Tattoo inspired painting

So this project definitely leans more towards the fine art spectrum, but don't let that scare you off! I have had this idea for a painting in my head and in my sketchbook for a few months now and just a couple weeks ago finally got the motivation to paint it out. I was inspired by tattoo designs, the exaggerated qualities of illustrations and wanted to play off of that almost obvious symbolism that is inherent in both. 

Supplies:

Canvas

Paint - whatever your favorite kind to work with is

Here we go - I wanted this to be a big painting to enhance the concept of exaggeration so this canvas is close to 4 feet wide by 3 feet tall. I totally would've gone even bigger if budget allowed.

I started by drawing out the composition that I had decided on in my sketchbook. I originally had the whole thing flipped the other way but wanted the moon to be representative of a new moon so I switched it around. I probably went through about 6 different ideas of layout, so make sure to play around with sketching to make sure you are coming up with your most effective way to get your point across.

Here I am just laying down a rough first layer of color to start to map out where things are lighter and darker and get a general feel for it. 

Next you can see I started in on the sky first. I wanted to paint it in order of furthest to closest so that things that are far away feel like that.

And though some of the ocean is behind the boat I decided that since the boat is sitting in the ocean that it would make more sense for me to do that first. 

So here it is! I considered doing some black outlining to play off the tattoo idea but decided against it because I felt it might take away from the overall aesthetic. Let me know if you have any critiques or suggestions because I am still a bit unsure if I am done with this, so I would LOVE to hear your input!

--Heather