Rowing was painted in May 2019 in acrylic on to a base drawing using coloured pens. Image is 1500 by 1200 and displayed at 50% (In other words, if you download it, the image will be twice as big as this display). The original photograph has smaller yachts in it, less of a rough sea and a clear graduated sky from a dull yellow hue of a light sky blue at the tree line to a slightly darker sky blue at the top. When I painted it the sea was rougher but it looked credible. I could not achieve a graduated sky that was smooth enough, and in any case it did not match the sea. Although at first the clouds I put in were wrong, I corrected them by reference to a clouds image and achieved movement - what was wanted. The original boat was painted white within, with lighter wood for the sea, the top edge and rows. I have made it all dark wood with a painted outer top edge of green. This is to focus on the person. The female shown was in jeans and top and sunglasses. I used some photographs I took in 1993 of naked models to get forshortened legs, and tried to get subtle changes in flesh shading that I could not achieve with the sky. Lines were needed in some cases. The light direction in my image is subtle and right to left, to have these gradual effects, whereas the photograph has it sharply left to right. The bikini matches the boat colour and the trees: the original photograph has brown over the trees from probably the sun rather than autumn.
When I started I drew on to the canvas from the photo on the screen, and, as ever, the actual painting began away from the photographic image. My computers are in a different room.
I used the technique of negative painting to begin, although I think that the thickness of paint overpowers it. It forces me to 'overcome' the wrong colours, and that's the problem as well as the method. I don't do thin washes.