Painting the Boat
I've got a request to paint this. It's a sunset with silhouettes of three guys and a boat. Very scenic and moody.
First thing I'll have to do is change the aspect ratio so it's more suitable for a canvas, then maybe crop it so we have a bit more boat and a bit less sky ...
... like this. I'll need to make it a bit more orangey. This'll give the hull a bit more shine and probably make the sky a bit more dramatic.
First rough sketch shows I'll have to move the boat to the right. No problem.
I've chosen a canvas that's roughly the same aspect ratio as the picture I'm working on, so the proportions are relatively straightforward.
I'm using pencil for the outline instead of charcoal because the painting's dark enough already without the charcoal getting into the paint.
A first wash-in of the horizon, sky and sea. I'm going to have to be a bit careful with that causeway in the background. It's got to be recognizable but not obtrusive. same goes for the water tank I've just spotted.
I need to fix a few points now, so I can use them as references. The boat canopy, which I'm told is blue, and the ghostly shapes of the three men. I'll darken them in later.
I'm beginning to think about the posts and the basic shape of the hull, so they'll be next. Also those metallic hoops, but after I've located the posts.
So now we have the posts and boat in position, but I need to do quite a lot of color-correction: the sky needs more blue, less orange, the posts need more brown, less purple, and the boat looks like it's made of ice cream. I'm pleased with the boat's shape but it's still vanilla.
And that guy leaning over the side is going to need his squeegee.
Happy to say the boat now has a better shape and color - I still may just very slightly lower the point where the bow meets the water.
Sky fixed, posts more woody, squeegee in hand and I've roughed in those hoop things. Tomorrow, It will be the ropes and canopy supports, steering wheel and a shine on the hoops.
And maybe a little more orange and less blue in the distant part of the water.
OK. It's all but done. Clean up a smudge or two, and I think I'll move the post in the middle a bit closer to the foreground. other than that, it's a wrap.
Oh and it turns out what I thought was a stripe at the waterline isn't, so I'll have to lose that.
West Village Story
I need a picture that signifies "West Village". Can't get much more villagey than Washington Square. The focus will be the arch but I really can't leave out the big buildings behind it.
How am I going to do the fountain? I think I'll try spatter painting like in kindergarten. Going to need very thin paint and my toothbrush. And something to mask the rest of the painting.
OK. That worked. We'll find out tomorrow if I cleaned the brush successfully.
All done except a few needed adjustments. And the toothbrush tasted fine.
Just blocking out the main objects. I'd like the arch to dominate so I get to go easy on the buildings' details.
Slightly changed proportions. I like the perspective better - makes the yellow building stand out nicely but I've got to do something about the other one.
The balconies were a bit of a nightmare so I'm using a bit of masking tape to keep me straight on the other side.
Roughed in the windows but they need tidying up and now something's bothering me about the short building in front. Maybe we'll try putting a roof on it.
That's better, and I've lightened up the windows so it doesn't look like they're bricked up. And there's something I don't like about that yellow, I need to find a yellow that's a bit less lemony, I think there's one called "Naples" yellow.
The Brooklyn Bridge Story
This was a hard painting to get started on. First of all, it's probably the most photographed bridge in history, so googling it produces only thousands of pictures. Criteria for me: view of the entire bridge, Manhattan buildings, the new WTC, daylight only.
Chose these as a starting-point.
So then it was about how to occupy the space on the large (30x40) canvas that had been requested. One way or another, there would be a lot of sky relative to bridge simply because of the inherent slimness of bridges.
My three-pronged solution:
- exaggerate the size and looming presence of the near pier - which would involve tinkering a bit with the perspective
- make the sky as interesting as possible without detracting from the bridge - we're looking in roughly the right direction for there to be a pale sunset behind or through the cables
- show enough Manhattan skyline to convey distance, but simplify it to avoid clutter - definitely show WTC but maybe remove a couple of distracting apartment buildings
So this is the initial outline dominated by the near pier, which has a slightly comic-booky perspective to it.
So now we've got the proportions about right, it's on to horizon, sky, background, middleground, foreground. I try to be strict about that sequence so there's not so much need for painfully careful shading around foreground objects, you just slap them in over the background that's already there.
Horizon: done.
Sky: pale sunset plus some crimson behind the buildings, a bit of darker sky in the top corner.
Background beginning to appear - I'll need to make sure the buildings are vertical but this'll do for now.
Most of the Manhattan buildings vertical now and I've added FDR drive, but I need to do something about WTC: don't make it too startling but don't make it transparent either - and keep it vertical!
Now the bridge has some stonework and a roadway but I'm starting to worry about how to draw the cables. I'll need to get the curve of the main cables right and then there's the whole problem of parallel lines ...
Main cables, roadway, cross girders - still working on the courage to put in the vertical support cables.
This contraption will certainly do parallel lines, but it may be a bit clunky.
The solution to the parallel lines problem!
Now just the park and a flag, and we're done.