Grotto

In Ontario, Canada there is a limestone formation that runs along the entire Bruce peninsula which runs north into lake |Huron. Near Tobermory there is a famous cave at lake level called the Grotto. Above is a photo my son and his wife took within the cave opening looking west. This was the only reference photo I had so after scanning google images I found thousands of photos of this area and hundreds of photos taken at this same angle looking out from within the cave. Some of these photos had a sunset happening at the lake opening just below the cliff . I can't post any of these photos because of copyright infringement concerns.So I used perhaps a dozen other photos from google to get a feel for what it looks like from this vantage point at sunset. When I had the idea set as the best composition I was ready to attempt this challenging project.

I uses an 18"x 24 " cradled hardboard panel board which I had already gessoed with several coats.  My first coat of dark paint was just gesso tinted with burnt umber and black to get the general shape of the cave opening and the cliff .

You can see the texture in this gesso mixture above. 

The sky and water is a base coat below where I was trying different color mixes  to get a feel for what colors I would use. I used cobalt blue, titanium white and cad yellow light, crimson, and cad red hue. In the water area I added some phthalo green to the mix . These waters in lake Huron can have an aqua green color in certain light and flat calm water conditions, especially in shallow water. I am getting this aqua color in there to just get a feel for  how it would look. Phthalo green is a very powerful color so just a dab in the mix is all you need.

Worked a little more to form the sky below

Still working on that sunset below

 I wanted this painting to be an experiment in texture. To get the limestone texture I used acrylic pumice gel  medium with black and burnt umber. Its a product I use often to get texture, it is acrylic medium with sandy grit in it . Below is my first layer of this pumice mixture. I applied it with a palette knife. It looks a little raw at this point. The heavy texture in the cliff across the cove may prove to be a difficult area to work with and keep it convincing. It may be over done with texture . But, this is an experiment after all.

 

close up of the texture below

Added some color to the texture below. Painting is all about creative expression. I no longer strive for photo-realism ...I dropped that a long time ago. Painting is meant to be a different art form then photography and freedom of expression is a big part of the joy of painting. Broad strokes gives a sense of liberation and it allows the right brain intuitive and artistic mind to work rather then the analytical left brain approach.

Starting to form  the rocks in the water.

 

After many different glazes with acrylic glazing liquid and color pigment on the sky and water  below.

Still more glazes below and working on the rocks and cliff.

I wanted to do rocks under the shallow water, so I did not add texture to any rocks that appear to be underwater. Multiple glazes with Golden acrylic glazing liquid did that trick. My technique to do this under water look is the use of many layers of lightly pigmented glazes. I mix alternating glazes with reds, yellows and blues. For further info on doing glazes check out my demo below click on the link:

See my demo here

 

I have always been fascinated at how, if we use our imagination we can see faces and images in rock and cliff formations. In this rock formation , see the original photo below, there is what appears like an ancient dinosaur with its mouth open, I played with this idea to see if I could get that subtle imprint in the rock formation. Its not an easy task.I didn't want it to dominate , it had to be subtle, something a viewer would not see at first glance.

 

As I did the rocks in the water I could imagine them looking like giant prehistoric frogs .

 

So, I wanted the rocks to have a subtle frog look in the water . I went with it ....It was interesting how the ancient stones could speak as I was doing this painting. Below you see the dinosaur and what looks like frogs in the water stones. Maybe I have a good imagination...😊...No!...I am not stoned.

 

I added trees , pines, birch and spruce below.

I found  that this painting did not photograph well, I tried different lighting . The texture messed up the photos . But the next 5 photos show the finished painting with different lighting. I am not 100% happy with this painting . I am not sure all that texture was needed in the cliff across the cove.

 

 

 

 

On this  24" x 18" panel its not possible to put the golden ratio and spiral ( drawing below) into play but in a loose kind of  way, somehow it is possible. I can see a close enough order here, to imagine that center vertical line fitting at the cliff vertical edge and the water horizon point near the sun and the sun would be inside one of the smallest box inside the spiral. Maybe its just my imagination, the same imagination that sees dinosaurs and frogs in this painting and is suggesting that the ancient stones speak.  😎


 This photo below is a reverse image from a free sample through shutterstock . It will give you an idea what I am trying to say.