Today I added the sky, and the whole painting started pulling together. The sky is cobalt blue with titanium white, fading to a yellowed blue at the bottom for the atmospheric effect. The very lowest bit of the blue has added red, for a dusty cloud effect.

Now that I have the main colours in, I can decide which ones need to be lightened, darkened, warmed or cooled. I repainted the hull of the boat to make it more accurate and add the reflections and changes of direction on the different surfaces. That leaves the sail looking cold and grey-blue, which will have to be dealt with because it is much the same colour as the white of the hull, and now it looks forbidding. As the sail needs to be shaped out over the sky anyhow, this is not much of a loss. As well as the hull I added some of the hardware – the metal struts, an approximation of the mast, and the deep colour on the blue pads that I assume protect the crew from the weather and the water. (I’m rather shaky on terminology beyond which way up the boat goes in the water.) I noted down where the far pad ended on the left, because it is too long, and the next layer of the sea will have to cover it.

The sea is now too dark and brooding for the sky, and the smaller ship over to the left will need to be defined properly. There’s a possibility I’ll put in a wake coming from the left as well, to give the idea that the Allegro is chasing down a different boat, but that depends on whether I can paint it in the time allotted and stay sane.