Painting the Beach on a Snowy Maine Day

I had such a great time today! It snowed all day so even my Pilates class was cancelled and I had the entire day in the studio. I have a box of 36 x 42" paper and I thought I'd try it. It has no sizing that I can tell, and so although it's quite thick, I know I'll have to put the paint down and leave it alone. It's also going to stain right away, and hard lines are going to be permanent. (I confess  I did wonder why I was going to invest so much time when I wasn't sure if the paper would even be workable). 

But I have been wanting to try it, and just in case it doesn't work, I also put a smooth layer of gesso on another of those big pieces so it's ready for me for another painting.I've been thinking about a composition from a photo taken of me painting on Popham Beach here in Maine. It's a beautiful curved beach that goes on forever. I mixed up manganese blue in a plastic cup and after wetting the paper, I poured the whole thing on the sky area and let it settle gradually into the paper. It actually worked quite well - I really wasn't sure how the paper would take the paint or how much would just be absorbed into the paper.

                                                       First Step - 36 x 42" image

I masked the figure and easel to make it easier to pour paint on the sky (manganese blue) and sand. I also masked some white areas for waves in the background.
The paper was so absorbent that I had to work really fast to build up enough value in the first washes.  

I had an inspiration for the colors of the beach! I looked at my color charts of the Daniel Smith irridescent pigments that I had won in the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, (just have to use this photo one more time!) and selected five warm and one cool pigment that seemed appropriate for sand and shadows. (I've listed the pigments that I used below). Then after mixing up all those puddles of pigment, I dropped "sand" colors and shadows on the beach shape while it was still wet. As the paper began to dry, I added some Holbein Verditer Blue for shadows on the sand and spritzed the edges gently so they would "sit" into the paper. I also wanted to  use the blue to unify the painting - the clothing will be various shades of aqua and blue and the blue of the sky and water will help to knit the different shapes together.                     Detail of water and sand with two small figures masked out. I always try to let the watercolor work its magic if at all possible, and in this case the "bleeding" that you see where the sand meets the water was a welcome gift. It makes a very interesting edge. You can also see that I have used three different  blues to add variety, including some of the manganese that is in the sky. Detail of sand texture The iridescent pigments are fun to use; this is the first time that I thought I had a subject that was appropriate. I'll be observing how they look as the painting progresses. The pigments that I used were Iridescent Sandstone, Scarab Red, Goldstone, Ruby, Sapphire and Duochrome Mauve. You can see the blue that was spattered on the sand. Again, this was done to help unify the image. I like a limited palette and carrying colors throughout the painting is very effective.    I've just taken the mask off the figure and easel. I am not surprised to find that any slight "sizing" that was in the paper is totally gone from that area. SO - I think I will put on some Daniel Smith "Watercolor Ground" in order to get a surface that I can paint on so that I can complete the figure. I have to let it dry for today, and so I'll let you know what happens next time. I also think I may invite some seagulls into this painting. They are always there, just waiting to swipe away someone's lunch so it would be quite okay to let them stay in the painting!