Another Attadale View

Wasn't feeling so well today but still managed a bit of painting. I almost got distracted (thinking about some recent urban sketches), but no...I knew I must stay focused on my thumbnail template.  As usual I wanted to 'draw myself in' and make a start to my session with charcoal, thinking about a black and white picture.  So I decided to focus on a view across Loch Carron to Attadale...again.  I had not tried a black and white of this picture, so I thought that doing this same view in a different medium might produce an interesting result.  I started with this.

Attadale view (scribble) copyright Aileen Grant

Now, this was virtually a scribble of a start.  However, as always, there is something so lively about this first scribble.  It feels rough and full of energy, it's got lots of looseness (which is what I am seeking to achieve) but it would be dissatisfying to try and leave it as a finished picture.  Why? Well, there is no detail underpinning it.  It would not hold the viewer's interest.  Anyway, leaving it was not an option.  So it was out with the rubber and on with the oilbar.  So a few minutes later it looked like this.

Attadale View (blurry scribble) copyright Aileen Grant

I'm nt always convinced that I do the right thing with oilbar.  Am I overdoing it?  Have I done the marks in the best way?  I'm wondering if these marks are a bit too rigid and vertical.  Really, I'm aiming for randomness, to achieve unexpected results.  Anyway, I carried on with a few marks using oil crayons, then white acrylic and inks (black, blue and red).  Finally I decided to crop the right hand end off the picture to make a more contained composition. So now it looks like this.

Attadale View (Black and White) copyright Aileen Grant

It's the white acrylic which gives the opportunity to loosen the picture up, allowing a bit of dreaminess for the sea and the sky.  This cropped composition is also much better - similar to the composition in the square coloured version.  (I only realised this with the photograph.)  I also worked hard on the shore treatment - pebbles, rocks and shoreline - to make sure there was enough interest. There is actually a bit of subtle colour in there! Of course this is larger than the coloured thumbnails, so maybe I'm nearly ready to attempt a larger picture.  But frustratingly I'm not going to be able to get time in the studio for a little while.  Can I keep the momentum going?