Friday, March 24, 2017

Oils on paper #2

In my November 25 (2016) blog entry I wrote about the fake canvas texture of my oil paper pad and asked anyone who had found a smooth oil paper pad to let me know. A few weeks later a very kind lady wrote me an email saying she bought her pads in Germany without the texture. Another few weeks later she even brought it along to my studio. Lots of kind people in the world.

Last week I made a number of oil sketches for a possible commission, one that was a bit outside the normal range. The client wanted a large painting, with nothing but a big, dark sky over the ocean. Most of my commisioners ask for sunny beaches, so this one triggered my imagination and I made not one but three sketches. On the new pad.

I like it so much better than the fake canvas paper. It's a lot more like painting on panel. Only possible downside is that you cannot remove a layer like you can on a wood panel. But hey, you can't have everything.  I did get the commission though.

For those of you interested in the new pad, here's a picture.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The color of the beach

Whenever I get an email how to mix the color of the beach I have a hard time giving an answer. Problem is, there is no color of the beach, there are countless colors of just as many beaches. Even in my home country (pretty small country as you may know) the sand has different colors on different islands. Sometimes a little reddish, sometimes with a hint of ochre.

From time to time I find new combinations to mix an okay sand color, like in this recent painting. The bottom layer is a mix of flesh color (Lukas) and a bit of yellow ochre. To tone it down in the second layer I applied a rather thinned glaze with lots of transparent white, indigo (Rembrandt) and again ochre. It's just a small part of the painting, but I like it.

Untitled work in progress, 13.8" x 39.4

Very often the Lukas flesh tint is the starting point of my beaches. If I need a pale, almost colorless, beach I'll add a little sepia. If I need a soft brown beach I'll add a little burnt umber and sometimes even burnt sienna, though most of the times I'll have to tone that one down with a glaze of some kind.

Shadows on a beach often have a hint of purple, be it of a cloud or a dune. Old Holland violet-grey makes an excellent shadow color in a mix with transparent white, flesh tint and maybe a little ochre. Works just great when you glaze it on top of an existing beach.

Anyone with new recipes? Let me know!