Tourists

Tourists, 6x6"oil, ©Diane Mannion

1/11/2017

#11 of 30/30, past the one-third mark for a painting a day.  These are small, all 6x6" that I had started last month.  Not cheating, an experiment to let the image rest and age before finishing.  Often these small paintings are finished on the spot, this time approached it differently.  Experimentation is the name of the game here.  And meanwhile... also working on large, studio paintings which take weeks and months.  Phew!  Too much fun!

This painting of tourists is from a snapshot taken on an unusually cool Floridian day.  Wanted to show movement and impression of the strollers rather than a detailed study, afterall, I couldn't ask them to hold still and pose.  

Experimented with flat, silhouetted shapes using limited, muted colors and minimal brushstokes. Another backlit scene forcing the water to look brighter because the figures are darker.

Here's the first layer, or underpainting.  (I always tell my students..."It's only an underpainting until you decide it's finished. There can be layers and layers of underpaintings, so have no fear.  Push that paint around!"  Even John Singer Sargent worked with layers, saving the gorgeous, bravado brushwork for last that made it look so easy.