A simple sea

Clouds seem to be the order of the day , this week in Devon, and not very interesting ones at that. Still some calm and predictable weather is always welcome, especially when I watch what is going on in different parts of the world.

Here the season is subtlety changing, blackberries are appearing in the hedgerows and late summer flowers are beginning to bloom.

 

I love to look into the colours of the hedgerow and imagine ne paintings coming to life

However today the sea is in my mind, we don't live too far from the Devon coast, but it still feels like a treat to me to see the sea, this is an imagined piece, but inspired by the sea

 

So here is  how  I painted my piece of a couple walking on a beach as the sun begins to go down and all is well with the world.

First I sketch the scene in my mind

Then I wet the whole paper with water, using my biggest brush.

Then I use a mixture of yellow ochre, with a touch of cad red to give the whole scene a warm glow.

I dried it this way round so it dried without puddles on the paper.

Next I want to hint at distant headlands, first in a pale blue and cad red wash

Then we get a touch darker but I want it to fade to nothing on the right.

The last headland is just a touch darker, don't paint the next one till the one before is dry or it will all merge together.

Next I move down the paper, hinting at the sea, using mainly indigo, and adding more yellow ochre and cad red as I go.

Now the blues are getting darker.

And I begin adding definition to the waves.

And darker, using strong indigo to define the waves rolling in.

 

Finally come the people in very dark indigo, and don't forget their shadows in the wet sand. 

I can dry my painting outside to forget about it for a while and let it dry naturally .

So now it is dry I just add a few dots and splatters , step back and check if I need to make any alterations and my scene is done. A simple scene using just 3 or 4 colours, oh to go for a paddle now x