Saturday, May 23, 2015

Fast and loose



I ran a three day palette knife workshop this week on boats and water and it was great to spend time and concentrate efforts on the subject.  Every workshop, no matter what, I learn something new, I test myself and meet new people of all levels of expertise.


Like all my paintings, I start with an initial sketch and colour study before moving on to the painting.  Studies are fast (30 minutes to an hour) and loose.  Detail is NOT on the agenda.  It really does help to familiarize yourself with the subject shape, composition and test your palette colour choices. 


Here are some of the colour studies demos done during the workshop.  These are in oil paint on sized paper.  I could use acrylics for the same purpose, but my colours would be slight different than those in oils and the paper holds up well to the oil paint.