Chincoteague Morning, 20″ x 24″ Rives with AS liquid primer and oil wash

Oil wash underpainting

Partially painted with charcoal redrwaing

Hello Friends. We’ve have between 2 and 3 feet of snow here in Rockville, MD.  Yesterday I decided to try something a little different, given that I’d be working in my home studio.  I’ve been wanting to get back to the Rives again.  But I decided this time not to tone it and to try an oil wash underpainting instead.  I have oil paints that I bought some years ago and Gamsol.  I used a lot of Gamsol to avoid applying the oil too heavily that won’t dry.  The result was a rather subdued underpainting–not as lovely as I thought it might be. But it was OK.  I ended up using charcoal to redraw the clumps of grasses.  I made the decision to include the rays of sun coming over and through the trees, which showed up on the photo as a bright violet.  I thought it added some drama to to the picture and I loved the light sparkling on the water.

This is my second 20 x 24 from the “Marsh Walk” in Chincoteague. For the first one, I used a B&W photo and used a lot of warm colors. This time I decided to use the color photo and stick with the greens. But I added a lot of cool red magenta over the greens. At the end I added some orange into the grasses to liven it up a bit. The sky is a mishmash of blues, violets, aquas, with pink and yellow lights.

I expect to be stuck here for several days, missing my classes and exercise and eating like crazy!  I hope that those of you in the DC area are keeping warm and safe. If you do any painting, share it with me!