Iceland Oil on Canvas: Northern Lights-Part II

Reykjavik Iceland, Oil on Black Canvas-Part II

While faint to the eye, a rough charcoal sketch of the horizon has been applied on the black canvas. Hues of violet, green, blue, yellow, black along with tints of white will be applied to the already black canvas in bold and different strokes.

#1: The Sketch

#2: Shoreline effect

#2, 3 & 4: Applying Crimson Red and Cerulean Blue with a palette knife to give a rich impasto darkness to the already black canvas

#3: Impasto with Palette Knife

#4: Impasto look

#5: A little play on the texture with lighting and flash.

#6- Carrying on Impasto texture with hues of blue in the sky

#7-Finishing "dark to light" in sky with hues of black.

Had a difficult time trying to locate a tube of Grumbacher Permanent Green Light Pre-test Oil for my vision so after experimenting with Permanent Green Bright blended with Cadmium-Barium-Yellow Medium, I was able to achieve the tone of Light Green I was looking for! Need to let the Impasto dark colours set for a few days before blending in lighter tones.

Lighter Tones:

Yep, you guessed it! A portrait of the Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights in Iceland. While the lower portion of shore and sky are being worked with a palette knife in an impasto texture, I decided to switch up the lights in a smooth consistency and have deviated from the original photograph. A base of the sky colours are being applied with much more detail with extensions to the lights giving the sky a full Aurora Borealis affect.

#8-Tone of green added to the sky

Picking up on techniques

As previously noted, this unique impasto creation was delayed throughout the summer but now kicking into gear for completion. A blend of raw umber, phthalo blue and a tint of zinc white will create the colour I have be trying to accomplish for the evening horizon. Stay tuned with the updates!

#9 Working green in sky then taking on blue tones

#10 Working blues in horizon along with faint orange

#11 Tweaking lighter blues into hill line.

#12 Working right to left, added light tones to green while using Alizarin Crimson/Ultramarine blue for purple hue in sky. Once purple is dried, a wash of lighter tones will apply.

#13 Final touch on the sky tones and shore shadows.

#14 Allowing canvas to cure for about a year before applying final damar varnish and frame.