if you like this one contact me for price and availabilityi thought i'd put up one of the same scene (different time of day and light but you get the idea) to see the difference in my methodology these days.
i'd say i walked out of the field on Bald Head Island with something like the finished painting below saturday. then i played around with it in the studio going one step further, adding more subtle value and color changes, trying to make it slightly more complex and interesting to look at. nothing wrong with the one done below, but i'm now thinking that alot of what i used to call finished paintings were just detailed block-ins. i used to think it all had to be done outside or i couldnt be a plein air painter. you get the inspiration and colors all blocked in then work on it as long as you need to to get where you want to go with it. its not a crime to finish out stuff when the winds not howling (like it was saturday and you couldnt make an accurate mark with paint if your life depended on it. i tried my hardest to add some people walking on the beach out there but dots that small were impossible, so i just suggested them best i could as "notes" for what i wanted to do when the wind wasnt trying to knock me over!
just as i was done, i stood back to take a look to see if it would hold together from 8-10 feet, a gust of about 30 mph knocked my whole painting rig over and the painting went into the dirt, of course, face down (is there any other way for a wet painting?)
here's a tip (and what i did) when bugs, sand etc get imbedded in your wet paint. while its still wet find a high pressure air hose like you fill tires with. shoot air at the stuff and it'll fly right out of there without messing up the paint. good to know if you paint outside alot.
View of Frying Pan Shoals- 8x10Note: on this one, i was standing higher and to the left from where i was standing for the painting above this one
had a question on my comment section from painting buddy jeff mahorney about how i photoshop edit my pictures of paintings.
the answer to that is i just fool with the saturation, light/dark, and contrast until the image on my screen BEST represents the painting as its painted. be sure to not make the painting better or people will be disappointed, if not mad, when they see the real thing. of course everybody's monitor is different so i dont get mad if the colors on my screen arent exactly like the original. i just dont want to make it look better online than it does in real life.
2 comments:
After being out of town I am just now catching up on blogging. I really like the idea of you answering questions. There are some good ones to begin with.
Had to laugh at your plein air adventure - sorry! I could just picture myself out there fighting the wind. I've had many a painting fall into grass, bugs, etc. I'll have to remember your remedy!
I like both of these paintings. You are consistently good and can really capture the light.
linda- thanks so much! if youve painted outside at all you know that the wind is bound to have its way with easels and umbrellas. good thing there was some high pressure air on the island and could save it!
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