Work in Progress: Sandpipers, Update 6

Week 6 (26 March 2014)

All three Sandpipers have now been completed. Last week I had done most of the third Sandpiper, except for the left wing. In this update that wing is also complete. I’m not sure about the detail on the wing and whether it needs to be muted a bit more or left as it is. I’ll decide that later when more is done. In this update I’ve also filled in the sea foam behind the back Sandpiper. Another subtle change is bits of darker blue in the water here and there to indicate slight rippling on the water surface. I didn’t put in any more yet until more of the painting is completed. Photos show a bit more rippling but I want more complete to determine how far I go with that. When I get to this point I tend to skip around a bit to all parts, bringing them all into the same level of completion, to see how that fit in with each other. I also don’t want all the rest around the Sandpipers to have so much detail that they compete with the birds for attention. I’ve blocked in the colors in the rest of the seaweed clumps also and they seem to frame the birds a bit and enlarge the picture some. From here, I’ll complete the seaweed, figuring out how much detail to put in. I want to keep most of the focus on the Sandpipers. Then I’ll go on to the sea foam. As I do so I’ll roam around to other parts, adding here and there as I think it needs. I’m hoping to have this completed by the end of next week. We’ll see.

I hope to add update 7 this week. If I do, that will bring all updates up to date with my other sites.