Sundown, Ship Street

I’m working on some paintings to bring to Rogers Gallery in Mattapoisett in June. I’ll be bringing Harbor Sunrise, so did this as a counterpoint of sunset. Will be focusing on harbor and lighthouse. For this painting, I decided to watch the surface very carefully. I’ve been finding that the use of really soft pastels too soon produces gummy-looking results that I don’t like! I decided to try pan pastels for the sky, but found they did nothing but fill in the surface and look dull. So I used Giraults in a progression from cool to warm at the bottom. I kept to the Giraults until I got to the bottom of the painting, then used a number of violet and brown Ludwigs for the shadows of the road. The greens are all Girault. I was pleased with the results. I never felt that the surface got away from me. I’m including the underpainting, as well, done after I finished the sky. Since the painting would be warm, I used primarily cool colors to cover up the lighter surface. One of the other things I’ve become aware of is how I relate to the color of the surface. Some of the surfaces have been too yellow–almost mustardy (a color I hate!!!). For this one, I used the brown umber and it produced a lovely soft, neutral color that I enjoyed working over in the sky.