From the Artist: I was a bit hesitant to paint using a knife, but here it is. The painting is from a photo of the ocean on a wild and windy day of a very enjoyable holiday we took on the West Coast of South Australia called Streaky Bay. I found that I wasn't relaxed enough and I was dabbing instead of buttering, but I am please with the textured effects. I will try using this technique again.
From the Painting Guide: Glad to hear you didn't hesitate so much you didn't give a knife a try! Buttering is only one way to use a knife and the term I tend to use because it removes a little of the "unknown" from using a knife; dabbing is definitely do-able. It's ultimately the result that counts, not how you got there! You've got some great texture happening here that would be perfect for all sorts of other subjects too, such as weathered rock, a sandy shore, moss on a rock...
I'm a great one for abstraction, so it's not surprising that the simplicity or graphicness of this painting appeals to me. I think it gets a little dark towards the bottom (though the photo likely increases this) and the color becomes a bit solid. But the other sections where the colors from the layer below can be seen and influence what's above, combined with the texture, work well. To me there's a great sense of huge waves rolling in, of a violent sea thundering towards me.
I'm undecided whether the blue of the sky, which is a lot smoother, wants to have more texture in it. I wonder if it wanted to have directional texture to create a textural contrast to the rest of the painting not just the color contrast. But it may well be too much.
From the Painting Guide: Glad to hear you didn't hesitate so much you didn't give a knife a try! Buttering is only one way to use a knife and the term I tend to use because it removes a little of the "unknown" from using a knife; dabbing is definitely do-able. It's ultimately the result that counts, not how you got there! You've got some great texture happening here that would be perfect for all sorts of other subjects too, such as weathered rock, a sandy shore, moss on a rock...
I'm a great one for abstraction, so it's not surprising that the simplicity or graphicness of this painting appeals to me. I think it gets a little dark towards the bottom (though the photo likely increases this) and the color becomes a bit solid. But the other sections where the colors from the layer below can be seen and influence what's above, combined with the texture, work well. To me there's a great sense of huge waves rolling in, of a violent sea thundering towards me.
I'm undecided whether the blue of the sky, which is a lot smoother, wants to have more texture in it. I wonder if it wanted to have directional texture to create a textural contrast to the rest of the painting not just the color contrast. But it may well be too much.