{"id":337,"date":"2026-06-26T07:37:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/?p=337"},"modified":"2026-06-26T07:37:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:37:49","slug":"matapouri-bay-dawn-5x10-live-painting-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/?p=337","title":{"rendered":"Matapouri Bay Dawn 5&#215;10 &#8211; LIVE Painting Session!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Making of - Matapouri Bay Dawn 5x10 - LIVE!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WnHiCA4tcJ4?feature=oembed&#038;wmode=opaque\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcript &amp; Key Insights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m working on a 5&#215;10 today, and I want to keep it loose and impressionistic. The goal is that daylight, fresh morning quality without getting bogged down in detail. I\u2019ve done this many times, but I want it to have that impressionistic interpretation of the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting with the sky: very basic, but it needs that soft quality. I\u2019m mixing an off-white for the clouds, and here\u2019s the thing\u2014you can\u2019t just use buff straight up. It\u2019s too something, too monochromatic. You need complexity in there. I\u2019ve got quite a lot of yellow in some of these clouds, so I\u2019m bringing that in, then going lighter with titanium white. The whole idea is to keep it fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Matapouri-Bay-Dawn-5x10-1-1024x513.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Matapouri-Bay-Dawn-5x10-1-1024x513.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Matapouri-Bay-Dawn-5x10-1-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Matapouri-Bay-Dawn-5x10-1-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Matapouri-Bay-Dawn-5x10-1-1536x769.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Matapouri-Bay-Dawn-5x10-1-2048x1025.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Matapouri Bay Dawn 5&#215;10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Cool Grays and Values<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the cool grays, I\u2019m using ivory black and titanium white\u2014both cool pigments, which gives you that natural cool gray. I\u2019m keeping them lighter than the darks, creating separation. I want room for variation in the sky without it getting too polished or tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Water: The Duplicate Strategy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s a key thing about this composition: that whole area down in the water is essentially a duplicate of the sky. So really, all I need to do now is establish some sand tones and darks. The water\u2019s going to read as water just from the values I\u2019ve already laid in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Darks: Keeping It Clean<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the darks, I\u2019m using Mars black. The last painting I did turned out well, and I basically just reinterpreted a scene I\u2019d painted before because I wanted that painting back in my life. This time, I\u2019m keeping things clean and fresh\u2014I don\u2019t want to bring in a bunch of reds and muddy the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m giving myself a nice rich dark green. Perylene black has this great quality\u2014it doesn\u2019t dry that fast on the palette, which is useful when you\u2019re working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sand Tones: The Umber Route<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The great thing about umber is you can get a really nice range of grays without any black in it. That\u2019s what I want\u2014good warm grays. My first sand is a grayish brown. The umbers are perfect for this because you can get a nice range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then I\u2019m mixing a second sand that\u2019s more yellow, and I back it off with a little burnt umber, which has red tendencies. That gives me variation without things getting too hot or too cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Painting Process: Staying Loose<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to keep this loose, keep it discernible as far as the location, but not tight. New brushes are great for skies\u2014they\u2019re nice and even straight out of the gate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One thing I\u2019m thinking about: in the reference, there\u2019s no blue in the bottom part of the sky, but I think I want to put some in. Blue reads as water, and even though there are only streaks of blue, it helps sell the feeling of the location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m breaking things up as I go. When you make a decision to deviate from the reference, it does put you at a little more risk because you\u2019re pulling away from what\u2019s actually there. But sometimes that\u2019s necessary to make the painting work better than the reference does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Island and Water Details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those logs in the reference are black, but I\u2019m handling them differently\u2014they\u2019re going to sit back. I don\u2019t want to overdo the sand. What I do want is some grays in the water and sand area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With this island I\u2019m painting, I\u2019ve got to raise it up so it reads properly. The brushy quality is important\u2014I like how you can see it\u2019s a painting. That softness, that texture, that\u2019s what makes it sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wrapping Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I could keep working this, but I\u2019m really happy with where it is. I want to leave the brushy quality intact. That\u2019s the whole point\u2014loose, impressionistic, saying what it needs to say without overexplaining it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take good care of yourself. Stay out of trouble. And fight the power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mike&#8217;s New Site<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.substack.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Substack<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Painting Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/mailing-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mailing List<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Store<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/abyssm.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">My Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/donate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Support<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCS6NSbrJaICWu2Oztt_PXeA\/join\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Members Area<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>M Francis McCarthy, Your Painter in Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transcript &amp; Key Insights I\u2019m working on a 5&#215;10 today, and I want to keep it loose and impressionistic. The goal is that daylight, fresh morning quality without getting bogged down in detail. I\u2019ve done this many times, but I want it to&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-painting","rsfv-has-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions\/341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}