Portland Maine Boatyard - Value Study
What could be more perfect than to paint a Summertime scene of boat yard while being snowed in on a Monday holiday! This is the boat yard behind Becky's Diner on Commercial St. in Portland, Maine.
This is our homework assignment for Week#2 of Rick Surowicz's new "Exploring Watercolors with Confidence."
The theme is: Coastal Structures (one of my favorite subjects!)
Areas of Focus:
- Interpretation and Editing
- Technical Expertise
Rick took the reference photo that we used while on vacation in Maine. It is a very busy scene, with lots of things that could be edited out, like the trash bins, the Jeep, the cones in the foreground and a few of the boxes and barrels. So, we talked about the freedom, or "artistic license" that we have as artists to paint what we want and leave out the things we don't want.
There are lots of elements to consider in this painting. Some created by painting directly and some created with negative painting, like the cradles that support the sailboat. It was important to not draw too much attention to the really big trawler at the end of the pier because it was not the subject of the painting. So, we used light values to downplay it and certain other elements, and also darker values to draw attention to other elements, like the sailboat.
Rick wanted to concentrate on three levels of values so we created this value study using only Royal Blue with a bit of Sap Green mixed in. One of my favorite lessons so far!
PS - Mike... I will be coming up soon to have lunch with you and Christel at Becky's Diner...
11" x 15" on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Portland Maine Boatyard - Value Study
What could be more perfect than to paint a Summertime scene of boat yard while being snowed in on a Monday holiday! This is the boat yard behind Becky's Diner on Commercial St. in Portland, Maine.
This is our homework assignment for Week#2 of Rick Surowicz's new "Exploring Watercolors with Confidence."
The theme is: Coastal Structures (one of my favorite subjects!)
Areas of Focus:
- Interpretation and Editing
- Technical Expertise
Rick took the reference photo that we used while on vacation in Maine. It is a very busy scene, with lots of things that could be edited out, like the trash bins, the Jeep, the cones in the foreground and a few of the boxes and barrels. So, we talked about the freedom, or "artistic license" that we have as artists to paint what we want and leave out the things we don't want.
There are lots of elements to consider in this painting. Some created by painting directly and some created with negative painting, like the cradles that support the sailboat. It was important to not draw too much attention to the really big trawler at the end of the pier because it was not the subject of the painting. So, we used light values to downplay it and certain other elements, and also darker values to draw attention to other elements, like the sailboat.
Rick wanted to concentrate on three levels of values so we created this value study using only Royal Blue with a bit of Sap Green mixed in. One of my favorite lessons so far!
PS - Mike... I will be coming up soon to have lunch with you and Christel at Becky's Diner...
11" x 15" on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper