Salt Studies IX–XII: notes from a slow week

Starting with a single line

Each painting in the Salt Studies begins the same way: one horizontal line drawn in diluted umber, roughly where the horizon would be if the canvas were a window. Everything that follows is an argument with that line.

This week the fog never lifted from the river, and the studio light stayed flat and pearly from morning to evening. It is the best light for seeing values and the worst for seeing colour, so I spent most of it scraping back rather than adding.

By Friday, IX and XI were finished and X was over-worked beyond saving. It has gone to the back wall, where it will sit for a month before I decide whether to sand it down or keep it as a study. XII is waiting for drier weather.