Painting Outdoors at Soldiers Beach, Australia - Art and Painting Process

Hello Steemers

It's been a beautiful day here on the Central Coast in Australia so I packed up my paints and headed down to the beach to do some plein air painting (painting outdoors).

I went to Soldiers Beach and decided to paint the view of Norah Head which features a lighthouse on the headland. I like the turquoise blue ocean and the rocks in the foreground, so I set up my easel and got painting.

This was the painting I did today and I'll show you some of the painting process.

This is the view of Norah Head, I love painting on this part of the Central Coast, there is so much to paint, rocks, beach, cliffs and beautiful ocean.

I set up my easel on the rocks and started painting.

I am painting on an 8" x 10" canvas panel and I am using oil paint. I sketch out the composition with burnt umber.

I start by painting the sky which I use to gauge the tonality of the rest of the painting, next I mix a neutral grey which I use use for the shadows in the distance cliffs.

My darkest shadows will be in the foreground so I mix a near black for the shadows of the rocks and I also mark the cracks within the rocks.

Next I paint the sea, I love the turquoise blue colours which I mix using a combination of ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cobalt teal and phthalo green.

Next I paint the foliage on the cliffs, I have to desaturate the greens so it recedes in the painting.

I have been mixing the oil paint with liquin which speeds up the drying even whilst I'm painting outside, this is useful because it means I can repaint areas and add more detail later on in the painting. I paint the rocks in the foreground.

I paint reflected light and form the ripples in the sea and work on the spills on the rocks in the foreground. I form more of the rock shapes in the foreground and add more texture by adding lighter tone to it.

My finished painting, I add the foam on the breaking waves and the spills in the rocks. I make some overall refinements to the painting and with that it is finished.

View of Norah Head, Australia, 8" x 10", oil on canvas, painted outdoors.

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

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