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WIP/SEASCAPE.
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Message
Posted
I started this seascape yesterday. I've put it on as a WIP just in case anyone wants to throw me any tips. I've not started the sea or the ship yet. When the sky is finished, I will do the ship, then the sea. I started of with relatively basic clouds but they have got more complex as I've gone on and now, I don't know what to think of it. I've stopped for today and will have a think. Any tips will be appreciated. It is 24"x 20". I will be trying to do a rough sea after the sky and ship are complete.
Posted
I’m assuming this is oils!
A good start, I’m liking this sky so far. Draw the ship in loosely and let’s have another look at how it all balances out proportionally.
Just to add… I’m pleased to see you’ve worked over the whole support, and not cut round a previously drawn in ship.
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
I agree with Alan, put the ship in now. if the ship is in it will change to focus away from clouds and give a different look to the painting . The risk as a viewer at the moment is focusing on the clouds and not get the whole picture . The bottom of the dark clouds seen a bit hard edge , but that only my opinion. I do like the colours of the sky and the light breaking through , it has a stormy mood to it bbq good if you can keep that in .
it look almost completely calm
Posted
Yes, it's oil Alan. I will put the ship in briefly, I didn't plan to do it very big, I will do it tomorrow. I can always increase the size of the ship if it looks to small. I value your advice, thanks Alan. I agree Paul, I will get a better perspective when I put the ship in. Andrew, what a beautiful stormy sea you have painted and you get a great sense of movement in the waves you have created. Thanks all for your input.
Edited
by Denise Cat
Posted
Just put the backbone of the ship in for some scale. Do you think the size of the ship will look in proportion. I'm going to make a start on it but I could go bigger. The sails will be up and blowing in the wind. That's what I'm hoping anyway. Not having much experience and no technical experience it's difficult to get the vision in your head that you want to paint, transferred to something you can actually see on a canvas board. I've got a clear idea of how I want it to look but it's a case of,
if I can actually achieve it with my lack of experience. The ship will be slightly tilting away so you won't see the deck.It will be slightly angled, not a complete side view.
if I can actually achieve it with my lack of experience. The ship will be slightly tilting away so you won't see the deck.It will be slightly angled, not a complete side view.Edited
by Denise Cat
Posted
That’s quite small… should be fine but you’ll need minimal detail at that size.
I’m struggling to see where the horizon should be, we don’t want a hard line of course, but we need to have some indication.
That left cloud structure is too harsh, soften it down a touch and get rid of those hard edges, fingers are great tools for blending!
Have another look at Turner’s seascapes, he was the master and worth learning from.
Posted
You are right about the ship Alan. I have been looking at the size. I'm going to make it slightly bigger. I will struggle with the sails think if I don't make it bigger. I was going to work a bit more with the clouds, I was going to try and get a bit more definition, depth and colour. I've gone over the horizon a bit but I'll put it back in when I get around to doing the sea, Thanks again Alan.
Posted
Alan has, I think, hit on the major problem - the edges of your clouds need to be much softer; and I can't see the difference, in colour or tone, between your lowering clouds and the land-forms: e.g. is that shape on the right land or cloud? There's not really any way of knowing. The tones in the sky will nearly always be lighter than those of the land (there are exceptions, but it takes a lot of experience to indicate them) - separate the different elements out a bit.
Is the ship too small - well; might be (he said, helpfully!). I don't think that matters quite so much as you may think - against a really towering sky, a small ship can look very vulnerable (and is, of course). But whether big or small, it needs a little more modelling and detail (which I'm sure you will have added anyway as you progressed with the painting); and a bigger ship would make the modelling easier. Otherwise, I don't think there's much in it - what you need to do with this sort of thing is tie the elements together - so the painting works as a whole, developed over the board without getting stuck on individual details too soon.
Posted
Actually, looking again - I would say 'integrate' = soften those edges, don't lay down great blocks of tone and colour; if you were actually in that environment (and I hope you never are: you'd be sick as a pig) you wouldn't be seeing discrete objects so much as the overall impression of extreme turbulence in which the sky and sea seem to meld together like an elemental threat to puny humanity: loosen your brush strokes, let them melt into each other - feel the wind, and the spray, and become it through your brush.
So - no challenge there, then!
Posted
Thanks Robert, I've been working on that left cloud as Alan suggested all afternoon and I'm still working on it. I think I am getting somewhere now. Maybe not quite the wind yet but I can certainly feel a breeze. Now I'm looking at the right side and know I will be working on the sky a few days before I even get to the ship. I agree, the ship needs to be bigger, I can see that now. Here are the changes I've made so far today.