I started this painting in March this year and today I have finally finished it, now admittedly I was away in the UK for three months but I have spent a while on this art work. After getting about half way through this painting I felt unmotivated to carry on with it, I was going to try and see if I could get it finished before I left for the UK in July but it never happened.
After having been away from this painting for three months it greeted me as I walked into my studio, I immediately though, it's not that bad and I just need to finish it. So for the last three weeks I have been chipping away at it and now its complete, I'm quite happy with it.
Houghton Bay, 24" x 36", oil on canvas.
I'll show you some of the painting process.
This is my blank canvas with the image sketched out in burnt umber mixed with liquin.
I start my painting by blocking in the sky and then I worked on the background rocks. I make these elements tonally lighter and the colours less saturated so it recedes into the background.
Next I am working on the hero of the painting, the breaking wave.
This is me working on my painting. I painted a small colour study first to make sure that it was going to work. If I am going to paint a large art work, I always paint a colour study first.
After blocking in the painting I let it dry, I designed the composition so the various forms within the painting lead the eye towards the breaking wave.
The real hard part of painting a seascape like this is the time consuming process of building up the detail and repainting and adjusting elements within the art work to make sure the colours and tones coordinate with each other.
This was the point in the painting where I could see the end in site.
I always preserve my lightest tones at the end of my paintings which makes it come alive. This is the finished art work.
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