DAY # 220 – THE SALT PONDS, BLOCK ISLAND

Do you think I flattened my image enough???

This goes back to the last weeks worth of posts. I’ve been trying to strip my work of all detail in attempt to create a fully minimalist painting (BTW excuse the grainy image. It has something to do with WordPress not my actual photo).

This is the absolutely gorgeous salt pond I am referencing. It’s a photo I took on Block Island.

The predominant feature of the image to me, is the dark shadows cast on the water. I thought of them as black lines. I love the bottom half of my painting. I think I captured the sky’s reflection in the water, the jagged shadows, the distance.

I wish I had made the top of the painting softer. In my head, I saw the grain fields in oranges, but the reds crept in and now it looks as if I deliberately created a rainbow painting! That was not my intent. I think I should have used yellows, golden rod and mustard.

I may even try this painting again tomorrow because I really love this image, especially the water. It is so still and calming.

All in all, I think today’s painting is actually too flat for my personal taste.

I preferred this one, yesterday’s painting, better.

I think I stripped down the subject matter about where I’d want to go, so now I know. I don’t really like completely flat, I like color variation and slight texture.

Here is the progression: