From Start to Finish - "Ocean's Thunder"

In my previous post I mentioned I would get around to posting the progression pictures of "Ocean's Thunder," so here you go!  Kick back, grab a nice drink and your laptop and enjoy!

I apologize right from the start...I photographed this painting so often my picture quality is very poor. Bad angles, poor lighting, the colors are off, glare on the canvas...so again, I apologize.

When I set out to paint this subject I wanted to accomplish four things...first, make the rocks look like rocks; second, make the splash look like a splash and not a cloud or something else; third, keep the underpainting showing thorough and lastly, finish the painting in a reasonable time frame. The painting was completed in about 5 weeks....lightspeed for me. OH sorry, five things...I wanted the perspective to really give you the effect of the rocks heading off into the background.

I started off by toning my canvas a dark maroon color. I think I used Alizarin Crimson and Raw Umber. I wanted to keep my underpainting showing through at the end. The colors are prominent throughout the rocks, so I felt if I could keep some of the dark color it would really accent their look in the end. As you can see, I hadn't even added the splash at this time. I just wanted to get the layout and position of the rocks in place since they are the most important part of the painting. 

At this stage I started adding some color to the rocks giving them some form. I also placed a quick block in of the splash using the same color to highlight some of the splash bubbles on the water to the left of the rocks. I came in dark so it would give the splash form when I add the lighter highlights later. I started tinkering with the sky color also, but that would be something I would get back to later. I also started to work on the sandy water color on the left also. You can see how much of the underpainting I had left at this stage.

All I did here was add a little color to the water in the background and add more color to the rocks covering up the underpainting a bit more. I'm happy with it at this stage. I'm very happy with the depth and perspective the rocks are starting to develop at this time.

Quite honestly, I shot so many photographs of this, I couldn't fine a good one to show the next layer of the splash so this is a bit of a jump. It's very difficult to see from this picture, but I actually transitioned the sky from left to right with a darker blue. This was Robin's idea and I love the look-TY :-)! Here I also gave the water at the horizon line a lot of color and form. I added a bit of Viridian to my mixture of blues and it looks fantastic. I really started to give the splash form and actually think I over did it a bit. You will see a different look of the splash in the final painting. I gave the rocks a lot more color and shape while keeping just the right amount of underpainting showing through. 

I added some blue to the rocks to show some reflected sunlight on the water  dripping on the rocks. I also put another layer of color on my sandy water in the foreground.

Here I added more height and extension to the splash, started bumping up the warm color and covered up a bit more of the underpainting on the rocks while giving them some warm highlights.

I did a lot at this stage...the splash was very high so I cut it down a bit. I gave the wave at the horizon line some form. I added lots of color to the left of the rocks really giving you that sensation of bubbles when the water draws back away from the shore. Also going a bit lighter on the splash also. The form there is just about complete. I also covered up the rocks under the water in the foreground at the large rock in the front.

Here it is...the final product! Lot's of color, lot's of form...I really accomplished what I set out to do with this painting and that's what feels so great about this one. 

The progressions are always a bit lengthy but I like to show you what goes through my mind at different stages when I complete a painting like this. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the post.