Surfside: Step 10
As I concluded my evening of painting one night, I was trying to decide exactly how I would paint the light on the ocean. To give me a better sense of the areas of color and value I decided to throw on a simple wash of thin paint down to the bottom of the painting. Knowing that this would be dry when I returned, I knew that I could paint over it as I pleased.
After studying several photos I had of ocean waves at various stages of sunset and sunrise, I painted the darkest parts of the water lighter on the right side of the painting nearest the sun. I reduced the value contrast of the foam in the middle and background by adding subdued purples and blues so that it would not distract from the figure, and I played up the warmth of the foreground shallow water and wet sand.
As I painted the water, I realized that I had the waves rising too high on the land at the left so that my horizon lines on either side of the figure did not align properly. At the same time I had been thinking that the rocky shoreline needed more emphasis. The solution to both problems was to paint more rocks below the land mass, doubling the height of the rocky cliff.
