Good evening! 

Today I wanted to share the results of this days painting session. 

I spent the better part of the day painting a seascape I wanted to work with for a while. I took a photo a couple of years ago from a beach here in Portugal on a cloudy day that gave all these subtle colors of blue, green, purple and orange. 

It's a good exercise for practicing temperature shifts and the translucent quality of the water really appealed to me. It's something I've only attempted a couple of times before and never got my head around. Naturally my wanting to master this effect was a big factor as well.. 

So I think this painting needs another couple of sessions, this is just the process and results so far; 

![IMG_20180322_165819.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcAWaGZfn8R1pbWAsnhuFJWpTU26V7QXmoFtjy46gQnWg/IMG_20180322_165819.jpg)
> The seascape so far. Painted on a gesso primed panel measuring 30 x 30 cm.

For this painting I went about my initial process a bit differently than usual so let me show you; 

The first thing I did differently was the ground color which I used to stain the gesso primed panel. It was a soft warm blue, almost borderline purple. I chose to do this because the majority of my painting will have shades of blue and green. By making the first layer in a relatable color and value will make it easier to introduce the other values. I also have the opportunity to work with the transparency if I want, meaning, I don't have to cover everything with other colors of paint to achieve the right results.

![IMG_20180322_164541.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbo4VhpjW4Xe2Tx5WLq3WMySSmfeGMgM8vCY7mRPZPZNh/IMG_20180322_164541.jpg)

The next thing I did was just to lay in some of the horizontal lines to indicate the proportions of the different areas. I also layed in a couple of general shapes to show where the rock formations will be. This I did with a slight darker blue, a color that I know will blend in nicely when I start adding more paint.

![IMG_20180322_164521.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQme2kAbcC84La5qET2qywoWToXiHAKGfYMvboJ9hDnkmZE/IMG_20180322_164521.jpg)

Now here is another thing I did differently in this painting; I did a multi colored underpainting. Usually I stick to one color in the underpainting stage. What I did here though was mass in thin layers of dry paint with the general color of the area. This is again a trick if you want to play with translucency as you have the option of not covering the whole area. 

![IMG_20180322_164432.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQjwy7rv9tVnLEwQPLapCFTpVc23eyQdF4nFVwTWuMgzu/IMG_20180322_164432.jpg)

My next step is to find the more precise value range within each area. I started with the sea. Because you have the waves rolling in you will have both darker values where they rise and cast shadows and lighter values where they hit the surface and turn into white foam. 

There is also the translucent quality which I am chasing that means warmer notes of orange and purples from the sandy ocean floor will shine through closer to shore. 

![IMG_20180322_164352.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXbuEVJjoC3Y9iA5VcQRnmFPocLbJLMV7PWiDNoUfxSPT/IMG_20180322_164352.jpg)

Here I have added more paint to the sand and rocks as well. One aspect that I am working consistent with is finding the direction of the way the water flows. If you study the sea you will find that often, especially when the waves break close to shore that the water comes together in different places. 

![IMG_20180322_164152.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXMvb61JQhxpiC8MSeVXH8YXbJJJ5E974WbpUAMDxD46S/IMG_20180322_164152.jpg)

In the final stages of today I added in the lightest whites of the waves and the darkest dark on the stones. I also worked on adding more warmth in the sea closer in to try and bring out the sand underneath. 

Since my underpainting stage I haven't touched the sky because it has given me a good point of reference to work on the other parts of the painting. This is one of the big benefits of working with a multi colored underpainting. 

![IMG_20180322_165819.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcAWaGZfn8R1pbWAsnhuFJWpTU26V7QXmoFtjy46gQnWg/IMG_20180322_165819.jpg)

By tomorrow I hope that the painting will have dried up a bit so that I can add and build with more paint to create some nice texture. Today I could have kept on painting for a few more hours, but the light was fading .. C'est la vie! 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this little process and that you are all having a wonderful week so far! 

😘