Ok JG, this one's for you!

So, this morning when I couldn't sleep I got up vewy vewy earwy and started. We had a mighty busy day and I thought I'd get the jump on it.  The only problem was that I missed doing it this evening cause there was so little left to do!

My first step in the wee small hours this morning...really, it was around 5:30 am......was to come up with an idea.  Most of you will immediately recognise the source for this particular painting.  While it is clearly not a direct copy, it is for instance missing both Mount Fuji and a fair number of boats and sailors, it is basically quite similar.  Drew it, and painted in the first of the defining lines as this style has them.

Here below I came into some decision making about how to manage the lines that indicate the shape of the wave as well as the splashes coming off it.  I also had to decide how to add some balance to it.  As I had removed all of the boats and people as well as the mountain and a fair number of other waves I needed something else.  That was decided.  Then I began to add colour.

I decided, as you have now seen, to add in lines of black and white, which was an idea that surfaced from the Ted Harrison work....then I had to wait a bit for it to dry.  I didn't have to wait too long as the use of the painted defining lines created a barrier so that the background colour wouldn't bleed into the colour of the wave:

This was my, 'hmmmm, this looks a bit of a disaster and I am not sure where to go with it' stage.  I normally sit back and ponder for a minute or two and then plough onwards.  Today though I set it aside. For three reasons.  First, I wanted to darken the bottom of the wave where less light would show through the water, lightening it and I couldn't do that at this point.  The blue I had laid down was not wet, nor dry and I would get all manner of watermarks if I painted in now.  Sometimes that is OK.  Not here though.  Also, the little guy in the bottom right corner needed drier paint around him to begin.  Also people were getting up and wanted to use the table to, oh, you know, eat breakfast and stuff.  This evening as things settled down I got it out again.  There was lamentably little to do.....

I darkened down the base of the waves, tidied up some of the lines and managed the little surfer-turtle.  The only disappointment is that youngest though he looked scared, as well he might, but I was aiming for something a little cheerier......

There you go, step by step canvas a day project.  Though they are on paper.   Cheaper and oh so much easier to transport.