March Surf

March Surf

Pastel 6x6 on  LuxArchival sanded Paper

I am finding that by limiting my time to begin a painting, my finished work has vastly improved.  This painting of waves was begun and nearly completed in three 4-minute and one 3-minute segment.  I started with a drawing and a selection of pastels.  Between each time segment, I pause to review what I have done and plan my next step.  Once I have completed the timed portion, I evaluate the painting, and devote only the effort that is necessary to bring the painting to completion.  

One very important lesson I am learning while working under a time constraint is that I must let each stroke be determined by the previous stroke.  This limits confusion and leads to form, color, and value harmony.

Here is the original drawing - blue pastel pencil on sanded paper.  The idea was purely imaginary, and I worked strictly from memory without any reference photos.  My goal was to paint a big white foamy wave in a broken surf.

Initial line drawing - blue pastel pencil

Here is the result after 15 minutes of work.  Compare it to the finished work above.  At this point, I realized that there some design issues that needed to be corrected, especially with the secondary white wave at the top, the color of the water at the horizon, and the "regularity" of the wave in the foreground.

Painting after 15 minutes.