A Fine Stretch – for a walk on the beach, for a brisk run, for climbing the rocks. The fresh breeze that developed as the morning wore on necessitated a change of approach. Instead of laborious detail (which is how I started the painting) I switched over to using my knife to “rough up” the surfaces a bit, especially in the foreground, and to simplify some of the expanse of sand. The change of approach embodied the feel of the wind, and suggested movement. Enjoy!

 

Technical painting notes: As mentioned above, this painting went through some changes in development. Painting is a process of interpretation – finding a way to put the feel of what’s “out there” onto a two-dimensional surface. If what’s out there changes, the painter must be flexible enough to run with it. In this case the painting, almost finished and very wet, seemed too static for the changing conditions of weather. I used Liquin Impasto and a pointed palette knife to push the colors around, adding some darker values in the foregound and roughing up the sky with Liquin Impasto and light grays and white (mostly semi-transparent). Stepping back, the image felt more real.