Hi Patty,
I still think that you could crop the motif a bit closer so that the persons become more like individuals in stead of just a group on the beach.
I think that it would be a waiste of time going on with a composition that is off.
Why not wash it all off with white spirit and start over on your canvas in stead of waiting for another to come?
Your best option, I think, is to wipe this painting out and start again on this canvas. You could re-grid the reference (in a different color), too, so that the grid is parallel to the horizon line. and the composition is shifted to the left.
The color looks pretty accurate to me. Personally I would try not to change too many factors, since this can make you crazy. So leaving the color as is can simplify things. If you squint, most of the water is actually closer to sand color (yellow ochre, raw umber light). On the right, in the shallow water, a reflection is just beginning, where the sand color turns slightly bluer, or pale greenish-blue. The underside of the wave on the left is also sand colored. Nothing in your imagination is as valuable as the colors in the reference. It really isn't a bad reference except for the lack of detail in the child's face.
To answer your question about how to treat the very dark shadow behind the children: On the left in the sand is the color of the sand in shadow. The color is the accurate sand-in-shadow color that extends behind the kids. The color of their reflections will be the color of their clothing or skin tinged with the color of this shadow.
I have printed up all of your comments and will have them with me when I clean off the canvas and start again! Now I am excited all over again. I guess I did not realize I could clean off the canvas and start fresh. Moving on with this one would have begun to frustrate me, now that I know working over darker colors with a higher value would have been difficult.
All of your comments help. Debra, is acetate the same as velum? I have the drawing on velum fortoace over the drawing. I am going out tonight to buy some white spirits to start again. I did not know I could do that. I'm excited. I did not want to wait until March.
I NEVER would have seen the difference between the cast shadow and the reflection, this really helps me understand what I am seeing and makes it clearer to understand the colors you see and suggest I use - they are all here on my palette.
Allan the paintings by Kreyer are awesome! Tonight is our date at tthe bookstore, I am headed to the art section (as usual) to find some good paintings to study. Any more artists to suggest?
Patty, acetate is a transparent film; it's available in art supply stores and comes in differing weights or thicknesses just like paper. It's available by the roll or in sheets. You use it just like you would vellum or tracing paper, and since it's clear you can put it right over the top of your painting to check your drawing. You can even tape it to your painting and paint right on it if you're thinking about making a change and want to do some experimenting first.
One of the nice things about it is that it's reusable. When I know I won't need the tracing anymore I clean it off with acetone (otherwise known as nail polish remover) and use it again. Since it's thicker than tracing paper I always stack books or magazines under my canvas when I transfer to keep the canvas from sagging down and I also make sure I don't press hard enough to make indents on the canvas. I use ultra fine point sharpies to transfer, I usually use red to trace my drawing, and then go over it with black when I transfer to the canvas, that way I don't (usually) miss anything.
I received the new canvas last week and began again this weekend. Just finished putting in some color on everything but the kids. The foregound/sand/ shadows are very thin. I have not started to lay in color on the children yet. It is still the Raw Umber underpainting.
The colors on my palette are yellow ochre light, yellow ochre, raw umber, titanium white, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue. These are the colors I have used. I also have on my palette Indian Red, Terra Rosa, raw umber, veridian and cadmium red.
I would be so grateful for advice on color. The sky looks cobalt to me and the water more ultramarine blue. But when I painted them that way it didn't look cohesive, so I toned down both dark blues.
Should I wait untl the last layer of paint to put in the white foam and wave to the left?
Hopefully tomorrow I will work on the kids. Now I have to clean up and do some accounting and earn some money - YUCK!!!!
Hybrid Mode
