The Start of a New Painting - How Will it Turn Out?

Hello Steemers

Today I started my next painting project, a landscape painting of the view from Icart Point on the island of Guernsey. Whenever I have the intention of doing a studio painting I always do a colour study first.

I started blocking in my colour study, it's a work in progress and it's not finished yet so I have no idea how it will turn out, hopefully well! 

This is what the colour study looks like so far and I'll show you how I painted it. I'll post this painting to Steemit again when I have finished it.

This is two of the reference photos I used which is the view from Icart Point in Guernsey. Icart Point is one of my favourite places on the island.

I am painting of loose canvas which I have stuck to a board with some masking tape. This is a small painting as it's a colour study so it doesn't need to be big. I added a layer of burnt umber which helps with colour and tone.

I am painting in oils and I sketch out the composition using burnt sienna.

I start the painting by determining what my darkest tones are and in this case its the shadows in the cliffs and the sea in the foreground.

I mix the colours for the cliff shadows using a combination of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, quinacridone magenta and titanium white.

Once I have established my darkest tones I next work on the sky. I painted the cloud highlights with titanium white mixed with a little burnt sienna and yellow oxide. 

I paint the cloud shadows using the same colours that I used in the cliff shadows but I use much more titanium white.

Next I paint the foliage on the cliffs, Guernsey has some quite unique earthy greens and I was able to mix using a combination of cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, yellow oxide and titanium white. To vary the hue of the green mixture I add in places burnt sienna and cadmium orange.

I mix the colour of the sea using ultramarine blue, titanium white and a little yellow oxide. By using fewer colours you will keep your colours mixes looking cleaner.

I complete the blocking in phase by adding the white water around the based of the cliffs and shaping the rocky cliff faces.

I mixed the colours of the rocks using burnt sienna, yellow oxide, ultramarine blue and titanium white.

I am now waiting for this painting to dry so that I can add some more detail to it and refine the painting overall, once this is complete I will start on the larger painting.

I will post the next phase of this painting to Steemit as and when I complete it, hopefully in a few days...stay tuned.

I hope you enjoyed this Steemit post, check out my website for more painting demos and my art: samuelearp.com