Sand Dollar Trio- Original Watercolor

9X12 watercolor on 140 lb. cold press

More beach watercoloring- I can't seem to help it with our winter staying in the 60's and 70's.  It just feels like summer! I walk 3-4 miles by the beach every morning and have many photos to paint from.  I feel like I need to paint something different, but this is what motivates me these days.  Soon, I will move on (at least in temporary spurts) and mix in other painting subjects.  I am going to take my artistic motivation wherever I can get it- and these days, it is the beach!  These sand dollars were really fun for me to paint since I really get caught up in the tiny details- that explains all the grains of sand I added. The main challenge for me was to use a light hand to shade these sand dollars- to keep them light in color, but not completely white.

Back to the Beach

"Catch of the Day"

9X12 acrylic on canvas

We are moving soon. That means lots of things to pack, which is bad.  It also means I will be a few feet from the sand and the Pacific Ocean, which is excellent!  I am only about an hour from the coast now, but an ocean view is much better.  When we left Long Island, I knew I would miss the beach being only a few minutes away.  I definitely have missed the frequent trips to Fire Island, and it will be wonderful to live on the coast again (not to mention saying bye bye to the 100+ degree days of summer here).

Seashell Trio- oils on canvas

I am finishing, one at a time, the oil paintings that I started earlier this week. Sometimes I find I get more done by starting a batch of paintings at once. If I prime multiple canvases, they are then ready to go and easy to start. No excuses. Painting on these small canvases is so fun, too!

The dark still life starts out on a canvas covered in dark (usually black) acrylic paint. It is faster and uses less of my more expensive oil paint. Then, I can mix my darks for the background- usually alizarin crimson, burnt umber, and ultramarine blue. For the beach/sand paintings, I usually start with a raw sienna mix. Then come the grains of sand, then the shells and beach glass. Some of my shells and fruits (cherries, pomegranates, etc.) get a pure black background to make them really stand out.

Time to go paint- I have more than a few paintings waiting in my studio!

Thanks for visiting-

Sheryl