Cambria Seascape Demo

Thought I'd post this one as a demo if it worked out in the end....yes, I'm not one to post a demo that goes south, haha. This scene is of an area south of Moonstone Beach, Lampton Cliffs to be exact...the edge of that bluff you see to the top left is actually the beginning of the old Harper Sibley Ranch which is now known as the Rancho Marino.
Off to the demo.....

This is the initial sketch, kept very simple and used as just a guide for where things will go...and that's always negotiable as the painting progresses. 

After the sketch blocking in colors will begin. Took me a while to understand the importance of blocking in colors as a method of painting certain paintings. I only do it with about half of my landscapes I think. For more complicated paintings blocking in seems to be the best way to do it....especially for water. After I took this picture I went back in and readjusted the colors of the water in the foreground...that green tint was too light. I discovered that only by beginning to paint in the other colors over the top of that green tint...sometimes you just can't judge a color without something to reference it by.

After the block in of colors, I call them base colors, I started painting in the details which really is the hard work to the painting. I started with my foreground water, into the background water. then rocks working from the front back. This stage takes the longest time. The previous two steps are done quickly because most of the time on the painting will be spent right here...painting, tweaking, tweaking, tweaking and add too the mileage you will rack up walking to the other side of the studio to take a look from a distance, smile or frown, and back to the easel to tweak some more.

 

Finally, the last stage is making small adjustments to the entire painting until you feel it is done. Each artist has to make that call. When I can't seem to make any more brushstrokes that make sense in making it better I stop. Hopefully at that point Linda won't walk in an say "shouldn't the water be more blue???" Ugh!"

"Cambria Coastline"

20" x 24" 

Oil on canvas