Making Up wood

 As is often the case with reference photos, even if I use my best camera the brightest sections can be washed out or the darkest places too dark.

 

If I were to follow my reference photos of this boat, the stern would be a brown/black blob. My eyes saw beautiful wood planks. Time to make up the wood. Rather than making a solid layer of wood, which would imply a veneer, I made three planks differentiating them with a lighter plank in the middle. 

It may sound kind of artsy-crazy, but as I was painting I was not thinking of burnt sienna or raw umber. I was thinking wood and wood grain. Every stroke was "making" wood. For me I think that helped.

 

 

 

 

Stepping inside the boat. 

While the water is the stage for the boat, that feeling of 3-D only fully comes from the boat playing the primary role. 

 

 

 

 

The visible seat on this boat was white but I thought a wooden seat better captured the feeling of the boat.