Diane Mannion, On the Way to the Beach, 8x10" oil on linen
#10 of the 30/30 Challenge
Plein Air Practice from Photo
Pretended I was on location at Manasota Key Beach while in the studio today. Practiced mixing colors and creating a design from my reference photo. Sometimes, it's easier to concentrate and solve painting problems while in the studio. Getting ready for a busy plein air season here and want to sharpen my skills inside before I go outside.
Photo I took at the beach recently. Notice how it's not very exiting. The camera flattens forms, changes values and colors. A lot of this painting came from visual memory built up by painting outside for many years.
The thumbnail sketch. Shortened the palm tree with my artistic license. Liked the way the trunk was dark against the sky and light against the background trees. Rearranged the clouds to relate to the design. Considered where the darks and patterns would be.
Painted on Indian yellow toned panel with Transparent Orange Oxide and ultramarine.
Started with sky and rapidly blocked in color areas.
Painted sand and started working on palm tree.
Almost finished... had to wipe out palm tree several times. I have a fear of clouds AND palm trees!
Finished painting again. Quite pleased!
Susan! Wow! Not only I loved to see the process, but the result is magnificent!!! wonderful transformation :D
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful painting. Thank you for sharing your process so thoroughly!
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, you would never know about your fears as both your clouds and your palm tree are fantastic!. You have really made a masterpiece out of a very ordinary photo. I love how your skills over the years allow you to know how to bring life back into a scene after the photo's flattening effects.Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patricia, Jim, and Wendy. It's so nice to get feedback! I love teaching and learning new ways to teach. And learning new ways to paint and getting over my fear of clouds and palm trees.
ReplyDelete