First lay in of color

[Alexandra Tyng]

Hi Patty,

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.

Try not to get anxious.

[Patricia Joyce]

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?

You guys are great and invaluable.

Thanks
Patty

[Debra Norton]

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.

[Cindy Procious]

Patty, I am glad that you're starting over with fresh eyes and a ream of advice.

I would only add that I think you might consider keeping the t-shirt blue, rather than change it to red.

And hang in there - this one's going to be great!

[Patricia Joyce]

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!!!!

Thanks for your eyes!
Pat

[Patricia Joyce]

I'm so embarrassed...I made a few adjustment, now I REALLY have to get to work.

[Mischa Milosevic]

At this stage the horizon is not important rather your subjects. What you must first do is harmonize the value/colors in such a way to designate place of attention. Use the photo as an idea not as a means. You must create your idea and not copy the photo. You can combine cad red, yellow ocher plus white for skin tones and contrast this with variations of blue and raw umber, yellow ocher and white. So, your subjects are the center of attention, next the reflections in the watter of the subject then the water line closest to the subject and last a hint of horizon. If you think along these lines you will be fine.

Paint application. At this stage apply thinly all over. This way your paint will dry quickly and you will be able to make adjustments at will. Do not rush to the finish; let each day give you a fresh look.

I hope this will help.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Patty,

Why are you embarrassed? There's no need to be.

The ocean near the shore is rising up into waves. Every time a wave begins to form, you will see the "underbelly" of the water, i.e. the color of the sand bottom. The deeper the layer of water over the sand bottom, the more the sand color will be dominated by the water color.

Farther out, the water is deeper and reflects the sky. Though the sky is blue, there is a cloud bank. The water is a deeper blue than the sky. But because there is a haze of cloud, the blue of the water is tinged with shadow. To nail the color, try mixing just a tiny bit of cad orange into the blue and lightening the value with white.

The same mixture of ult. blue + cad orange (only a tiny bit of color needed--balance to make a cool grey and mix with a lot of white) can be used to make the underside of the cloud. There is this direct relationship between the cloud in shadow and the water in shadow. The front top edge of cloud that is catching the sunlight from behind should be white plus the color of the light (a clear yellow rather than yellow ochre which is an earth tone).

Hope this helps a bit. There are other ways to do it, but this is how I would approach it.