Underpainting

Port du Pave, 20 x 16, UART 400

Reference photo

Here is my first painting since our recent trip to France. I knew when I was taking the pictures that I finally had something I would paint.  We were in a very deserted quiet area of ruined buildings, boats and cars. Adjacent to it was a marina and wildlife preserve which we walked through. I loved the one red boat and took many shots of it from different angles, but this first one was the one I liked best. I loved the way the grasses of differing colors lead the eye to the boat.

The sky was overcast and we had just had a shower. I used blues and violets in the lower part, making it a little lighter at the top. Used a Girault to blend, then added a very light yellow Ludwig near the top to add some light.  This is subtle and may not show well, but it really adds to the painting.

As you can see from the photo, I made the buildings and boat bigger, giving them more prominence in the painting, as I knew I would. I knew I wanted to do a vertical, because I liked the movement of the grasses, but I didn’t want too much grass!

For the buildings, I have to admit to being very influenced by Tony Allain. I used simple strokes and only a few colors.  I purposely did not make the white roof as light as it is in the photo, as I didn’t want to call attention away from the boat.

The challenge at the end was that the red in the boat was isolated color. I “solved”? it by signing my name in the lower left corner, using a cool dark red pencil!  I think it helps.