Thursday 4 January 2018

#280 'Rock Study, Seaford' 8x10"


We had four days in East Sussex, a wonderful coastline with chalk cliffs and rocky outcrops. Having not painted white cliffs before they are a challenge! It's all about the tonal values, everything was tonally close together the sea sky and cliffs, not easy! Very paintable though I could keep painting this subject for a while.

I felt I needed to do a study honing in on the rocks to really observe them and not try and make a 'pretty painting' but just paint what's there!


Squinting my eyes I could see the sticky out rock was darker than the sky, so I put it in first then the sky around it, doing that I could judge the rock was too dark, so I adjusted it's tonal value. 

Because there was a lot of grey neutral colours I compared them to each other asking the question is this warmer or cooler e.g. The sky was cool and the rocks warmer.

When I was painting this Monet came to my mind as I could imagine him liking this scene.

Meanwhile the tide was coming in and the seas were getting bigger! I kept thinking I was going to get dumped on, each break of wave crashing - see pic:

A lady warned me and said if I stay in this spot I would get cut off by the tide. So that put a bit of injection into my painting to finish! I left my spot and about 10 waves later the whole area was engulfed in water, a close escape!


4 comments:

  1. I can see how difficult the subject is; it is good to get a photograph to see that. I assume the base of the cliff and rock is seaweed. I think the sea and sky, even though only the ‘container’ of the rocks, are beautifully depicted and painted.

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    1. Hi ebbybow, thank you, the base it seaweed and algae, it was tonally very dark compared to the chalk rocks. Clare

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  2. Nice juicy brushstrokes! Do you use any medium or just the solvent? Francois

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    1. Hi Francois, thanks, I used to make my own with Stand oil, Linseed oil and Turps but now use Sansodour low odour. I have brought Robersons glaze medium matt which is supposed to be good too, I haven't tried it yet! In the later stages of a painting I use very little or no medium which makes the paint thicker and fatter.Clare

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