Hi everyone. Well here I am trying out my very first
blog. And all I can say is that you are going to have to be very patient and
understanding with me. Needless to say, my wife Jessica is helping me every
step of the way, so at least I have that on my side. So for this blog I simply
want to start by sharing with you the various stages I went through in doing
this painting. And from what I understand, you may all be able to interact with
me in it and ask questions. So here goes:
This is my third painting in my Iconic Places in South
Africa collection that I have just completed of the V & A Waterfront, which
is a night scene, and in Stage 1 my approach is different because of the
complexity of the composition having a lot of detail. I am simplifying it by
breaking it down to shapes that group together the darker and the lighter
values. As always, I enjoy sharing the process with you so that you can watch
as it comes to life.
In Stage 2, as I mentioned before, I am all for
simplifying the complex details, which is why I turned both my reference and
the painting upside down which lets my left analytical brain know that I am not
painting objects, and allows my creative right brain to just paint the shapes
it sees. My focus here was to paint in the darker elements which will later
create the contrasts.
In Stage 3, I continued putting in the smaller areas of
dark values to complete the underlying shadow areas. I also started to put in
color where there will be brighter areas. These are darker in value than what
the final values will be. I do it this way because I have found with oils one
always paints light over dark as this retains the integrity of the values.
In Stage 4 I completed what essentially is the under
painting. I also started to build up the mid-tones, after which the highlights
and other lighter tones will be added. Next will come the finer details which
will bring everything into balance and harmony.
In Stage 5 I continued to build up the mid-tones, and
started adding the highlights. I have also started putting in some of the finer
details that as you can see, are bringing everything into balance and harmony.
In the final stage, my focus is always on making sure
that every little detail is correct as that is what makes the painting sing and
turns a good painting into a great one.
This painting is for sale if anyone is interested.
Medium: Oils on Stretch Canvas
Size: 92 x 61 cm (36 x 24 inches)
Price: R8500 ($650) (£505)
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