works in progress. botallack and sennen cove in oil on canvas

June 12, 2009

Sennen Cove, Windy Day, oil on 10 inch square canvas, Vivien Blackburn

I worked a little more on the 10 inch canvas today - the photograph annoyingly doesn't bring out the viridians enough. I'll try again tomorrow. Adjusting in photoshop alters too much and has tipped it towards turquoise too much but I thought I'd show that I am working! I will lighten the bottom of the sky a little when this paint is dry.

I started another 10 inch canvas with an underpainting - it's from a sketch of a subtle pearly dawn -all soft peachy colours in the sky with mauves and pale jades and soft grey blues in the sea, all very pale.

I think I may do a series of these little 10 inch canvasses as they work well together.

I also worked on the 16x20 canvas below. It's just at the blocking in stage as yet and it all needs finishing and pulling together.

Botallack Mine, 20x16, oil on canvas, Vivien Blackburn

I decided to make the weather wilder and stormier in this one. It suits the ruggedness of the place and the hardship of the miners life better somehow.

With this one I'm making decisions as I go about the way it's developing. It also made me realise that I need to alter the smaller sunnier version - the cliff on the left is wrong in that, I've made it too high, spoiling the shape the sea makes and working against the recession.

I need to alter it. Funny how easy it is to get absorbed in colour and form and forget to really notice that when cropping a sketch to paint from it, pay attention to where your crop ends!