Shaws Cove

The beach was hot, the water cold, the waves were large, and the rocks were closed.  A couple of days after the super moon made me think about how high would the tide be and what time would high tide be at.

I picked this spot closest to the rocks so that my view would be unobstructed.  I also liked the idea of having the stairs to organize my stuff and keep it out of the water...

The board color I made for the day was perfect.  It was made from orange and purple paint.  The mixture I used ended up looking like a purple brown.

I had just finished the book I was reading on Notan.  I kept my thoughts more focused on the negative space and how I would express it through the positive space.  This is a little different for me because I don't really look at space the same way that other people do.  When I am painting, I am taking a Gestalt view of the scene.  I look at the lighter value areas as matter with a different value.  The notan concept makes me think more about the balance and the give and take between the space.

One of the by products of my focus on notan was the improvement in the atmospheric perspective in this painting.  The trees in particular benefited from my approach for this painting.  The shape and the value between the palms in the distance and the pine trees really improved this composition.

As I continued to develop the painting, my thoughts were about making sure the value relationships between all the areas of the painting were correct.

Because the light was changing, I made it a point to get the sandstone cliffs and the rocks in the foreground.  By pushing the value dynamics in the foreground, I was able to push atmospheric perspective and create that feeling of distance.

At this point in the painting I worked on separating the middle ground and the background from each other.

The finishing details was all that was left.

If you look closely you will notice that the first step is wet.  As I was adding the final touches on the painting, three successive waves crashed onto the beach.  The water swirled around my knees as I was scrambling to get my supplies out of harms way.  My painting was left on the easel while I was knee deep in the wash.  I love this easel.

The finished painting 24"X 36".  Pastel painting on board over acrylic and pumice gel under painting.

 Detail of painting.  I like using this as a measure of my mark making and composition decisions.

The conversion of this painting from color to black and white lets me know if I got the values right.  Beyond the color and more important than the colors is the value.  The painting works or does not work based on the value execution.