The Sea

Been working on the centerpiece of my triptych. Added some detail in the sea and changed it's title. 'A Day at the Beach #3' is now 'The Sea'. It reminded me of the first time I saw the sea as a kid. Must've been five years old and I still clearly remember how overwhelmed I was.

The Sea, oil on panel, 32 x 64 cm

In this painting there is quite a difference between the surfaces. The sky and it's reflection are smooth and you can't see a brush stroke. The sea and the two figures show a different approach, whith dots of paint on top of a ground layer. This ground layer is painted much like the sky and it's reflection. In this stage the water showed little movement. The dots of the second layer changed that.

The color of this second layer is also pretty important. Seen from a distance you don't want the dots to stand out from the background, you want them to more or less blend in. There are to ways to achieve this. The first is to slightly change the color of the dots. Make it just a tad lighter or darker than the background. 

The second has to do with color contrast. In this painting I used Burnt Sienna, which is a warm color compared to the blue background. I toned it down to just about the same shade as the background. If you'd take a black and white picture of it, you'd hardly see the difference. Different colors of the same tone. Works miracles.

It's still magic to me how a painting that is almost abstract, with it's dots and small brush strokes, can change into a detailed scene, when seen from some distance.

I'm also still working on the 10 x 15 series. More about that later.