Dunes Series

Dunes 1 - 4x6 Pastel

This is the first of a series of dune and beach approaches.  In this painting, my goal was to create a sense of late afternoon light and shadow with the stiff sea breeze moving across the dunes.

Dunes 2 - 4x6 Pastel

December is a good time to see the sunrise at the beach.  The light is spectacular, the colors are warm, and the air is crisp.

Theme and Variations

Pastel 12x18 on UArt

This view of South Ponte Vedra Beach is built to show the repetition with variation of the many lines and forms that make up the coastline vista.

Spring, Windy and Hazy

 

Revised painting - 4/21/16

Original Plein Air Painting

Pastel, 6x9 on UArt 400

I took my plein air box to South Ponte Vedre Beach and set up my easel in edge of the dunes.  The wind was stiff and the sun was distant and hazy, but the colors were brilliant.  The dunes are protected here by the state park and they line up in a long row back from the beach.  At low tide, the pink and golden sand creates a warm border between the deep gray-green of the grass and the blue and churning white of the water.

Early Morning Shadows

Pastel over Watercolor & Ink, 5x7

As the sun rises above the low clouds in the early morning, the light casts the dunes and the ridges in sharp contrasts of light and shadow.

Over the Top

Watercolor & Ink, 4x6

The dunes rise in ranks coming back from the beach.  From the top of the tallest one, the path descends to the wet sand and waves.

Painting is available on EBAY from 2/26/16 - Click Here

Winter Morning Color

Watercolor & Ink, 4x6

I created this little painting to display the brilliant colors that paint the beach early in on a winter morning.
Painting available on EBAY starting 2/10/16 - click HERE. 

Breaking Close

Watercolor & Ink, 4x6

Following a winter storm, the clouds depart, the wind falls, and beach is bathed with bright sunlight.  At high tide the waves break close to the shore.
This painting will be available on EBAY - Click Here.

Windy Oats, Studies

 

"Windy Oats, 1" - Watercolor & Ink, 6x4

 

"Windy Oats, 2" - Watercolor & Ink, 6x4 

In these two paintings, my goal was to capture the freshness, the wind, and the freedom of the summer sea oats as they dance with their golden seed heads on the ocean breezes.

I painted these two small studies to be a pair.  They will be available separately on eBay until 1/31/16.  Click here to see Windy Oats 1, an here to see Windy Oats 2

Autumn Sea Oats

Pastel 9.5x14 on self-textured Gatorboard

Tom Christopher workshop - first studio piece.  Using Tom's instruction for texturing Gatorboard and emphasizing values, I developed this painting from a photograph of the sea oats on the low dunes at Jacksonville Beach.  My objective was to capture the textures and color of the sea oats on an early November morning.  The green of summer has been replaced with rust and gold in the early autumn light.
Photograph from my phone.  I will take another, more formal photograph after the workshop.

Autumn Dunes

Pastel 6x9 on UArt 320

As the summer has ended and the autumn has come to the beach, the sea oats and other grasses adopt the colors of fall.  In an effort to get more vibrant color into this painting, I started with a turquoise undercoat which I have permitted to show through in places.  I was hoping that the brilliance of the underpaint would set the tone and help instruct my color choices for the rest of the painting. I chose a view at low tide with a wide beach and the surf far away.  I deliberately understated the beach and surf in the background and left the sky without clouds order to emphasize the contrast and colors of the late summer grass and bushes on the dunes.

September Wave

Pastel, 6x8 on UArt 320

At the end of summer, the prevailing wind turns to the southwest, and the swells come in from a flat ocean.  They normally break in regular succession on the beach, but every so often a large sell comes in and rolls over the smaller waves that have come before.  I call these "September Waves."

9/22/15 - My wife Patty observed that I needed something to fill the big empty void in the middle of the painting.  After some thought, I agreed and added some sea gulls.  I like the addition.

I you are interested in purchasing this painting, please click on Daily Paintworks.

Dunes in Morning Shadows

Pastel, 6x9

In the late spring, my favorite time at the beach is in the early morning before the sunbathers and swimmers arrive.  The sun is not high enough to be hot and its radiance is low enough to fill the shadows with purple and blue.  The sea breeze is still quiet, and the reflections of the sun casts a halo of brilliance on the water all the way to the horizon.

Painting is available on Daily Paintworks.