Got an opportunity to paint a picture for the naval docks last week. It was a big project. The Docks are celebrating 50th anniversary and are launching a book and this painting would be a part of it.
I got a reference picture and then started to break it down. This is more of architectual drawing with lot of fine details. So I decided to paint it on a half sheet size, which is 22x15 in
Reference:
This is double size of the painting I normally do. It needs more time and more paint and managing the paper to keep it dry is a different technique altogether than my usual all wet.
The paper I chose was Saunders Waterford 300 gsm sheet. I normally use 440 gsm handmade cotton paper. 440 gsm doesn't need to be stretched. This one has to be. So I wet the paper overnight and set it up on the board to dry and started painting the next day. Butt he paper still had some folding on top as the tape looked to peel off a bit.. may be it's the extra water.
I used a mini drafter to draw the grid lines. Old engineering drawing lessons came for some help. Sketching took about 3 hrs and then I started painting. I used masking fluid for few spots on the right side and the bottom of the ship and to mark the people.
Had to paint section by section. Started with the sky and then painted the back and right side floor.
Finding the right colour mix for the ship was challenging for me. It had to be mixed in large amount to cover the area.
Will update on the status of it will be selected in the coming week. Fingers crossed 🤞😁🙏
Final:
Total time: 6 hrs
22x15in
300 gsm cold press
