Bright Sunset, Monhegan, 2005
oil on canvas
I began this painting with a dark background. I like to paint light into dark because it lets me paint with the light rather than making the darks define things. I liked it already at this point. That's usually a good sign.
Then I started filling in the cloud shapes, to set up how they would be painted in later. I am working with the middle values at this point, knowing that the highlights will come later, when I feel more settled with the composition.
I began to bring in the brightest highlights at this point. This is the real punch I knew I needed to get to. Now I had it broken into the three values that I set up my paintings with, and I could start tinkering with everything else in the picture.
I fleshed out the clouds next, working on the horizon and as well. I knew that my foreground would be in silhouette so I needed to resolve the sky first.
Then I worked on the land, after I felt that most of the sky issues had been dealt with. The land was complicated for me, I put in a few more details than usual, but it all seemed to be necessary for the picture's sake.
I finished the piece up after working on the clouds again.
