Back to the Beach

Didn't have time to load this prior to spending a week away. Went off to the beach again and carried on with my knife experimentation. There are aspects of this that I like a lot and others that still need refinement, in particular the precise tonal relationships between different promontories and the intensity of hue in the sea. Nevertheless many of the values read true so I'd have to consider it a step in the right direction.


Seaham Stack - Oil on canvas board 12" x 10"

Chemical Beach

Values, recession, chroma all nagging away in the back of my mind, I decided to return to a spot I painted a couple of weeks ago. This is an interesting beach, named after an adjacent chemical works that existed in the early part of the last century. The headland beyond has a number of facets not visible and collectively they are known as Noses Point. Whilst these beaches have long been frequented by sea anglers they have been cleaned up in recent years and are becoming popular spots for locals to walk along newly created cliff top paths. A coast that was despoiled by various industries, particularly the coal industry, is being returned to a more natural state. One of the few benefits to the area of the demise of the main source of employment.

The painting was attacked with an expanded palette. Ultramarine replaced Indathrone Blue and Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Lemon were added to Naples Yellow, Venetian Red and Titanium White. Hopefully, increased chroma in the foreground has created a greater illusion of recession and a little more interest. Maybe another step along the way has occurred.

Chemical Beach - Oil on canvas board 12" x 10"

Nose's Point

Managed to get out today, once again down the coast near home. One day I'm determined to do it justice. Today's effort was a continuation of the limited palette approach with the addition of the previous day's mud. I found it testing to get the appropriate variety of colour for the piece but felt that the effort was more than helpful in developing my appreciation of colour mixing. I envisage being able to rid my box of a number of tubes as I gain more experience in the use of limited palettes and am looking forward to experimenting with further combinations.

Nose's Point - Oil on canvas board 12" x 10"