Wednesday, July 31, 2013

ALONG THE CAPE, PART 3


While there may not seem to be much difference between this stage and the last one, I realized that after looking at the painting for some time that the shadowed area of the outcrop needed to be darker so I re-painting it. Immediately I felt better about the work and could see my way to continue. Smaller details were added here and there, some work was done to the sea and further work sculpting the foreground rocks seemed to lead the eye into the scene.

ALONG THE CAPE, PART 2


Here I have started work on the almost sheer rock outcrop using cool greys then some slightly warmer ones to create some detail. Brighter greens at the top add a nice accent. I have also lightly indicated the shadows within the foreground rocks but will hold off on completing this area until the headland is finished. So much for wanting to paint this study in a loose manner! Details have crept in all over the place and I feel that I have lost sight of my original goal. It is at this point that I become discouraged with the painting and put it aside for awhile. Next I hope to make some changes and find inspiration.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

ALONG THE CAPE, PART 1


When living in South Africa, I traveled around the country quite a lot and found it to be diverse and quite beautiful. I moved to Cape Town for a few months in the 80's working on renovating a wing of the Groote Schuur Hospital (where Christiaan Barnard successfully completed the first open-heart transplant). I was deeply impressed not only by the stunning beauty of the Cape but also by the many buildings, homes and gardens - many built in the Dutch style with gabled ends and thatched roofs. In my spare time (which I have to say was not that much!), I explored the region driving from Cape Town to Hout Bay to Simon's Town around to False Bay and points in between, drawing and painting the places I found most interesting. I particularly have fond memories of walking the slopes of Table Mountain, watching birds, sketching and feeding the tame deer to be found there. I'm very much looking forward to another visit - hopefully next year.
The view in this painting is along the coast looking down over a headland and across the many miles of wild Atlantic sea. Since most of the details will be in the foreground rocks, I kept the sea and sky simple. I had planned to do a loose interpretation of the scene but as you will see later, this was not to be!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

APPROACHING NOON


Finally here is the finished painting! The completion of this work took longer than I had thought it would and there are still a few areas that I'll probably work on over the next few days. I'll also try and post a slightly better photo as this one came out a little blotchy showing more texture than there is in the actual painting. Finally I am feeling a sense of completion as I slowly work through some of the many unfinished paintings here in the studio. Another one was finished off just yesterday and will post pics of that one soon. There are also a few new paintings on the go as well so expect to see them coming up here in the not too distant future. 'Approaching Noon', watercolor on Fabriano paper, 30" X 22".