Go Big or Go Home!

“I’d like that painting for my living room,” she said, pointing to one in my studio. “Only bigger.”

Challenge accepted!

The biggest canvases I have are 30x24”, so I dug out a couple of those (because once I have the sky exactly the way I want it, you can bet that I’m going to recreate it!), and dove right in. I took some photos to share the process; the first step, once I’ve painted the sky, is to get my horizon line straight. After being disappointed a number of times because I couldn’t even paint a straight freaking line, I tried some of Mike’s painter’s masking tape, and I’ll never waste time trying to do it free hand ever again. It was one of those light bulb moments!

Next up is the ocean, with a couple of small islands thrown in, and the beach. At this point I’m adding very little detail; I’ll swing back around and do that.

Once I’ve finished the background, I have to decide whether I’m going to keep it simple, or add something like a lighthouse, or a lobster trap, or a boat. I decided on a boat, which I outlined in white:

I painted the boat, and eliminated the oars - for now - which is part of the beauty of painting with acrylics. If I don’t like something, I can paint over it, and sometimes, as I’m trying to get the color of the sky or the ocean just right, I do that many times.

I then added more detail to the boat… scruffed it up a little, started the shadow, outlined where the rope will be…

After putting the oars back in, painting the rope, touching up the beach and the water, I had to step away. I could change/add something every time I look at it, but at some point I just have to call it done!

Here’s the painting that I was working on at the same time; it’s a larger version of a previous work - waves crashing at Biddeford Pool - and this time I used a palette knife for the rocks, which was fun.