Promise - the Process

Promise

Pastel 6x10 

This painting is the result of several changes and makeovers.  My original motive was to paint a morning sky before sunrise - a day that hold great promise.  

I thought this might be a good painting to show my iterative process.  The first stage took less that half and hour, which may have been the problem, but the rest stretched in short sessions over 3 or 4 days.

Stage 1

I originally conceived this painting as at 6x8 so I could use the left 2 inches to test the colors and values.  I wanted the scene to be across a salt marsh that would reflect the sky through breaks in the grass at high tide.  This iteration was too broken, too jumbled and too dark.  I thought a softer execution of the grass would help.

Stage 2

The softer grasses with fewer edges and breaks in texture was an improvement, but the scene had no natural point of interest, and it was still too broken.

Stage 3

I softened the grass some more and added lighter greens but still wanted to emphasize the reflections.  The problem was that there is still not focal point, and I had no inspiration or reason to paint a larger picture.

Stage 4

This was a big step - I erased the salt marsh and extended the painting to the full 10 inches.  The horizon is still too green, but I now have a direction. The reflections on the water were a big relief when the green that was the marsh did not bleed through.

Stage 5

In order to create an area of interest, I had to remove most of the marsh and add some distinction in the trees on the horizon.  I was more pleased with this composition and colors than what I started with, but it was still not satisfying.  The grass and trees are still to dark, too green, and do not fit the color scheme.

Stage 6

Worked on softening the edges in the trees and grass, but it still has no focal point and it's still too green.  I realized that I really needed a low horizon to emphasize the sky, but that means I have to turn the painting upside down!  

Stage 7

Aha!  That's it!  I rubbed out the last of the green and replaced it with purples and grays. The focal area on the right was a natural.  I touched up the yellow and the pink in the sky and water, and I removed the idea of salt marsh and left it as whatever you see there between the water and sky.  I added some touches of white to indicate a few emerging clouds to break up the blue and pink.

Added a few more touches and signed it.