Good morning again Blog buddies. Well my DW Melissa has gone off to teach her Yoga class 11-1, so I of course have to go stand in front of my easel MR. ED! So while I'm standing in front of him I just might as well paint something.
I've had a request to paint a larger "DUNE" scene with some "wave action" Larger meaning in this case 18 x 24 - quite a bit larger than 5 x7 and 12 x 18.
I digress - some Blog Buddies have asked what I mean by the term "Large Brush."
Sort of like "How large Isssss the brush?" OK - when I say "painted with a large brush" what I mean is the brushes the follow picture shows.
Bottom to top - bristle width:
2 inch ( bought at Ace Hardware !!! )
1 1/2 inch (My Tony Van H brush)
1/2 inch
In this painting, the 2 inch and the 1 1/2 inch brush were both used for the sky and the ocean. With both of these brushes one can spread paint like a "Wild Man!!!"
My approach for these two areas is to flood the surface ( heavy Linen paper) with nice clean cold water - when I say FLOOD - I mean dripping/runny wet!!
I then load up thick juicy color ( three different blues used here ) onto a relatively dry brush starting with the 2" one and I apply color "with gusto and spontaneity" and as I get closer to the horizon line I switch to the 1 1/2 inch brush and go into a deeper blue.
For the ocean I do the exact same thing starting with flooding the surface and applying paint - again 3 colors of blue.
White paint was used with the 1/2 brush for the highlights in the sky as well as the development of the "wave action."
Some of the white in the ocean is actually "the linen paper "untouched" with paint. I do this by quickly "skipping" over these areas with the brush.
So after sitting through that digression (which I tend to do), the painting has progressed to this point.
Close-up of wave action
You can see the "untouched" pieces of the linen paper (the streaks of white) closer to the horizon line - these merely give the impression of waves without putting in the actual detail of a wave - as this (less is more) gives a better indication of depth in the scene.
I want the viewer to say "WOW - look at that wave action" ----- as an artistic side note the wave action up close is justified by the appearance of waves in the distance - these in the eye of the viewer will be the next waves to come crashing in.
So now I rest and think about what the dunes and the grasses will look like based on the wave action. If there is action in the waves/ocean, the dune grasses can not be static nor can they indicate a violent storm.
At times I indicate that I do not put a lot of "pre-planning" into my paintings - this for the most part is true and although some times I outright lie about that, truth be told I'll be snoozing in 5 minutes and very little visions will be concocted regarding the dunes and the grasses. No doubt my DW will wake me up when she returns home.
So off to my recliner with visions of sugar sand and grasses in my head!! :<)
Til next time my friends.
JR :>)
