I decided to do a work in progress piece as an exercise for myself. My son went away with a few friends to the Vaal Dam, an hours drive from where we stay. Sounds like they had a good time by the looks of the photographs he showed me. Anyway, when I saw this pic I decided that it was going to be my next painting.
I think I'm happy with the way it turned out although my husband says there is not much of a likeness..... but does it really have to be my son? I'm not too phased.
After sketching the subject on my stretched paper, I used masking fluid to preserve the white spray around the wake board. I painted a light blue wash over the water. When dry I started painting the features and body.
And then started with the wake board.
Moving on down to the reflections.... this was not an easy feat but I ploughed on.
After adding the reflections of the body cast on the water I felt that it was a bit harsh and lightly sprayed it and mopped the damp paper with a tissue to soften the colours slightly. When that was dry I started adding the blue shadows on the spray and painted in the background and the ski rope.
I put it aside for a while as I'd worked on it all morning and was feeling a bit weary. This also helped me to change gear and refresh the brain. I felt the water was a tad light and added another blue wash which brought the painting together a bit more. When it had dried I removed the masking fluid and darkened the spray a bit more to tie the reflections to the body.
Hope I've managed to do this, please don't feel shy to tell me what you think. My son is thrilled with it and I suppose that's all that matters.
Have a wonderful weekend and happy painting!
