Change of plans…

In my last post I mentioned I was going to paint a bunch of 5″x7″ one of them being of Fulford harbour. Well…. I changed my mind. A 5″x7″ turned into 8×4…Feet. Go big or go home, right? Hahaha!

I took some pictures one early morning in spring. A view from Isabella point road on Salt Spring Island. I particularly loved the fog hovering over the mountain. The sunlight lit up the fog and I knew I just had to paint this scene.

I glued the unprimed canvas to my panel and sealed it with GAC 100. I then primed it with 3 coats of Natural Pigments’ Lead Alkyd ground.

I drew a grid on my canvas and drew in the image. It’s quite challenging drawing a tiny image on a large canvas. This was not easy.

I used Raw umber for my underpainting. This was the easy part. I knew when it came to painting the distant trees, it was going to be a challenge. I was quite intimidated to say the least. But when it came down to it, it was a breeze. I was pleasantly surprised. Seems all the years of painting endless studies paid off.

I’m at the halfway point in this painting. There is still much more to do.

The colors on my palette are all Rublev colors : Lead white #1 & 2, Warm Burnt Umber, French Umber, Burnt Sienna, Purple Ocher, Ultramarine blue, Genuine Vermilion, Tavush Green, Chromium Green, Yellow ocher, Primrose Yellow. The Purple Ocher is definitely one of my favorite colors, a must have on anyone’s palette! The medium I’m using is Oleogel.

The Brushes I’m using are from Rosemary & Co ~ I used the Tisch Daggers to paint the trees. Super awesome brushes I must add. It made my job so much easier. The best brushes for painting evergreen trees.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Well, time to get back to work…

Happy painting!

And here is the final piece… 4ft x 8ft