Glazed over.

                      Bay Watching   Oils on canvas board   5 x 7 inches   



I love every part of painting a seascape...even if I ruin it and have to scrap it or wipe over and start again.  It is so exciting to watch it coming to life, adding the little flourishes with my brush to make the sparkles or suggestions of surf on the water.

I didn't have to wipe this one, luckily, as I told myself to 'walk away' and leave it overnight to dry a little.  Next day, I thought parts of the cliffs could benefit from having a transparent glaze to add depth and tone. I used a touch of ultramarine and permanent rose with some alkyd medium to darken some of the foreground and the grassy cliffs above the beach. 

I refreshed the beach areas with a sweep of paint to suggest sun on sand.  
Finally, I added the yellow in the foreground for the gorse bushes and suddenly the image came to life.

The sea and sky are close toned and kept quietly in the background as I wanted to focus on the curves of the sandy bay with the shallow sea.  It is a simple study which might be useful as reference for a larger piece sometime.  I like it and it makes me happy.