Painting a Seascape Outdoors at Maitland Bay, Australia

Hello Steemers

I am very much enjoying my visit to Australia and today my girlfriend and I went to Maitland Bay on the Central Coast in New South Wales, Australia. We had a specific reason for going here and that was so I could paint a view of the bay for a wedding present for one of My girlfriends, friends who is getting married this weekend. Her boyfriend proposed to here on this beach.

I'm pretty sure my girlfriend's friend doesn't know anything about Steemit so I am safe posting this painting on here as I still thought it would be cool to show you guys the painting process especially as this is such a beautiful location.

Here is the finished painting, I painted it in oils outdoors on location.

Maitland Bay, Australia, 18cm x 28cm, oil on canvas panel, painted outdoors 'en plein air'.

This is the view of the beach I painted, it was quite an overcast day but still very warm. I had to use some artistic licence to create a bit more drama and atmosphere and mark areas of light and shadow.

I set up my easel on the beach, I was feeling lazy so decided to just rest it straight on the sand so I could sit down and paint.

I start by sketching the scene with burnt umber, I have opted for a low horizon with the cliffs and headlands being the main subject of the painting.

I start by painting the sky, it's overcast today but its actually fine because a darker moody sky could contrast nicely against the cliffs, foliage and beach. I mix the colours of the sky using varying amounts of ultramarine blue, burnt umber, quinacridone magenta and titanium white.

Next I establish where my dark tones are going to be in the painting and I mark out the areas that will be in shadow using the same colour mix I used for the sky. Using these same colours will make the colours more cohesive and hopefully create more harmony within the painting.

I start painting the rock faces which are in shadow using a combination of burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow oxide, cadmium red light and ultramarine blue to desaturate the colours. I want to give the appearance of the rocks being in shadow but still have some colour in them.

Here I am adding more shadow to the foliage on the cliffs getting everything ready for when I start adding my lighter tones and colours.

I paint the sea using a combination of ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cobalt teal, phthalo green, burnt umber and titanium white.

Me painting away, it's such warm weather at the moment so I thought I'd catch some rays at the same time.

Next I start painting the foliage that is in light on the cliffs, these consist mostly of gum trees which is a different shade of green than compared with European trees.

I add some white water to indicate some breaking waves around the rocks and the beach. It was starting to rain a little whilst I was painting.

Me painting away again, I decided to change the sky a little and add some details to the painting.

I complete the painting by saving my lightest tones until the end, adding highlights to the sky, sea and the foliage on the cliffs.

My finished painting, hopefully my girlfriend's friend who is getting married will like it.

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

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