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One of the most intimidating things for some artists is the blank canvas itself. I pretty much never have that concern. I just get rid of the white as soon as possible!

I quickly apply a warm tone all over the canvas first with a rag using a combination of Cadmium Orange and Galkyd medium. The medium will make the paint flow better and help the tone dry quicker. I wipe the paint quickly over the entire canvas making sure there is no white left anywhere. The tone is important to the final piece. I plan on letting it show through in parts of the painting to add pop and unity through out the piece and add a feeling of warmth throughout the scene. I specifically chose orange because the painting will be dominated by blues in the sky and water. Since orange is the complimentary color of blue, their contrast will add energy to the final piece.

Now that the entire canvas is covered with the tone. To the left is a black & white version of a photo reference to use for the sketch. You can see the door to the room showing how large the canvas is. Time to work on the sketch itself. 

I apply more paint using my finger inside the rag. I wear painting gloves so I don’t get any paint on my hands. Paints with cadmium in them can be toxic with long term exposure. Although any paint that would get onto my skin could come off with soap and water, I don’t want my skin to absorb any of the chemicals. The gloves provide great protection against that.

The canvas tone I first applied serve as a good middle ground. The additional paint I apply are for the darkest areas. For the light areas, I use a clean section of the rag to wipe paint off to reveal more of the white canvas. I end up with a sketch with 4 basic values — the darkest areas, the lightest, a darker midtone, and a lighter midtone. Narrowing the sketch down to the fewest values helps make for a sketch with more impact.

I let the canvas dry overnight so I can apply the rest of the paint without it getting mixed into the tone color. I hope to allow this tone color to show through here and there in the finished piece to add warmth, pop, and unity.

Now to get a good night’s sleep, eat a good breakfast in the morning, and then use the entire weekend to concentrate working on the painting.

Follow the progress with me by checking out Part 3 of this story.