I feel like a little kid that has carefully dipped one toe into the water to test its temperature before the plunge. I have created various sketches to study individual buildings, shapes in my hometown and have made one sketch that I decided will be the one for the painting for my uncle. I feel I’m ready to test a new painting technique.

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned how I fell in love with the straightforward approach of the Will Kemp art school. One of the things that drew my attention right from the beginning was how Will layers the acrylic paint, allowing colors to shine through from within the painting itself. How he applies darker and lighter tones right from the onset to make for the most incredibly balanced composition.

When I first saw the Cornish harbor tutorial I knew this would be the perfect way to submerge myself in this technique. For one to test the theory. Secondly, because I love impressionism and I never dared to go beyond looking at it in a museum. In third place, because I wanted to use a similar technique to paint the painting for my uncle.

cornish harbour acrylic

cornish harbour acrylic

Doing something for the very first time can be intimidating. However, the manner in which Will explains and shows his approach melted away all my uneasiness. Strange, but it felt so natural to paint this way. Like it was something I have always done. Although I was only able to snip a little time off at the end of my workdays for this, it was so worth it!

I am just at the beginning. I have laid the foundation. I have the main values, the darks and whites. The introduction of the colors will be the next step. Can I be really honest with you? I have been looking at it sitting on my easel for a day now and I really like it… as is. A bit strange and ghostly perhaps, but really like it. I promise I’ll keep going though. I have to test the full theory before I make a decision whether it will be something I want to make my own or not. Hopefully the weekend will give me a bit more time to continue my little journey to this harbor in Cornwall.