One of the last things I'd do right now, is go down to the beach.
It's been raining and the temperature is still pretty chilly - but there is a slight increase so that possibly means Summer is trying to find us here in the Southern Hemisphere.
Up til now we've had the most amazing Winter. All in all only about one month of seriously cold weather - a 6deg Celsius minimum early morning is Cold! Which also means that I've only had to light the fire about 5 times so far. But it's not over yet. August can be colder than July sometimes.
But back to the beach.
This is from one of Shelley Smart's photographs from her blog, A Year at the Beach. She's from California and from her photos, she lives in an amazing place. She very kindly gave me permission to paint this one - I loved the composition (yes I know it breaks all the rules) and it took me a lot longer than I thought it would.
Thank you Shelley.
32 comments:
This is very serene..Calming..
I just hope those birds do not go out of painting.. :) It looks like they would just walk out...
Your gulls are wonderful, Liz. Rules? What rules? You are an ar-tist..........
Just wonderful Liz! Love the painterly way you did the birds and I think the little rocks lead your eye to them so I think the composition works perfectly.
Love this. Deceptively simple, and I adore wacky compositions!
great composition...
Hi Liz, I thought it was a photo at first. Nice to have the gulls almost leaving the format. That shows that life goes on beyond the canvas! A very nice limited colour scheme too!
Oh, this is wonderful!! I love it!
As for placement of main subject, i.e., birds, a photography teacher once told me, "Of course your subject can be looking out of the frame!" so I make sure to keep that in mind. Sometimes I like to see where the subject has BEEN! Or to wonder what it's looking AT!
And they're not gulls, maybe some sort of sandpiper or perhaps willets?
Lovely work!
'Lead the viewer into the painting' is a good rule to break -- And you've painted this wonderfully appealing composition beautifully!
It is beautiful, Liz! I love the softness of the sand too.
Was it you who said you'd send me a photo to draw for my portrait class? If so, you can reach me via email by clicking on my profile link on the top right side of the blog, then the 'email me' link under the photo. Dana Cooper sent a couple that are fabulous too!
Superb compose and wonderfully painted! I loved the soft colors u used here. I liked the shadows as well! :)
I like the painting so much, especially how quiet it feels and the composition, the layout of the stones. There are rules for everything. You found one that works....
what a nice opp. the birds on the beach look plump
I love Shelley's blog and seeing how her beach changes every day.
You did a fabulous job with these birds... Aren't they wonderful creatures??
At first glance it looks like a photo! The shadows tell what kind of a day it was.. they are just too realistic Liz!
j'ai visité le magnifique blog de
shelley et je trouve vraiment génial de pouvoir faire des peintures d'après les photos d'autres blogeurs !! tes oiseaux sont très beaux et tous ces petits cailloux sur la plage - magnifique LIZ - bisous et belle semaine !!
Hi there Prabal - when I saw the photo I thought the pebbles and stones were anchoring them to the picture, so maybe they'll stay where they are! Thank you dear friend.
Thank you Carol!
Hello Barbara and thank you. I also thought the rocks would do that job.
Gosh Sharon, I know you do some amazing compositions and I'm so glad you like my 'breakaway' attempt!
Thank you so much Johannes - that's the highest praise!
Hello Marie and thank you. I'm enjoying limited palettes at the moment, just slowly starting to add one or two to the original three. By the way, wonderful article in Art Times this month!
Thank YOU Shelley! Your blog is a pleasure to visit. Google seems to tell me that they are willets (never heard of them!) and not sandpipers, whose legs are much shorter.
Hi there Charlene - and thank you. I guess all rules can be broken sometimes in painting!
Hi Sherry! Thank you for the lovely comment. I tried your profile link and there was no email facility! Maybe you took it off?
Hello Megha - thank you so much!
Thank you so much Tony - a really nice compliment!
They do look a bit plump don't they Melanie! Well fed birds! Thank you!
Dear Marian, I found Shelley's blog through you! It's just so peaceful to visit - an ocean that I will probably never see! And all those wonderful birds - they are beautiful creatures.
Hi Padmaja - wow, realistic huh! It's quite large and I left the birds quite painterly which is not so obvious in this smaller size pic. Maybe I should have included close ups? The rocks I did primarily with a palette knife. Thank you for your great comment.
Dear Marty I'm glad you went to Shelley's blog. Her photos are so different to your beautiful close ups. Thank you so much and hope you, too, have a beautiful week.
A very calm and peaceful atmosphere! The birds are very charming!
Love the quietness and simplicity of this composition and colour scheme Liz, I can well believe it took you a long time to paint, simplicity can be deceptive!
As my art instructors says, rules are just guidelines. I love this piece. The limited palette, the serenity of it. My eye also keeps getting drawn to the pebbles because you captured light emanating from them. Good work.
Jean
I just love these sandpipers, Liz. The whole painting has such a lovely serene and tranquil feeling to it.
Loooooove this!!!! Love the colors, love the birds. I just love it!!!
An amazing painting, Liz.
The simple lines in this, and the stones, just make this such a wonderful scene. Love the work you did on this, it's terrific.
This is a stunning painting and the simple composition is the most striking aspect! I love the colour palette too!
Hi there, just stopped by to have a look at your gorgeous blog. I love these sandpipers!!!!! They are gorgeous! Great work!
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