Friday 6 January 2017

#153 Morning Light, Staithes 8x8"


I mentioned a few posts back that I had the lurgie and I still getting over bronchitis and don't feel up to painting outside so I looked through my sketchbooks to find a pen and ink I did in Staithes June last year. (see pic below)


Painting from a photo is tricky as the photo is very limiting especially in tonal value. But it really helped to have drawn and seen the view in person.

When there's no time pressure of plein air painting I can afford to experiment. I put a tonal base layer (see pic below) and then working over the top to bring up the colour intensity and tonal contrast. Doing this allows for a more painterly and harmonised feel.


Getting the light on the water the right tone took a couple of goes as you think it's lighter than it is. Squinting I could see it wasn't much lighter just a different colour!
P.s I painted here in June, looking from the opposite direction no.87


3 comments:

  1. Very lovely painting! Strong, sharp and bright whilst realistic too in a painterly way. Fantastic work.

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  2. Totally agree with everything that Nick o-b has written :-)

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  3. I love the way you have composed the picture from your sketch. Painting the boat in the foreground gives the picture focus and the colours of the roofs and reflections in the water make for a very harmonious whole.

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