Painting the Evening Surf at Soldier Beach, Australia - Art and Painting Process

Hello Steemers

I have been in Australia for the past three weeks staying on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales. This has been a brilliant opportunity to go 'en plein air' painting (painting outdoors) at the seaside.

A few days ago I went to Soldiers Beach which features a beautiful sandy beach and a rocky shore at the headland. I painted an outdoor study of the rocky shore at Soldiers Beach.

This is the finished painting and in the blog I'll show you the process of how I painted this artwork.

Evening Surf at Soldiers Beach, Australia, 8" x 10", oil on canvas panel, painted outdoors 'en plein air'.

This was the view I decided to paint when I arrived, I love that turquoise blue ocean.

I set up my easel on a rock and began to paint.

I'm painting on an 8" x 10" canvas panel which I made myself. I sketch out the scene with burnt umber.

I start by painting the sky, then using ultramarine blue, burnt umber, quinacridone magenta and titanium white I paint the distant landforms. Using the same colours but much less titanium white I paint the rock shadows in the foreground. This darkens the tone and so makes the rocks look closer to the viewer in the painting.

Next using titanium white I mark out the highlights of the breaking waves.

Next I start painting the sea using a combination of ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cobalt teal and phthalo green. I darken the tone of the blue by the rocks on the right by adding more ultramarine blue and burnt umber.

Next I paint the areas in light on the distant dunes and the rocks in the foreground. I mix the colours of the rocks using varying combinations of burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow oxide and cadmium yellow.

By this point the light was changing but I still had plenty of time left.

Now that the painting is nearing completion I add more highlights to the rocks and the sea.

By the time I was nearly finished with this painting the light had changed dramatically but I was able to reflect this in the painting.

I complete the painting by adding my lightest tones which I have saved until the end of the painting. I add highlights to the rocks and indicate areas where the sun is glistening on wet rocks. I also refine the sea.

My finished painting with the view I'd just painted in the background.

My finished painting in the sun. I love coming here to paint, it's so beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post, check out my website for more of my art: samuelearp.com

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Check out the link to my other recent blog post where I painted another seascape outdoors:

https://steemit.com/art/@samuel-earp-art/painting-outdoors-at-soldiers-beach-australia-art-and-painting-process