PPF - Ocean painting - finally!!!

Hi everyone at Paint Party Friday!

As always so sorry to have been gone for so long  but I did want to share that finally I managed to finish the giant ocean painting I had been talking about for a full year!!! This is a picture of it.

I actually finished it like a month ago (or maybe it was only a week? hard to keep track!!) but for some reason once you lose the thread of blogging it's hard going back. In any event, here it is.

Some lovely painting people I have on FB and G+ may have already seen this, and the WIP process. The process was fun! I began weirdly not committing to technique, with some weird garish alizarin crimson and olive green in the ocean and somehow, using linseed oil, managed to turn it into an indirect painting, which is what I wanted from the getgo. The only real impasto parts are the waves/froth of the ocean and some in the details re. the castles and such. And it is a real place called Vina del Mar from Chile. A nice town to visit. Got to view lots of photos to reaquaint myself!

Here is a link of the WIP from a Facebook album for all so inclined - if you do stop by do say hello!

I'm happy to be back! I'm sorry to have less time for this nowadays but I will strive to visit as many as I can, and will always 100% guaranteed visit/comment back on everyone who here visits.

PPF - painting binge

Greetings PPFers!

I undertook the 4 above oil paintings within less than 48 hours. That's almost 3 times my painting level during my Epic Painting Project of last year!

They are all the ocean, as can be seen, very specifically, the same wave, as seen here (last image on page). What I was seeking was to see how the colours showed up, regarding choice. 

So the bottom one is made with only blues, the one above that adds greens, the one above that adds yellows to blues and greens, and the last one adds purple, oranges, yellow, greens and blues. This last one is probably the weakest - but that's why I do this now, so as not to get stuck with some ugly-ass thing when the time comes to do it for reals. (this is still referring to a painting commission I received almost 6 months ago... wow!)

hope all have a groovy day!

PPF - Ocean painting updates

Nat'l Geo water acrylic

Hi all at Paint Party Friday! Am still working through this process. I am taking a dual approach of seeking to paint water and sketch landscape elements I might use in the final piece.

Am having fun but being frustrated by the water abstracts at the same time. The one at left is actually done in acrylics (since I had to be out of the house that day), and based of a cool National Geographic photography book we had .

All the drawings are charcoal.

Andes mountains

I feel sort of behind in this process. Unfortunately, last week I was involved in a lengthy, painful slide-presentation project that consumed all my time, and a big chunk of time during the summer is devoted to selling art at fairs anyway - I have still to clear the final drawing, but am making progress as much as possible.

possible scenario

I will share more on Sunday, but for now this is what I am up to! Hope all are having an awesome time, and hope to catch y'all by Sunday eve at the latest! Go art!

BTW- I can't resist, I though painters would LOVE and APPRECIATE the sight of this painting elephant --  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7Ge7Sogrk

video below as well

it is absolutely adorable! I think this is the only sort of animal who can do this - though maybe different sorts of simians can as well.

Valparaiso composite

Happy PPF!!

PPF - Water Studies in Oils

And now... for the exciting news re my commission..

I have been offered a great commission on a 2 by 3 foot oil painting - on canvas - of the Chilean ocean, by a dear long-time friend who was also instrumental in helping me fund my Epic Painting Project.

The project, though it sounds simple, is also incredibly complex, because not only do I need to come up with an exciting and compelling composition for a seemingly simple subject matter, but I also have to match colours in as great a way as possible.

In the next few days, I will be concocting many sketches with ideas for final compositions & consulting with my client. I will also (almost more importantly) be going out to the many waterfalls and river landscapes in my neck of the woods and doing as many colour studies as I can.

The above is my first attempt. I know it looks a little shaky LOL but part of my process involves eliminating getting all the bad art out of my system, What I'm mainly wanting to accomplish is look for correct, even if unusual tonalities of water - taking into account peaks, waves, dark areas, light areas, running water, still water, etc - so as to avoid default blue-water portrayals. I wish to do at least 8 of these before committing to the final canvas.

That's it for now! I hope to have more updates in the coming weeks. Hope all are having a happy Paint Party Friday!