While painting this painting and analyzing my approach I was thinking about what I wanted to achieve in the outcome. So many of the paintings that I truly admire have a brevity in composition with meaningful brushwork. The paintings are not overworked and each mark seems to be done with forethought. To achieve this it means slowing down and not laying paint until understanding how each stroke relates to the next. Sooooo....I took a deep breath and laid down a color to tone my canvas that seemed to be my first impression when looking at the subject. Next I did a marker drawing on paper of the scene and established in my mind the darks, middle, and light value shapes. Once I understood was before me I was ready to begin. I then laid down a rough drawing with ultramarine blue and raw umber mixed to a nice gray black. Now, my greatest weakness is being able to incorporate shades into my work. It is true that I like to paint with lots of light, bright color. I did lay in a rough concept of the dark and light pattern. NowI proceeded with deliberation and spontaneity. Herein lies the challenge. I chose my colors carefully testing them before I laid them down. I do work on a gray palette with helps me to determine the tints from the shades. I wasn't afraid to work into the painting wiping as I went, softening here and there along the way. I also used a palette knife and scratched a bit as I was drawing. I left the toned canvas where it applied and used a thicker paint for emphasis. I am happy with the outcome and feel that all of the looking, analyzing and reading is beginning to show in my work.
This is a long post but I wanted to share my thought process with you.
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