Finally summoned up the motivation after a relaxing couple of weeks to pick up my paintbrushes and make a fresh start on the Malta painting... A couple of motivating factors: two friends have asked for paintings - so I cannot begin another one until this one's done (starter/finisher rule, plus I can't fit another canvas in the house!); and my 3 year old niece saw the Malta canvas during the holidays and asked super honestly, 'Auntie Lizzy, did you get tired ..?' so that was enough to make me put aside some time to begin to finish it.
I had been putting off starting on the city scape, mainly because getting the technical aspect of the buildings right is much harder than painting the sea and boats! It is very easy to make it look very wrong.
I started with pure white, I then used a very pale blue/black mix to begin putting in the shape and form of the dome.
The windows curve around the base of the dome, so that not only do you need to show the curve, but also the perspective. Turns out this was quite a challenge.
I've done a before, during and after for the dome of St Paul's Cathedral... the perspective, shape and detail is tricky... and it's still not right.
Trial and error really, but it's getting there. I think once I've painted in some more of the surrounding buildings I can go back and correct the perspective. I think the point of the architecture below the dome which I've left blank for now, is making it look odd as well. I had to use a really bright blue in the sky to create more contrast giving the dome more impact, so I'll work this into the rest of the sky and see how that looks.
The stone areas are a blend of brown, grey and ochre. I've used a stark white to pull out some highlights.
Despite knowing I've got work to do on the perspective, I'm excited to see it begin to take shape!
