Land Of The Storm Nymphs - stages 1 and 2

Stage 1

A painting very much influenced by the work of Arnold Boeklin and Ferdinand Keller even down to the mock Victorian-era title. They both employed quite a high contrast between the darks of the trees and the lights of the sky and in my painting, foam in the sea. Stage two was very necessary to get a tonal design to the picture; I am not using one focal point in this painting and want the eye to roam around quite a busy and dramatic scene so there will be several area of the lightest and darkest tone. 
Three nymphs are shown pointing to the distant boat at the extreme left of the picture, all modelled by the lovely Naomi Wood, one in the sea, one on the nearest rock and one in the middle by the poplar trees bending in the wind. This is a bit of an homage to JW Waterhouse who often used the same model a number of times in the same picture although I will vary them by having different coloured hair.
Stage one was "drawn" up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin and Lukas Number 5 Medium for the morning session. By the afternoon session the paint had dried enough for me to proceed with stage 2, a tonal underpainting with a rag and brush using the same paint mix but with added turpentine.

Stage 2