Saturday 24 September 2016

#126 'Leaving the Harbour' 7x9.5"



This weekend I was planning on going to 'Brush with the Broads' its a plein air painting festival on the Norfolk Broads. I had to cancel as my dog is very poorly again with an eye ulcer and has gone blind ( I really hope it’s temporary) with administering eye drops every hour I can't get out to paint so I am making the most of studio work instead.

I found a photo I took as an aid memoir to go back and do a plein air, the sailing boat is coming out of Hayling Island Sailing club going out into the Solent. I like the light and tonal harmony. I haven't used photos up to now but decided it would work as a simple subject which I can experiment. In contrast with being outside and painting, its more just getting it down in a short time. In the studio I can think more and play. 

I started in a similar fashion dark and thin paint but adding a glaze medium I’d not used before called Gamblin Gel it’s supposed to dry the paint more quickly but keep the translucency and thickness. It did give it a nice sheen and flowed well across the board. Doing a first layer it's easier for it to be a bit drier when applying the second layer and the glaze helped.
The second layer I made thicker than I'd usually go and showing more of the brush strokes. I made the mistake of doing the sea too dark in tone to start with and I did several layers on top, it didn't work so I scrubbed it off and did this layer quickly and confidently I wanted to keep the same feel as outdoor painting being not too laboured. 
I started another painting of the same subject, doing it differently I will tackle it tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. I really hope Matte is better soon. Keep positive and know you're doing all you can. Excellent painting considering it was in the studio and you naturally worried about Matte. Do you think it would be very different if you painted outside for real? Hugs and strokes for Matte xx

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  2. Sorry to hear about Matte it is always heart-wrenching when they are ill, I hope he gets better quickly. Perhaps studio painting will give you lots of experimental time to try out new ideas and techniques. I do like the painting, it feels like it was quite a windy day with lots of movement in the water.

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