This is my favorite-and most challenging parts of the creative process: the final stages. The work starts to come together, but my energy flow can weaken as the process drags on. And I become so familiar with the image, (too familiar?) that I can become complacent, and overlook areas that need revision.
A close up of the rocks. I am trying to add grey, greens and oranges to the palette to invoke a sense of romantic energy.
Just the hint of a sailboat on the right side of the composition. I love the ghostly quality of it as it glides across the water.
This grouping of sailboats on the left of the composition were taken from photographs of them at a much greater scale. Superimposing and rescaling them into the background here was time-consuming, not to mention changing to colors slightly so they wouldn’t overwhelm the rest of the painting.
Almost finished. I’ll let it go for a few day, come back, and see how I feel. Titian did this, so did Peter Paul Rubens. They would turn their work to the wall for a few days so they couldn’t see it, and then would look at it with fresh eyes.
