Painting & Problem Begin with P

Oil on panel, 12×9″
Click to see Larger

Yesterday I went out painting in Alameda with my plein air group. The view was delightful, the people were warm and friendly (both the group and the natives), the weather was nearly perfect and the city had actually blocked off a lane on the bridge (for construction–not for us) which gave us a perfect area to paint.

And I had nothing but problems. I’ve been reading several different books on oil painting and they all contradict each other. So I went out to paint with my head full of different approaches and with a goal to stop hoarding paint and put a lot on the canvas. Needless to say, the painting was a mess. After two hours I packed it up and watched a more experienced oil painter at work. I immediately saw where I’d gone wrong and decided that after the critique I’d go back out to the bridge and start over. But my feet hurt and I was hungry and the wind had really picked up so I decided to take a photo and paint at home using my first painting and a photo as a reference. One more problem…I’d forgotten my camera so had to use my cell phone’s crummy camera.

Here’s the photo which tinted the sky purple (which it wasn’t):

I painted after dinner until I was too tired to go on and then woke up at 6:30 and started painting in my pajamas to finish it. I’m declaring it done now because it’s time to get dressed and go out painting with my friend Susie and start another painting that will hopefully go better.

Here’s my initial value scale/composition thumbnails done with Copic Markers in a Raffine Sketchbook:

And here’s my initial mess of a painting:

UPDATE: Susie just got here and gave me a great critique on my painting. She’s an excellent landscape painter and the first thing she pointed out is that BOAT BOTTOMS ARE NEVER ROUND because the water is level and goes across the bottom of the boat. DUH! It’s amazing how the brain will contradict what’s in plain sight! Also she correctly showed me how the slips should have more space between them for the boats to go in. I knew that and lost that watery area at some point. On to the next painting….