Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Close to the Water - A Work in Progress

The evening sky has been painted in with a mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna near the top, blending into a mixture of raw sienna and burnt sienna, with the orange a mix of raw sienna and alizarin crimson at the horizon line.

The same colour mixes were used in the water and applied with zigzag strokes to give the impression of movement. A slightly darker mixture of alizarin crimson and raw sienna was painted in below the horizon line, with a few touches of pure alizarin crimson in the background.

The colour was gradually lightened as it came closer to the foreground, where it gradually changed when the raw sienna and burnt sienna was added to the right side of the foreground.














Areas of the French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna were painted into the foreground water. Once the paper was dry the juvenile gull was sketched into the foreground and the shape of the bird suggested using the same colour.

The background island and trees are a mixture of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson. Using a darker mixture of the colour a suggestion of the ripples on the water has been added in a few places as well as the dark tips of the gull's wings.

The foreground rocks have been completed and some of the trees on the closer shoreline have been painted.

I will post this painting once more of it is completed.