My Art in the Making Meddle

Photo Reference

I love boats as a subject for my paintings. In this photograph I am struck by the color of the boat, the presence of three perspective planes and the balance in the composition. I will work on dry paper, 300 gr. rough.

STAGE 1 SEARCH FOR THE SYNTHESIS IN THE DRAWING

Using a 2B pencil I trace the essential lines of the composition to make room for my personal interpretation and not to have too many constraints in the execution phase, excluding unnecessary and disruptive elements.

STAGE 2 THE BACKGROUND

I apply two strips of paper tape to mask the foreground posts. I paint the background on dry paper in a light tone, descending the contours and allowing the shapes of the boats to be perceived up to the horizon line.

STAGE 3 THE BOAT

With a dry synthetic brush, I trace the main lines of the boat in the foreground. The absence of water and the rough paper allow me to simulate the texture of the wood.

STAGE 4 PREPARING THE COLOR

I prepare the main color of the boat, paying attention to the right amount and dilution of the same. Along with the base color, I add a light gray to get the nuances.

STAGE 5 DETAILS

I wait for the color to penetrate the textures of the paper and then, when it is still wet, I use a steel spatula to open whites on the sheet and trace graphic marks on the boat, simulating the essence of aged wood.

STAGE 6 CONTINUING THE DETAILS

In this continuous phase, wet on wet, to fade and darken the lower part of the boat, causing drops of color to fall and using titanium white to obtain pleasant and surprising effects.

STAGE 7 ELEMENTS OF THE BOAT

Before the color dries alternate gouache of various shades, spatula to simulate the cables and the accessories and texture making attention to interrupt the too rigid lines previously painted, fading in some points.

STAGE 8 THE SEA WATER

In this phase I paint with a long and natural hair brush, using the “dirty” water in which all the colors used so far in the painting are present, tracing light washings to obtain the sea water effect.

STAGE 9 FIGURE

I realize the character—with a light wash, flesh-colored and once dried— accentuates the shaded parts. I tend to paint the figures with just a few steps and quick brushstrokes so as not to be too descriptive but to suggest the posture.

STAGE 10 REMOVE THE MASKING

At this point I remove the scotch of paper that masks the two poles in the foreground and, to give depth to the picture, I paint on dry and load the tone with an almost pure pigment. I also use the spatula to get various textures.

STAGE 11 FINAL PAINTING

Meddle, watercolor

I pay attention to solving the last details: wires and cables made with a rigger brush, the yellow rescue ring and a few strokes of color where needed and finally the irregular lettering for the name of the boat.