Acrylic Project: Safe Harbor Week 5

I hope that everyone can get caught up to where I am in class by next week as we only have 2 more weeks left in this semester and we have a lot of work to do to finish.

This week I wanted to get more color and movement into the water in front of the boat as well as blocking in the pier in the foreground. I also defined the reflection of the boat in the water.

I am going to mention this now because there were some of you that wanted to work ahead of where I am – and that is okay – however, you need to really look at the reference material for your guide and those who were, weren’t. Case in point the windows and the portholes of the boat. Many of you still don’t think about what you are painting and just paint. Color, value, tone and shape mean everything when you are creating something that is more true to life and you need to be aware of it as an artist.

Shadows must be cool in color. Period. Some of you are still using shades of brown or some other warm dark color for your shadows then wonder why they don’t look right. Especially if you are working on something that is basically white such as the cabin and the wheelhouse of the boat, the shadow colors are going to be some form of blue/purple even on the inside of the wheelhouse. The windows need to be a bluish color because there is dark shadow behind them and windows will reflect light usually in the blue range.

Shape is also important for the portholes. These portholes on the side of the cabin ARE NOT ROUND. You are seeing them from an angle and the cabin wall is also at a slight angle so the holes “lean” a bit so when you draw them in they should be leaning ovals and don’t make them too big. This will help give visual clues to the viewer about the shape of the cabin. I will get to the windows next class if you have any questions. If you want to work ahead, have your reference photo in front of you.

Back to the water.

I used the same colors I was using before – ultramarine blue, Hooker’s and sap green, touches of purple along with white to lighten the color – using my #4 flat bristle brush I wanted to make the water in front of the boat a bit lighter (I may make some of it lighter still but later) but not go over everything I already have. Your under painting becomes the shadows and leaving some of it showing is a good thing. Adding lighter colors but leaving some of the darker values will create movement in your water. Keep your brush strokes like long flat bananas if they get too “U” shaped the water will look choppy, remember the flatter your brush strokes the smoother your water will look.

The reflection of the boat is going to be dark. That is your blue, purple and a touch of sienna or umber and if you have some left, a little touch or grey to slightly lighten it  or a tiny

amount of white, it should look like a cool (towards the blue side) charcoal grey. Scrub this color into the water and remember that the edges will not be smooth and straight because the water is moving there are ripples that will break up the outside edges of the boat reflection. Make it wiggly, in other words.

I had used white chalk to sketch in where I wanted my front pier, the pilings and the crab pots but basically ignored them as I was painting my water because it is much easier to re-sketch those things then it is to try and fix the problems caused by painting around things in your painting.

I under painted the pier deck and the pilings with blue, sienna and purple on my brush and instead of mixing them on my palette, I just mixed them on my canvas, this is called brush mixing. This is a very effective way to cover an area because it gives you variations in the color and value which is a much more natural look to things especially something old and beat up like the wood of this pier. On the deck of the pier my strokes were very horizontal so the pier will look flat but on the pilings I did something a bit different. You can use a flat sable brush for this like I did or a flat bristle but you will be using the very end of the brush and making short, choppy, overlapping, vertical strokes.

Again, I loaded my brush with blue, sienna and a touch of purple and starting in the shadowed side make a series of these choppy vertical strokes. Blend the colors with this

stroke by going up and down the post as well as back and forth about a third of the way around the post. Add the colors as you do this as needed but don’t try to make a nice homogenous color, you want some of the different colors to show, this creates texture. When you have filled in a third of the post, wipe out your brush and pick up some straight sienna and a touch of orange then start just outside the previous area then work a little way in and out to blend always using the short choppy strokes. Fill in another third or a little more and on the very outside edge where the sun will be hitting the post – no need to clean your brush this time – pick up some orange and a little yellow to finish off the post working those colors in just the same way you did the previous colors. This is just an under painting but you should be able to see a shadowed side and a lighter side we will do more highlighting later.

Please try to get your painting up to this point. I may break my rule about working on my version between classes but we have so much to do in the next couple weeks I do want to get my painting to a point where you can see how the finished piece will look but don’t worry, I will show you everything you need to know to finish your painting as well, it is just some of this is so repetitive it takes time out of class that would be better spent showing you how to finish your paintings.

Keep Painting and I will see you in class.