Beach House

This is an exercise in grays, light and gradations. Beginning with a panel covered in black gesso I sketched in the major tonal areas before adding the cool gray for the house in the background and the warm gray of the tree in the foreground. The tonal value of each set up the rest of the image as each colour was added allowing the dark of the panel to show through. This opens so many possibilities. We could begin with a red panel or a green panel or a blue, purple, orange, fuchsia…the choices are endless. Each base colour would cause a different reaction with the subsequent colours. Adding the fun of juxtaposing warm and cool grays formed from complementary colours and magic happens. Magic or chaos… The fun is in the experimentation. In the background, over to the right, a little gradation is happening in the sky as the blue gray gradually becomes an orangey pink. Grays make it possible. This is another whole world to explore. I can hardly wait to get started!