I guess if I was a true plein aire painter, I would be outside at the beach recording “Beach Fun” for #WorldWatercolorMonth2019. Alas, it is not to be.
Sort of “meh” about this one. It was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be – what is more simple than a pail and shovel? Well, it was! It’s like there are 3 different styles here – none of which match or integrate well. I like the shadows on the sand the best.
This one, I will say, makes me feel pretty good. I like the surf board and the highlights on the leash. As well, the foggy sky with the sun breaking through is a far cry from my usual blue skies. Overall, the atmosphere is good for beach fun, I think.
I really cannot say how much I am enjoying painting in gouache! Like watercolor, there are times it makes me crazy, but as I do more and more painting, it is beginning to make sense. Some of the colors I have are not what I really like, and it is easy to get muddy, just as in watercolor. Letting things happen is also part of gouache, as in watercolor, but that is the beauty of any art form – it can go places you never expect and create some lovely, happy accidents.
Painting and relaxing at the beach are perfect expressions of this prompt for #WorldWatercolorMonth2019.
Relaxing – so what comes to mind? I thought of ways I like to relax – reading, going on a hike, baking, going to the beach. The beach won! No matter what the mood, the shore is always a place to relax. Soft wind, strong wind; soft cloudy skies or fierce rain; vast stretches of sand, rocky coasts that are difficult to walk upon.
I don’t do beach sand very well. I dug out a great book, “Take Three Colours: Watercolour Seascapes”by Geoff Kersey. It’s a nice book for beginners as it explains so many things and techniques, works with a limited palette, and a few brushes. His samples are illustrated number by number. I rather like them as they make me think differently – I am a magpie and I go for 50 different colors, not 3!
WWM #16: Relaxing – #1, from a study in “Watercolor Seascapes” by Geoff Kersey
Thus, I warmed up with Kersey’s study called “Sand Dune” – perfect for the beach, I would say. Not my best, but it was a study in techniques, not a work of art. Techniques included mixing greens and terra cotta. I had to substitute Organic Vermilion for his WN Light Red, and play a bit, but I limited myself to the Ultramarine Blue and Cadmium Yellow along with the OV.
WWM #16: Relaxing – Path to the Sea
Warmed up, off to Pixabay! I wanted something simple and beachy. This sandy path to the foggy horizon got my attention. No, you cannot see the ocean, but you know it’s there! I tried to catch the subtlety of a the fog in the distance, aiming to soften the grasses as the painting moved into the distance. I also wanted to keep it warm – the foggy day with a bright sun trying to break through.
WWM #16: Relaxing – Sea Grasses Along the Shore
Another image from Pixabay. I may have painted it before. There is something so lovely about this beach – deserted, alive with plants and animals, the slap of water on the shore. I can smell the sea, too: salty, briney, a bit rank from marshlands. This painting is also more complex. I am not sure if I got the sense of distance correct (I have no depth perception), so I worked at making distant items simpler and paler / bluer. The grasses nearer the beach perhaps could have less detail. Hmmmm.
WWM #16: Relaxing – Storm Along the Pacific Shore
Finally, a painting from a photo I took several years ago when my friend Glenn and I hit the Central Coast of California, north of Santa Barbara. We visited Refugio Beach and El Capitan Beach. I cannot recall which one this was, but the mood was one of wind and cold, and a storm coming or going. The Pacific was dark, as was the sky; the wind was blustery. Altogether, it was an adventure! We were cold and shivery, but so pleased with just being out in the wind and weather.
Of all of the paintings, the last two are my favorites for different reasons. I painted for about 5 hours, too. Relaxing? You bet! I love the beach, and it was a delight to paint it today.
I truly love scenes of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean and Southern California – places where the sun is brilliant, walls are white, shadows are blue and glowing, palm trees clack in the wind, and bougainvillea brightens the day with shades of mauve or pink or salmon.
Two people come to mind when I think of painting such scenes – classically, Winslow Homer, and more in our own era, the recently passed Charles Reid. Both men caught the flavor of such scenes, and I hope I did here, too. The beauty of the Caribbean cannot be denied and its sunny days are memorable for their clarity and stunning colors of sky, sea, and land.
Another landscape, another limited palette. For this painting I used ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, burnt umber, sap and cobalt greens, a splash of raw sienna. 9×12 Fabirano Artistico.
I wanted to see if I could convey a good sense of depth, moving from the foreground with warmer colors to the distance with more neutral and greyish colors. Contrast, too, was considered for eye appeal, leading lines, depth.
If you look at the grasses in the foreground, you can see grass blades. I used a very dry flat brush to accomplish this, sometimes using a lighter green and brushing upward, or darker green to brush into the lighter green. Negative painting!
Carlsbad is a lovely beach town in Southern California. The beach is wide and flat; at low tide it stretches forever. Water is all you see to your left, to your right, and westward . . . The flat blue sky often blends into the ocean, making where one ends merge with where one begins.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 