Beach Study

I've been meaning to work on some quick study oil paintings lately. Dean pointed out to me several months ago that this is important thing to do - to "practice" painting, creating quick pieces, without the pressure that each painting has to be "great".

I did my first study with him almost two years ago, from a photo of a boy running on the beach. It was a very good lesson in quick study, and color mixing. I think the entire process of that painting took under 30 minutes.

Today I decided to do a study from a photograph I had taken of the beach in Cape Town. I tried to remind myself not to dwell too long on details, and to paint with larger, broader strokes.

I mixed the paints of the different colors in the water first - five at first, as well as the sky color and the beach color.

I put these in on the canvas with larger brushes, just filling it in without worrying too much about the details.

After, I worked on the figures, which, while there is some amount of detail, are still quite loose. It's not perfect, by any means, but that's kind of the point I guess. (Now that I see the two images next to each other, my rocks in the background and the waves near them, are much larger in my painting. It's a much more tumultuous day at the beach in my interpretation!) I like the looseness of it, and how (I think) there's still motion in it.

I spent about 2.5 hours on it in total. It was a really good exercise for me to try. I should try to do more of these to loosen up and just practice. :)


original image


"Study - Cape Town Beach"
2014
oil on canvas
6 x 12 inches