Rocking Ship Clock - Scene Painting Progression

This page shows the evolution of the painting of the scene. It became an iterative process. Click on each image for a full size view.

The first conceptual sketch of the scene. Note the four masts per sail and two rows of waves in front of the ship and one behind it.

The left and right sides were redesigned, and a quick splash of acrylic paint was applied to the scene as a test to see how it looks in color. This test identified a problem with having the sea on the front frame -the waves in the back would be moving, but the ones on the front would not.

Changed the tree trunk profile and added a planned thatched roof stone cottage on the right to solve the "no waves allowed on the front frame" problem. Also removed the holes from the tree which caused distracting shadows. And reprimed the scene with a high quality primer for painting the final scene with oils.

Test sky and waves. Both ended up being redone.

The sails were relaid out with only three sails per mast instead of four to reduce the complexity and details required, and the ship's hull was painted green.

The ship's hull was repainted brown because of too much green. The first paint on the woman and the second version of the waves were started, but more details would be added to both. The first attempt at the sails was completed, but it didn't come out well and was painted over with a yellow instead of white to better hide the previous details.

Perspective lines were drawn to help with the stone placement and keeping the rows straight. These were drawn on a white paper background as well in case a reference was needed after paint was applied to the stones.

The grass and tree bark were added along with more details on the waves. The sails were coated with a lighter color for the next attempt. The cottage was also covered in gray for the mortar. You could still see the perspective lines.

The grass was painted the same way it grows, one blade at a time.

A close up of the before and after of the cottage showing the first layer of paint on the stones and then after adding details and shadows.

Leaves were added to the tree. Similar to the grass, the leaves were added one at a time.

The second attempt at the sails came out much better than the first. The rest of the rigging and background sky was yet to be added.

The sails and other parts of the ship above the deck were completed.

I decided I didn't like the water. I thought it looked flat and needed more contrast. After restudying photos of the sea and waves, I added some dark blue and I think it looks much better. I also added ribbons to the woman's hat. I still want to add rigging lines to the ship using an ultra-fine tipped pen.

I need to work on my color selection. I think the scene is grossly oversaturated and I may want to tone it down. One technique to desaturate a painting and make it look antique is to apply a thinned ochre wash. I used an image editing program to test how it might look. Better, but I'm not sure how well it will work with real paint, so I need to do some testing.

While I could keep making adjustments and improving the detail, I decided it was time to get it running. Here is an image of it reassembled after the painting is complete.