The Wind Continues

C1559

“Lost in the Mist”

(South from Face Rock,

Bandon Beach, Oregon Coast)

Oil Sketch on Centurion Oil Primed Linen Panel

With additional coat of Rublev Lead Primer

4” x 6”

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The next day the wind was not as bad, but was still off putting, so I had in mind to return to the wayside, and work up another oil sketch from one of the drawings done yesterday.  This is done looking north towards where Face Rock might be seen on a clearer day, to the left and beyond the farther sea-stacks just visible in the enshrouding mist.  When I was working on the sketchbook drawings, there was not a hint that Face Rock might be lurking in the fog. 

I chose a 4” x 6” panel because its heighth to width ratio is slightly longer than the other small panels, and I could use that extra length; it is the same ratio as many of my standard sized Watercolours.  I worked on the white ground with no imprimatura, so as to work in a bit of a higher key; I also wanted to see how the mist and fog would work out in this higher key.  I rarely if ever do a pencil drawing on the panel before beginning to paint, since oil paint grows more translucent as it ages, over time the graphite will show through, unlike charcoal or black chalk.  But this was too small a panel for charcoal or chalk, and I wanted the shapes to be perfect, so I lightly drew them in with pencil, and then dabbed the lines with a plastic eraser, until they were just visible enough.  Normally I draw in the composition with a brush in oil paint.

I used the same palette of Yellow Ochre, Venetian Red, Cobalt Blue and Cremnitz White,  as on the last painting, so that I might compare between similar misty scenes the affects of one having an imprimatura and one not. I applied the pigments thinly and with a bit of W&N Liquin added; later additions to this layer caught a bit better as the Liquin became tacky.  Without the warm imprimatura the work results in brighter paint layers, but one has to work a bit so that the finished piece does not end up too cold.  Both methods are inherently harmonious due to the limited palette, but the warmth imparted by using an earth red imprimatura is very seductive, and seems to reach a satisfactory state, with less work; perhaps this is not really so, but I will keep this question in mind while painting.