Project update - work in progress

Saltmarsh update - work in progress - Vivien Blackburn

Saltmarsh, work in progress, 20x16 ins on canvas. Vivien Blackburn

This is where the canvas now is. It's a collage with acrylic paint, charcoal, acrylic ink - some of the collage is metallic gold tissue paper that comes through in a few places. You can see the stage before this here. It's very loosely based on the sketch of the saltmarsh done plein air, but done mainly from memory and much edited.

I've sent that middle building back a bit, changed the colour of the border from a turquoise based blue to a mauvey one and introduced that into the painting.

I've brought the light colour into the sky to silhouette the trees.

I've collage a little more texture into the sand with tissue paper.

I've flicked little bits of paint for gravel and leaves.

I've worked on the way your eye follows the lines of the wet mud/sand etc through and up.

I've also been refining the 'some, a little and a lot' - making the turquoisey blue flicker throught the painting but covering a lot that was that colour - using more of the soft beige to bring light into the sky and elsewhere.

You can see stages and close ups below:

I'm thinking of adding the faintest traces of copper in the trees and the bush in front of the building on the left - just a hint of a warm colour.

I won't be able to work on it for a couple of days now as I'm teaching extra hours, so it can sit on my desk while I think about where next.

Any thoughts?