Rockpile Afternoon

As I continue to explore my transition to plein air painting in oil, I have been visiting some of the places I have painted the most.  Because I am not subscribing to the start small school of thought, the familiarity of these locales greatly speeds up the initial steps in my painting.

These are the current colors in my pallet.  I am trying out Gamblin paint for my plein air painting.  I love the challenge of moving up the learning curve.  When ever I make a change in my artistic direction, the opportunities become very exciting.  I really like trying to figure things out.

I am in the market for a paint box.  I have been wasting a lot of paint.  I am also looking for something to conserve the unused paint at the end of the day.  I am burning through a lot of paint because I am painting 24x24 sizes and larger.

Every painting is a different experience.  Recently, my paintings have started with a fairly detailed drawing in purple.  As I continue to work through my process, I am looking for ways to get through my build up quicker.

One of the things I like about painting on untreated wood is the way the wood sucks up the paint.  It speeds up the drying time dramatically-I think.  I will have to try gesso to see how fast the paint drys on it.

As I finish the basic drawing, I transition to blocking in the water.  The water is important in this painting as a sounding board for the light coming off of the rocks.  

One of the challenges of this painting was that the sun was on my pallet and on the painting.  I had to work to make sure the painting was not too dark.

I worked to get the entire surface covered so that I could make sure the relationships within the painting were correct.

At this point in the painting.  I am looking at the painting and seeing what the painting needs.  The attitude changes to one of finishing.  What needs to happen in the painting to reach the finish.

The right hand side of the painting must be brought into balance with the rest of the painting.  A softer focus on the hill on the right side was executed to show the atmospheric perspective and to focus attention on the rocks.

The interaction between the rocks and the water and the sand comes back into focus for me.  The question of how much development can happen within the constraints of time becomes an issue at this point in the painting. I have to work through my process so that I can get to the finishing part of the painting quicker.

Now I am touching all parts of the painting trying to bring everything together.

As I draw to a close, I look to insure that all areas of the painting have the right amount of development and detail.

The final color notes are added and the final critique.  Is there anything I can't live with within the painting?

The finished painting.  "Rockpile Afternoon" 24x32 oil on board.

The value shot.  I really like the value contrast in the rocks.  The palms on the left hand side seem to need a bigger value contrast within their total shape.  The edges on the silhouette should be much lighter because I was trying to project a back lit image.

The detail shot.  One of the things I want to develop within my painting is a greater breadth of value contrast within my painting.  In particular, I want to develop my lights to a much greater extent.