Rusty Wreck

A selfie I took from my dinghy
while I photographed the wreck

The finished painting Rusty Wreck © Elizabeth Tyler 2018

I studied a similar plaited rope to get the pattern right.
The rope on the wreck was miscoloured,
frayed and worn but the plaiting was the same. 

A few years ago I painted another watercolour of this rusty wreck and felt it was very inspiring. I wanted to do more then but never got back to it. From the buoy my boat is moored to now (Poros, Greece) it´s not very far away so I thought I would give it another try.
I anchored up at what I considered a safe distance from the wreck but couldn’t see the details I wanted from there so I took my dinghy over to get some close up shots with my camera.
With the help of these and the fresh memory of  the subject I could begin painting under the sunshade over my cockpit.

Steps 1,2 and 3.
At first I masked the area where the ropes would be.
A rough idea of the different colours was then painted wet into wet.
In step two I simulated the rusty hull with dots, blobs and shavings from a watercolour pencil.
In step three I pulled the masking of and started the tedious work with the ropes