Chad and Angie's Sunset - Step One

My first project - a 2ft x 3ft sunset - chosen by my brother and sister in law. After a few days work, we are officially at what I call "Step One". Step one is the state where the general idea of the painting is in place, but it still kind of looks like crap. Of course, the crappy lighting and the fact that I took this picture of the painting with my phone doesn't help anything....

This picture is the very definition of why I love painting with oils. You start with a dark base, and work upward toward the lighter colors. This gives the whole painting a feeling and texture that is lacking with other mediums. Also, it is therapeutic because you slap a crapload of black paint on a white canvas (there is NOTHING uglier than a blank white canvas) and from then on you are correcting it.

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Bringing light to the darkness - clarity to the murky unknown. It is forgiving, and any mistake for the most part is minor - and fixing it only adds to the character of the finished product. I love oils.

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To critique my own work thus far...

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"Finished"

1. I love the edges of the black background, the blending and unevenness of the whole thing.

2. The lines and general distribution of the colors in the sky

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"Needs Work"

1. That blue is wayyyy to electric. It needs more serenity.

2. The yellow in the middle needs a bit of breaking up - kind of alarming

3. The clouds are a bit hokey right now - they need to be a bit less "cloudy". This ain't a Dora cartoon. What is UP with that cartoon, anyway? It sucks.

4. The water. It makes me agitated. The most beautiful part of this picture is a small break in the clouds at the level of the water, and the resulting depth and reflection draws you in. I need to capture that.

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So - I have a bit more work to do. But after this, I already have my second project! I get to paint Amen Corner. I will attempt not to fall asleep due to flashbacks of long afternoons spent watching the Masters. Of course that was before I had kids. Now, if I attempted to watch the Masters there would be a one year old face planting on the tile directly in front of me and a three year old running around yelling that he can't get his pants back on and needs a jelly bean....