Mike Major's blog/daily paintings: Montage with Michael Situ

Monday, August 31, 2015

Montage with Michael Situ

I wanted to paint 2 paintings so I got down to Montage early.

Focused on establishing the rock in front to set the rest of the composition in relation to it.

I focused on the values because I knew that the colors of the rocks would change before I finished.

The rest of the rocks and beach were all related in position to the rock I started with in the foreground.

Michael came in set up and took some pictures of the rocks. He used his ipad to create a value shot of his composition.

This is the view he chose. There are so many great locations to choose from here.

There was a good showing from LPAPA members who wanted to see Michael paint.

He started with a toned canvas.

He drew his composition on the canvas.

He mixed and applied the darkest darks first.

He worked the shapes and their relationship to each other and made sure to place the shadows within the composition.

Michael then painted the water around the rocks which completed their shapes within the painting.

Here you can see him shaping the rocks by painting the water.

Michael then worked on developing the values within the various rocks and bluff.

Michael had a very nice color key within the painting. Everything looked harmonious.

As you can see Michael let the toned canvas represent the lightest parts of the painting.

Here you can see Michael defining the values in the foreground to establish the feeling of distance within the painting.

I started wanting to paint two pieces and I wasn't finished with the first one. I had to get back to my painting and finish.

Michael had finished and everyone began painting.

The light had completely changed and I ended up reworking the entire painting to reflect the day. I left the bluff with the key hole opening in shadow. It had changed while Michael was painting but the light on the rocks would have made the rock in the foreground melt into the background.