condensed the upper and lower foreground (sky and water), cropped the left side, lightened the boathouse and eliminated some objects which I found confusing or crowded. This takes into consideration future prospects for this project as a possible book cover.

I continue to make slow but steady progress, giving my 5/0 brush a real workout; poor thing will probably have but a sprig or two of its sable hairs left, when I’m done…

...and for the record, yesterday's colors are a better representation...

The Right Half

In order to maintain an illusion of control with this piece, I’m working it in sections. Therefore, I’m posting the area I’ve developed. It’s by no means done, but at least the progress is visible.

A Bit More

It's not a whole lot, but it is progress…besides, I thought I’d better post something or you'll think I abandoned ship (bad metaphor, I know).