Stamped Ripple Technique

 

Evening at the Ramp #2  48" x 24"

The painting above depicts part of a large merchant ship basking in the evening sun on the Eastern / industrial side of San Francisco. We only see a fraction of the ship's hull but the reflections on the water below tell us more about the funnels above deck.

Over the past few years a lot of my work has explored waterfront architecture, mostly piers, and I have gradually developed a technique to suggest the water and reflections. My process, which I will now call the Stamped Ripple Technique, has attracted a lot of attention and many questions.

The photographs below show how I created the water on this painting:

Using oil paint I prepare several colors on my palette
which is placed on a surface adjacent to the painting.

 

A strip of wood is then dipped into the paint....

 

....and pressed onto the painting.
(The painting is on wood panel which offers stability
for the stamping pressure.) 
Different color ripples are built up, the edges of the
stamps creating three dimensional ridges which catch
the light when the painting is lit from above.

 

The stamping process allows me to leave parts of the under - 
painting/collage showing through the water.

 

“Images courtesy of Hill Physicians /Stephan Hookano.”