Walk at Withernsea
Walk at Withernsea
I’ve just uploaded a new painting to my website. I’ve been working on this for a few months off and on. It’s inspired by a walk I took earlier this year at Withernsea on the Yorkshire coast. It was a thoroughly breezy day, yet with a clear sky, the sun still felt warm enough to be on the beach. Not long after I came back I did a small 20×20 painting in acrylic that I was never that pleased with.
What next?
More recently I went back to the photograph and thought I would try a different approach using a palette knife to get more movement and drama into the painting. It felt like a dramatic day with a stiff breeze, a very low tide leaving the beach exposed with huge swathes of water lying on the sand reflecting the light of a beautiful cerulean sky. Although closer to capturing the feeling of the day, I wasn’t that happy with this version either, it was too broken up, not enough integration between areas and colour. So it sat on the wall for another few weeks while I occasionally gazed at it and wondered what might come next.
Oil Paint
What came next was oil paint – I was looking at it one day and thought “I wonder what would happen if…….”
I love those moments with a painting – clearly something had been going on in my unconscious. I’m finding it increasingly important to have the patience to wait and see. To live with a bit of uncertainty not knowing where to go next, yet be willing to see what will emerge. What does emerge is often surprising and in this case a different result to what I would have got if I hadn’t been willing to wait.
Low Tide II