Skip to content

Shimmering azuredly

Since the last blog post about painting two pictures at the art workshop last weekend I have completed them. Not at the same time of course. Each needed my full attention,  seperately. But they are painted in the same way, with loads of texture in one in particular.

The first one is all about the sunlight shining and shimmering on the sea, and was from a photo I took at Villefranche sur Mer (one of my favourite places!) just around the bay from Nice in beautiful southern France. I love the colour of the sea there, its turquoise and achingly beautiful and will always inspire me to paint it for that reason alone! So, it was the obvious choice for me for this subject matter. As I explained in my last blog post, I used lemon yellow for the basis of the sky although covering it with turquoise for the painting itself. Because there were so many layers of paint in the picture, and each subsequent one not fully covering the others, the first layers shine through, anAzure shimmer (2)d add a depth of colour to the landscape. Most of it was painted in acrylic, but I also used soft oil pastels over the top to give a softer effect to the sea and beach area. I wanted to show the sunlight dancing on the sea as well as the beautiful blues and greens of the sea itself. In the foreground are a couple of towels and three figures enjoying the beach, which is as much information is needed to show that the beach is being enjoyed by holiday makers. The wave washing around the large rock in the foreground adds interest as the white of the foam washes along the sand.  A couple of boats in the distance show that the area is well used, and I think illustrates beautifully the impression I was trying to convey in the picture. The title just had to be  “Azure shimmer”! And I love it!!!  

 

 The second picture is also of the area around Villefranch sur Mer, but is slightly further around the beach from the first picture.  It is more about the interaction of walking along the beach and the heat from the sun making darks amongst the pine trees, as the sun also shimmers on the sea. This picture is more rugged though because it has far more texture in it than the first picture. Which I think adds a lot of appeal to it as much as the first one, although in a different way. The lemon yellow under the turquosie sky, the dark prussian blue under the cobalt blue of the sea, and the bright red under the sand of the beach add a richness and heat to the picture. The more I look at this picture the more I want to study the textures in it, and wallow in the colours. I have purposely accentuated the lone pine as it clings to the rock above the sea, as I wanted the strong contrast of the black of its branches to silhouette against the turquoise sky. And again the sea has depths of greens and blues to it and the scrape of white of the sunlit shimmering on the surface. I love this picture as well and think they make a good pair. This one is called “Under azure skies” and although I’ve walked on that beach before, I want to go back again now I’ve painted it! Under azure skies ) (2)

 Which of the two do you prefer? And why?  🙂

And I have also been busy updating my website this week as well and have added some new pictures to the Landscape gallery as well as the People Gallery and the  Erotic gallery and the Queynes Gallery. Added to that is the demo picture of Swarkestone showing each stage of the painting along the way. Go and have a look and tell me what you think!

 

 

 

 

5 thoughts on “Shimmering azuredly”

Comments are closed.