Still Amazed (Oil Bar Painting Day 10)

Still Amazed (Oil Bar Painting Day 10)
Originally uploaded by randubnick

This is an oil bar painting, almost finished. The scene is the view west over the water at sundown. My reference is a photo that I took last August from Obear Park in Beverly. Today my focus was on the shoreline. First, I added some detail to the shape of the shoreline over on the left side of the canvas. Then I added suggestions of lights along the shore, especially a couple of bright spots of light near the edge of the canvas. And I added a gentle suggestion of a boat, again on the left side of the canvas. Although there are several boats in the reference photo (posted here March 28), I only added one. I added these small details not because I am trying to make the painting realistic but because I think they help balance the composition by drawing the eye to the left, and that's important with the land mass over on the right. I used a fairly light color to suggest the boat. I'm going to let this sit overnight and if I still like the placement tomorrow, I will make the boat darker. And then I think that will be it. Although I made a few other very small modifications this afternoon, I began to get that nervous feeling that I stand to lose more than I gain by making changes. It's important to be aware of that feeling. It tells you when to stop.