Hello,

For anyone in the Ann Arbor, MI area, please sign up at Michaels for one of my Miniature Masterpiece classes. Each class is three hours long and take place on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month at 6 PM. In this class, you will learn how to paint Miniature (4"x5") oil paintings. Classes are only $35 + materials. You can pick up a syllabus at the Ann Arbor Michaels customer service desk.

Good painting

It's been a while since I posted anything. In the meantime, I have not stopped working on the painting. After consulting with fellow artists, I made changes to the shape of the dome. This involved removing the cross for now. I will post some lead up photos for now. In the next session, I will show you the latest progress.

latest photos

Today's photo

Colors used: French Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue Hue, Indigo, Titanium White, Soft Mixing White, Lemon Yellow. Liquin was used to thin.

Brushes used: #6 Bright, #12 Bright, #2 Filbert, Series 7 miniature, 2"

Most of the work today was just going over places with further glazes. However, I did add some highlights to the sun areas by mixing Lemon Yellow and Titanium White. I used the Filbert brush to dapple this mixture in the birghter areas. I added more form to the small bell tower (as well as added a bell).

There is only one more session needed. For that one, I will add a small surprise and tie up any loose ends.

1st view

2nd view

3rd view

Colors used: French Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue Hue, Indigo, Titanium White, Soft Mixing White. Liquin was used to thin.

Brushes used: #6 Bright, #6 Fan

Today was a real easy session. I wanted to deepen the color of the dome. So I painted a glaze of French Ultramarine and Cerulean Blue Hue to the dark areas of the dome. Then, I used a fan brush to blend the glaze with the established paint. When blending, I used curved strokes to follow the contour of the dome.

My next area was to paint a second glaze of Cerulean Blue Hue to the lip of the dome. I lightened this blue with Soft Mixing White.

Next, I used French Ultramarine to lay in a shadow around the base of the dome. I darkened the line of this area with Indigo. I then used a fan brush and #6 Bright to blend these areas.

For the next session, the areas I worked on on the left side should be dry enough to work in some highlights and shadows.

Left side work

Right side work

Colors used this session: Paynes Gray, French Ultramarine, Colbalt Blue Hue, Burnt Umber, Soft Mixing White, Titanium White, Unbleached Titanium White. Also, all colors were thinned with Liquin.

Brushes used this session: #1 Bright, #6 Bright, #12 Bright, #6 Fan, 1", 2".

This was actually two sessions worked closely together. I started the left side late in the afternoon and worked on the right side the following afternoon.

The left side has a tower that is in partial shade and a bell towards the ocean edge. For the shadow areas, I used a mixture of Unbleached Titanium, Soft Mixing White and a touch of Burnt Umber. For the deeper shadow areas where different planes met, I used a Round Brush to draw a thin line with a touch of French Ultramarine. I softened the lines and blended things by tapping the areas with a 1" brush. Next, I blocked in the open area of the bell by adding French Ultramarine. I used this opportunity to better shape the opening and refine the perspective. I added some Titianium White to the areas where the sun reflected on the walls. The last thing I did for the left side was to brush in Unbleached Titanium and Soft Mixing white to blend in where the different white planes met .

For the right side session, I started by painting the darkest shadows with a mixture of Paynes Gray and Burnt Umber. Then, I painted the flat roof area with a mixture of Unbleached Titanium and Burnt Umber and the barest hint of Paynes Gray. After that, I used a 1" brush to blend the dark and light areas. Next, I used Unbleached Titanium to block in the wall sides. After that, I used Titanium White to go over the sun areas and shape the small roof. Lastly, I took a mixture of Burnt Umber and Unbleached Titanium and added shade to recessed areas along the wall top and behind the small roof.

The next session will begin the fun. That is where I will start going back with glazes of color to start bringing things together.

This session's photo

Colors used today: Soft Mixing white, Unbleached Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber.

Brushes used today: #1 Bright, #6 Bright, #12 Bright, #6 Fan, 1" Landscape, #2 Round.

This session, I painted the first layer of the white areas on the church. Each color was mixed with a little of Liquin to speed drying and thin the paint. The shade sides of the church were painted with Unbleached Titanium White with just a touch of Soft Mixing white. For the area where the sun hits the wall, I added a generous amount of Soft Mixing White.

The dark areas of the painting (window areas) I added Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber. I used the 1" brush to blend the light and dark areas around the windows. I used a #2 Round to paint the long dark line on the window side. The dark circles were the biggest challenge. It's good to start small and work your way outwards when making circles. If your circle is too big and you have to paint over, you might start to muddy to colors. I used a #1 bright to work the circles.

The next session, I should be able to finish up the rest of the white areas and their first layers. Later, I will come back with subsequent layers.

picture: adding haze 

picture: adding sun highlights

picture: palette

Today, I worked on two different areas. To make the horizon start to recede, I needed to add haze. To do this, I mixed Cerulean Blue Hue, Cobalt Blue Hue and Mixing White. I used a fan brush to mix and lay in the color. After mixing in a little Liquin, I started at the horizon and worked the paint up from the horizon and then down from the horizon.

After the basic haze covering was achieved, I used a 2" brush to extend the paint further down towards the dome area. Then, I used the fan brush to add some color to the area below the closer island. I added some Cadmium Yellow and Phthalo Green (yellow shade) to bring out the shadow area in the water below the near island.

To bring it all together, I took a clean cloth to clean some of the paint from the lower half of the water. Then, I added some light touches of Cobalt Blue Hue to the lower and mid water areas to bring back some of the color.

Lastly, since I had some Mixing White already out, I took a #6 bright and blocked in the areas on the buildings where the light hits directly on the surface.

Today's work

Today, I moved on to the focal point of the painting, the dome. I had already mapped out basic shading when I did the underpainting. Today, I used Cerulean Blue as the base. To this, I used Mixing White, Titanium White and Naples Yellow to lighten areas. For shading, I added Cobalt Blue Hue.

This is just the first pass on the dome. Later, I will deepen areas, soften edges and brighten highlights.

Today's work

Today, I had some unexpected free time and noticed the ocean paint had dried. So, I decided it was time to block in the distant islands.

For the closest island, I used a mixture of Terre Verte, Paynes Gray and Soft Mixing White, thinned with Liquin. For shadows, I added French Ultramarine.

For the furthest island, I used a mixture of French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue Hue and Soft Mixing White.

I now decided to add the first color for the sky. I brushed on a very light coating of Liquin. Then, I added a layer of Soft Mixing White. Lastly, I started at the top and with a fan brush I lightly added first Cobalt Blue Hue and then French Ultramarine. After lightly blending these shades, I turned the fan brush on its edge and lightly skipped it along the sky from right to left. This gives a feeling of movement to the mix.

The island, sky and sea are all just beginnings. Later, I will add further glazes on top to deepen some tones and lighten others. The next stage will be to work on the dome in the foreground.

Please feel free to comment on the pictures.