Late Day Sunset Over The Ocean Waters -- 5 photos showing progress

Well, today I attempted my first late day sunset over the ocean.  It took about 3 1/2 hours.   It is on a 12"  X  16" stretched canvas. 

I have 5 photos of the painting process that I took in various stages.  

This first photo is of the canvas.  The background is all painted in orange acrylic paint,..even though it looks pale yellow here.  After that application dried, I took black acrylic paint and put in the dark and medium places on the canvas.

The 2nd photo is of my grey colored, large paper pallet & paints that are used in this sunset painting.  I do have a wooden pallet, and a plastic pallet, but, they would require me to hold them up with my left hand and paint with my right hand.  If I were standing up and painting, that would work great.  However, I paint sitting down with a table easel.  I just tape a piece of the grey pallet paper to the table cloth, and I'm set.  It is real easy clean up too...just fold it gently and throw the paper pallet in the trash. 

Before these oil paints were applied in this photo, I put clear medium all over the canvas to aid the application of the oil paints.  This is a photo of the stretched canvas with some oil paints actually applied---mostly in the water area and the lower sky area.  

This 4th photo shows the painting after the oil colors were added in the sky area.   Also, the clouds have had other colors added to them too.   Actually, the blueish looking part of the sky is composed of 3 different shades of blue and a little violet.  The lower sky has the red, gold, and yellow in it.  I didn't have one paint I needed to mix up the gold color, so I used something else and it didn't allow the gold color to show up and brilliant as it should have. 

The final photo shows the brighter yellow put in up and around the ball of the sun.  This color is actually lemon yellow and white mixed together.  

Again, I didn't have the exact yellow, so, I substituted the lemon yellow.  In a year, this is the only time I've found a use for the tiny tube of lemon yellow I have.  It came with a starter oil set I got when I first started painting last  year.   

The water also has turquoise and white mixed up and applied to show movement of the water.  That part didn't turn out too well.  I hope I can learn to do that part better or learn a different way to do it.   

All in all, it is fair for a start at a new painting subject.  I don't like it, but, it could have been worse.  I  know you all think I'm hard on myself, but, I just think I'm being honest.  Tomorrow or the next day, I'll try another sunset or a beach scene with water.  There is just a whole lot out there to learn and I'm going for it !!!