While I was in Ireland at a plein air painting festival, I wanted to paint the Wexford boats at the wharf. I loved all the interesting shapes of the fishing boats and the confusion of masts and rigging. Trying to simplify it and turn it into a painting was a challenge, particularly since there was a very strong wind blowing that threatened to blow my whole painting setup over unless I kept one hand on my easel!
Photographic Reference for the painting
As you can see from the photograph, the scene is very confused. Any attempt to copy all the detail would fail artistically. So I needed a strategy for how to deal with it.
Techniques and principles I used in this painting
The overall idea was to create a design based on setting off a few color accents against a field of gray. My plan was to turn the confusion of the wharf into an abstract pattern of interesting shapes using a variety of brushstrokes that were suggestive of the boats, but not a literal description. Suggestion is a key part of the aesthetic experience of a painting. The viewer enters into the work, using their own imagination to construct its meaning. If you give the viewer all of the detail up-front, the viewer has nothing to think about, and consequently gets bored. This is a very general concept in painting, and explains why master artists such as Monet and JMW Turner, to cite two well known examples, turned more and more to abstraction later on in their careers as their confidence to capture their subject matter expressively increased.
Suggestive value transitions and edges used by Turner, to suggest a storm
Suggestive brushwork used by Monet, focusing on a complementary color harmony
The basic color harmony I used in Wexford Boats was a dominant cool blue gray with complementary accents. I contrasted the flat areas of cool grays with thick impasto brushwork for the boats in the center of interest, using a combination of lines and masses in my brushwork.
If you look at the wharf, there is a very subtle graying and cooling of the gray in the distance in order to create a sense of distance. I also used calligraphy in the brushwork to enhance this effect. The idea was to create a sense of reality, by creating a sense of space in the painting in spite of its overall abstract character.
Available for sale. Please contact me and quote the catalog number.
Online painting classes
Here are the online painting classes in the Virtual Art Academy® Apprentice Program that go into the details of all the techniques I used in this painting:
- B07 How To Make Grays
- B11 What Are Complements?
- C09 Focal Point And Focal Area
- D08 Atmospheric Value Changes
- D09 Atmospheric Hue Changes
- F06 Thick & Thin
- G07 Planes of the Light & Shade
- H02 Brushwork in Focal Areas
- H07 Contrast of Brushwork
- H11 Complementary Color Harmony
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you find it useful. If you would like to get free painting tips by email, please sign up for my free tips newsletter.
If you are interested in a structured approach for learning how to paint, take a look at my online painting classes.
Happy painting!
Barry John Raybould
Virtual Art Academy
What The Students Are Saying
A great learning platform
I have been working my way through the Virtual Art Academy for almost a year now, and cannot recommend it highly enough. The Workshops are thorough, structured and substantive. There is a logical and step by step progression that makes the learning process so much easier, with new concepts being introduced and then practiced along… Read more “A great learning platform”
It is wild to see how much I am learning in this course!
Five star rating from me for Virtual Art Academy (VAA)! I retired last year, and decided I wanted to spend my time in retirement learning how to oil paint. But having never painted before, I wasn’t even sure what to look for in an online painting course. However, I did some searches for “Best Online… Read more “It is wild to see how much I am learning in this course!”
comprehensive art education
I wanted to get a comprehensive art education with the freedom to work at my own pace. I’m several years into the curriculum and I feel like my work has drastically improved. I’ve found holes in my knowledge that I didn’t know I had. Critiquing other students posts and reading their feedback to mine has… Read more “comprehensive art education”
Only online learning program I have ever discovered using a training industry best practice
Before repurposing my vocation into avocation, I spent 20 years in the corporate world as an instructional designer and performance consultant creating training curricula for diverse clientele from NASA to General Motors. I know curriculum development and how to guide a learner from beginning to certification. VAA is the only online learning program I have… Read more “Only online learning program I have ever discovered using a training industry best practice”
The small steps are easy to do
I am extremely impressed with the process that Barry has developed for VAA. Learning to paint can be intimidating, but when broken into many small projects it is very do-able. I just did my first live model painting session- a 5 hour, one day session. Thanks to VAA, I was able to break the painting… Read more “The small steps are easy to do”
An excellent foundation on so many aspects of painting
I never had formal training in painting and my style has always been very realistic, slow and not at all artistic, just a copy of a photograph. When I got word of the course available through Virtual Art Academy, I was very excited for the opportunity to learn what I never knew about painting. VAA… Read more “An excellent foundation on so many aspects of painting”
Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish
After weeks and even months of searching YouTube, “googling” and spending a fortune on art instructional books I finally came across the Virtual Art Academy®. When it comes to purchasing online I am always very careful how I spend my money. Especially when I already spent a small fortune on art books. They always seemed… Read more “Barry gave me a fishing rod so I can catch my own fish”
No need to buy expensive art books…. Just do the VAA 4 year course. I still refer to it
I finished the VAA course a few years ago, but always refer to the notes, rereading the course many times. This is not a course the day you are finished, you are done. No, you keep practising the assignments getting better and better over time. When I look back at my work when I had just… Read more “No need to buy expensive art books…. Just do the VAA 4 year course. I still refer to it”
The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost
This is a great course for anyone who is serious about improving their painting. I have been a student here for several years. When I am finished, I will have the equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost. I can do the lessons anywhere and at my own pace.… Read more “The equivalent of a 4 year art education at a fraction of the cost”
