I’d been wanting to try my hand at another seascape after the success of my first one, Waves Crashing Over Rocks, Apollo Bay so when I decided one day that I wanted to experiment with painting on to a piece of MDF hardwood I had in the studio, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.
Unlike canvas, the MDF is a completely solid surface with no spring to it at all, and I was surprised just how different it felt to paint on. I coated the timber with 4 coats of acrylic white gesso first, sanding it back lightly after the final coat to make a nice smooth finish.
I spent quite a while on the sky first, getting the storm clouds looking dark and foreboding, however it just didn’t feel right, even after I started adding the dark Prussian blue sea colour below. I took a day or two’s break while I painted a few other things, then before returning to it I sat down and just stared at the reference photo for the best part of an hour.
It suddenly dawned on me that whilst I had my colours and values pretty much bang on, what my sky lacked was the dynamic vibrancy – it all looked pretty flat. I realised that it wasn’t a problem with my clouds, but with the neutral space around them, so I cracked out a rarely used tube of transparent yellow oxide paint, thinned it right down with lots of stand oil, then applied it as a glaze here and there underneath the clouds. I then wiped it back with a rag so that only the faintest hint of it remained, just enough to give my sky that extra glow it was crying out for.
I next turned my attention to the breaking waves, with rich turquoise and manganese blues making them stand out against the darker Prussian and ultramarine blues behind. The final touches were added with a large fan brush dipped in pure titanium white – the solidity of the wood surface allowing me to really work the fan brush, providing a sense of drama and movement.
I’m really happy with the result. When I think back to 9 months ago when I first started painting, the thought of even attempting something like this would have scared me half to death.
July 2020
Oil on 36″ x 24″ panel.
