Project #2 - A Seascape, (Part Two)

The freedom of focusing on color expression and brushstroke of oil paint, was reminded to me as I went through the process of completing this seascape painting. With the under-painting already established in the first part of this two-part article, I found myself able to paint freely a subject with very little confinement. Unlike a still-life that has a preset compostion, including textures and effects, painting a seascape is much more a subjective process. Patience to allow the painting to progress through many layers, letting each one dry in between, is still required. However, the seemingly limitless boundaries of this informal subject has been quite gratifying.

After the under-painting was dry enough to move on, I began by re-emphasizing the dark gestures that seem to lie beneath the surface of the ocean. I used my original palette full of greens and blues, but added some walnut oil to the paint with the intention of gliding on thicker colour. Eventually, I will use a glazing technique to submerge the deeper colours into the contours of the water. Then, still within this same layer, I expanded my palette to include gold, red, and yellow tinted with white in order to fill in the areas of sand and sky. I also used a smaller brush to form the silouette of the figure, and to further develop some shadows. SEE FIGURE A.

After allowing the paint to dry 24 hours, I then began the next layer while the previous one was still a bit tacky. This allowed me to blend somewhat with the underlying paint, but still achieve a glaze. In this way, I used a brush loaded with irredescent white mixed with walnut oil and blended it into the calmer areas of the sea. The effect is the illusion of a reflective layer of white over a deep ocean of blue. I also used the same technique within the waves in order to create the illusion that they are rolling over, concentrating on the movement of the wave in the brushstroke. Finally, before letting the paint dry a bit before the next layer, I also added a few highlights of white on top of the waves and with a darker color reinforced the shadows under the ripples of water on the beach. SEE FIGURE B.

After letting the paint dry again, I used titanium and irredescent whites to highlight the waves and reflections in the water. Using mostly brushstroke and gesture, I did not try to use too much detail in mimicking the water. Instead, I let the paint create the illusion in itself, trusting the process of transparent glazing and my technique up to this point. SEE FIGURE C.

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