1c. Paint on Canvas.

In my last post, I explained how I created a tracing for the painting I am currently working on. To transfer the tracing to the canvas, you simply rub a #2 pencil on the back side, tape it to the canvas in the right place (I use the horizon line when placing it), and use a ballpoint pen to go over the lines, which will leave a pencil line on the canvas. Whala! Sounds like something we all learned in elementary school, doesn't it?

Now, there are a number of little tricks to this stage, and I developed them by a lot of trial and error, with emphasis on the "error." I use a red pen to trace my lines on the front side (when I can find it). Red seems to show up better. A blue or black ink pen is okay, but you want to easily see where you have drawn, so you make sure you get everything transferred. Not all ballpoints are created equal. You may have to try several until you get one that flows right and does not tear your tracing paper. Keeping your pen pointed down as much as possible improves the flow. I usually scribble on the foam core board next to my pen to get the ink flowing again. Oh, I also use an electric pencil sharpener for obvious reasons.

In rare cases, I will trace some of my painting, but not all of it, particularly if I want to start painting the lower part of my canvas while letting the sky dry. So, I might trace the part of the boats below the horizon line, paint in the sky, and then after the sky is dry, do a second tracing over the sky. The trick here is to get the tracing paper lined up perfectly again with what you have already traced. Its not easy! But, if you take your time and double check it again and again, you are good.

Here's another photo of a portion of the tracing and then the same boat after I have painted it.

As you can see, the tracing is simply a starting point for a painting. It places things where they should be, but its not, "Paint by numbers" by any means.

Since the carbon of the pencil lead can be messy, I use a small sheet of 1/4" foam core board as I use my pen on the canvas to rest my wrist or arm as I draw. This keeps smudges from appearing on your canvas. If you do have some, you can use a kneaded eraser to clean it up before you paint. By the way, pencil lead is no longer made from lead. Its made from hardened carbon, so you don't have to worry about lead poisoning when you get it all over you. Did they ever make it out of lead? I kinda doubt it.

Anyway, once the tracing is transferred and you have removed the tracing paper to expose the canvas, you might consider spraying the lines on the canvas with Workable Fixative to seal the pencil lead to the canvas. Sometimes I am irritated when I am painting with a light color, like white, and realize that the pencil lead is contaminating the whiteness. You can also lightly go over all your lead with the kneaded eraser, just taking off enough lead to keep it from coming off with paint, yet still giving you a drawing to work with.

Now I should mention at this points that, when I think it to be helpful, I will first paint background on the canvas before I trace my image on it. If I am planning on a complicated sky background, it is almost impossible to create smooth transitions and blends if you are trying to paint around a lot of detail. 

Also, to make this technique even more difficult, the first layers of paint on the canvas have to be worked into the texture of the canvas, depending on how textured your canvas is of course. I use a roll of medium weight, pre-primed cotton canvas from Frederick (and that's not Frederick's of Hollywood). I get most of my supplies from www.dickblick.com. Art supplies and getting materials in Costa Rica is for another post.

So, if you have already worked paint into the canvas, the subsequent layers of paint go on a lot more smoothly with fewer brushstrokes needed. You have to be careful to not paint the background too thick. Thick paint takes forever to dry to start with, but when you are transferring your drawing to the canvas, the pencil does not transfer well to the plastic-like surface of dry oil paint.

I should mention that even though the surface of the paint feels dry, oil paint takes six months to a year to completely dry all the way through. So, if your background paint is too thick, and you are doing your transfer with a pen, you might be digging into the layers of wet paint under the paint surface and making a mess that you can't see until you take off the tracing paper. So, keep those skies and other backgrounds thin.

In this painting, I kept the sky background the same color across the lower sky and didn't need to paint  it in before I traced. I tend to keep my skies simple anyway because in my harbor scenes, I want the eye to concentrate on my water reflections more than anything.

This color in this photo isn't accurate since the light sources are different and the right side of the painting looks too red. But, you can see the consistent light blue in the lower sky, and the darker clouds above. I am trying to add drama to the painting by putting in this dark area above. I have seen these dark clouds in the Port Aransas sky many times. They are usually followed by a nasty cold front. In this case, they are the "calm before the storm" while the lack of wind gives off the purest reflections. I think this concept will allow me to reflect this dark into the lower water to match it. Thus, giving the center of the painting the most light and drama. You will see that once I start putting in the sky reflections in the water.

Since the dark upper sky has very little detail in front of it, I can always paint it out and do something else if I don't think it is working like I thought. Since I was trying to compose a very long and narrow reference image into one with more comfortable proportions, I thought this might work. At least this is my plan.....and that can change!

In this closeup above, you can see that I am going back over the type on the back of this boat. I started out painting the letters on the canvas, put in the background color, and am now making the type bolder and better. This happens all along the painting until I am done. 

Currently I am almost finished with painting all the boats, even thought in the end, I will painstakingly go back over each one again to make sure everything is good. 

I always start from left to right, since I am right-handed. That seems to keep my hand from touching wet paint. I always know where my paint is dry as I work so I don't screw anything up and waste time. There is nothing I can't fix, particularly after paint is dry. That's the beauty of oil paint, but I will talk about oil vs. other mediums another time.

As you can see, this painting is well under way, so let me tell you where I started painting. In general, you paint from back to front. It just makes sense because its easier to paint something first that is behind something else. I start with the objects in the background. In this case it was the buildings. I later put in the background Palm trees, grass, etc.

When I paint, I have my laptop sitting right next to my work. I didn't do this at first. I used to use the printouts and tape a photo on my canvas next to where I was working. But, I have found that my laptop makes me better. I can see more! I zoom in on areas of the photo that I am painting. Sometimes I lighten the photo so I can see more details in the shadows.

After trying different ways to put me computer next to me, I came up with an excellent solution. I used an old metal drafting stool my cousin, Richard, gave to me. I took off the seat and bolted on a stainless steel restaurant tray to it. Now it rolls around with me and my laptop sits comfortably on it safe and sound. Here is my custom laptop holder:

Here is a closeup of what I painted on yesterday. Today, I will paint in "Port Aransas" under the Pelican's lettering.

The first round of painting from left to right puts paint on most of the larger areas as underpaint. By the time I get to the right side of the canvas, the left side is dry enough to start working from that side again. Its a kind of layering. I keep doing this until I don't have anything that needs work. 

One benefit to working this way is that you can't always tell whether you have chosen the right color, or made an error until more paint is applied. That is why you have to sit and stare at it over a period of time to see what pops up. Its similar to proofreading something you have written. Just how careful do you want to be? How much does it matter when you have a typo or misspelled a word? I try my best in both accounts, but I know there must be little things that slip through.

Sometimes when paint is wet I postpone fixing something until the next round because of the difficulty that wet paint presents, whether it is under or next to something else. Why make it hard on yourself? Just wait until later. If it is something that I think I may miss later, I will go ahead and work on it. This is just the painting process and it can seem to go on forever, particularly on an eight foot canvas!

But, since this post can't go on forever, I will end here and pick up on more painting next time.