Who's Driving?

Willoughby is the subject of yet another painting - the beginning of which I showed last week and asked if you could guess the subject.  Today I'm going to begin with the photograph that is the inspiration for this painting:

Now here is the beginning of the painting that I posted last week.  It isn't easy to see because, well, there isn't much there!  I started it towards the end of class and, as I had done with the Venice painting, I wanted to limit the amount of drawing.  In this one, though, I did do a little.  I changed the proportions of water and sky because of the difference in proportions between the photo and the pad I am using.  The photograph is printed on 9 x 12 inch paper, and the painting is on 5.9" x 11.8" pad. 

   

Fortunately, I was able to find time during the week to work on it a bit more.  I had decided I wanted to work with the colors that are only hinted at in the photo.  All the speckles in the water (the lower portion of the painting) are an orange masking fluid.  It's like rubber cement, and it's purpose is to keep that part of the paper white even if you paint over it.  That application turned out to be a mistake - lesson learned this week.  But I do like the sky.

And here is what I did today. I have added more ominous color in the sky and in the water.  There's also more work in the hills going down to the water where you can now see the beginnings of the cabins clustered near the shore.  The mountain on the right is greener than it was.  While you can't see them yet, the raft (left of center in the water - small grayish mass) and the buoy (just right of center but closer to the bottom - red stripe around its middle) are now in the picture.  You can also see my attempts to minimize the dotty effect of that masking fluid in the water on the right (liking the dots into lines).

It definitely isn't done, yet.  Sharon has even said that this is just the first one, and that that in the second one, I'll avoid the errors I made here.

D isn't liking this one too much - at least not yet.  He wants the cabins and everything else to be more identifiable, more distinct.  I understand his point, but I don't know yet just how close to realistic this is going to be.  So far I am really enjoying the direction this painting is going, and it seems to be in charge, not me.  

I don't seem to be driving this bus!