Comeback 10, Bo Diddley and the Cool Palette

Bo Diddley is crazy, Bo Diddley is sick, Bo Diddley is a lunatic thumps in the studio.  Helps to hone the concept this morning.  Hard as it is to believe, I'm going to use photo reference today.  The image is from a trip to Maine painting along the coast in 2011.  At least I was there painting, but the colours in this image I forget since I didn't paint it.  Can't wait to be able to get outside to collect reference studies from life.  Anyway I decided to use  the cool 4 clour palette.  So I removed the Cad Orange Fonce and replaced it with Viridian (KAMA) and I decided to use Cremnitz White ground in Safflower that I had RGH make for me.  This is beautiful, slow drying, somewhat transparent white - so you use a lot.  I can mix blues (from a cobalt to turquoise) and violets using the Viridian.  They will be somewhat grey.  I get a range of cold greys using Viridian and Alizarin.

Semi Neutrals and Greys Along the Bottom

The subject was dominant blue/violet and yellow.  So the palette should work.  My concept included putting strokes in place and leaving them to let the viewer know that this is a painting.  I spent an hour after setting up the palette and the board etc.

The Start

I changed my start back more to massing in.  Instead of drawing with the brush I use a big brush and put in the shapes in the right general value.  With practice and using a thumbnail to establish the composition and the value shapes this saves a lot of time and lets you paint instead of painting inside the lines.  You can see here where I wiped the thick paint off some background shapes.  This is contre jour so values are critical.  I am continuing to paint dry brush.  I paint wet into wet using relatively thick paint then going thicker where the concept dictates.

Kennybunk, 8x10, Oil on Canvas on Board

Interesting what can be done with 4 colours and some greys from the last painting session. I find the greys quite useful since they are already mixed (unique greys).  So I am trying to keep mixing up warm and cool greys from each painting session.