Photo Gallery for July’s Painting Project (Beach Huts)
I’ve had fun looking through the paintings done in response to July’s painting project, the number and colours of the huts, the imaginations applied to the scene, and the depictions of the weather (knowing as I do that it was threatening to rain as I took the reference photo). Scroll down and enjoy the paintings!
By Lorraine: Beach huts Borders style!
From Marion: Enjoying the splashes of colour in the foreground, in the grasses and washing, against the calm expanse of a sandy shore that invites you to walk along it.By Erika: “Tried something different this time by combining both subject matters (cabins/people) in one painting with lots of quiet space in between. Since I’m not a quiet-type person, I feel it needs more (kites flying, dogs in the foreground, at least some sgrafitti) but for now it shall be left as is.”
From Marion: I like that your figures are dressed for a typical Scottish summer! The composition works well for me, with the bands of calm top and bottom containing the central diagonal where everything is happening. And the line of white dancing across the sky pulling the eye across whilst adding visual interest into the dark sky; it feels like lines drawn by two birds who flew across. The pebbles enhance the connection of the main focal point and the secondary. By Bee: I used oils which I have done very little of and enjoyed it , I find I keep fiddling in oils in a way I don’t in other mediums. By Sarah W: ” After much fun and learning thank you Cathi and Marion, this outcome I throughly enjoyed and learnt a lot about perspective and horizon line . In Inks and watercolour after tracing .”By Sarah W: Its been a let’s finish morning , playing , looking and knowing it is not as the photo represents. I have thoroughly enjoyed the learning on perspective and playing with a result I didn’t expect until I stood back. Sorry the beach dissappeared in my project.
From Marion: ” Sometimes paintings take on a life of their own and I believe it’s important to see where this leads because it can be to interesting, unexpected places. You can always go back to your original idea another time.” By Barbara R: I enjoyed the dramatic skies and the challenge of trying to get the perspective right on the beach huts. Mixed media (watercolours, inks, Brusho, collage on the pebble postcards). By Barbara R. By Barbara RBy Barbara R.
By Cathi: I toned down this painting of beach huts from where it was, and think it looks better being less fussy.
By Cathi: Then I titivated the texture paste lone hut. I think it looks as if it is floating on top of the beach but didn’t know how to “anchor” it.
From Marion: Adding a little darker shadow beneath the hut and glazing a little of this out onto some of the pebble sand may well be all it needs to anchor it. The sense of rain shower from the sky created with the drippy paint is very effective.
By Cathi: This is my watercolour on canvas paper version which has a much more subtle feel to it. Something a bit old-fashioned about it and the ochre splodge in the sky almost disappeared!
By Cathi: My “spontaneous” ink version which I think it is my favourite, though I do like the watercolour above.The paper has curled so the perspective looks way out, I know the middle hut is ‘dancing ‘ a bit!
From Marion: I found myself looking back and forth between this painting and the previous. I like the strong ink mark making on this one (hardly a surprise) but also the gentle colour of the previous.
By Cathi: The shed in the wood, with door and step. Ink, spray water, kebab sticks… the lot.
From Marion: For anyone wondering where the trees suddenly came from, I spent a day painting with Cathi and Sarah which saw me doing mostly trees inspired by what I could see through the windows as well as painting the beach hut scene. Towards the end of the day Cathi combined the two, and we were all doing mixed media.
By Cathi. Digital drawing.
By Eddie: This is my attempt at the sheds, after a few corrections suggested by Marion. I thought the huts were too regular so decided to move one out of line. By Eddie: “I couldn’t resist trying the pebbles. I put a random brown and cream wash with a palette knife on acrylic paper. I then made washes on watercolour paper using granulating pigments and, when dry, I cut out pebble shapes and stuck them on to the acrylic paper. I added shadows on the shapes with a 6B pencil and decided not to add cast shadows on the ground. I covered everything with gloss medium to make sure the shapes were stuck down and protected. Finally I put on a thin blue unifying glaze.”
From Marion: Just as in real life I find myself mesmerized by the shapes, colours, patterns, trying to decide which are my favourites, which one I would pick up. By Eddie: “Another version using the same process. I don’t often do collage and doing these reminded me why I don’t. They took a long time and I was in danger of developing blisters or repetitive strain injury while cutting out the shapes (not helped by using thick watercolour paper). Despite this it was a lot of fun.”By Gail: Enjoyed this one too. It is done in acrylic and ink. I liked the challenge of the dark sky and the sunlit houses.
From Marion: Absolutely feels like a Scottish beach with the sun playing against the clouds rolling in.By Claire: ” I have taken liberties with Findhorn beach (I didn’t want to put lots of grass in the picture and I wanted to open up the beach) but I hope it still works! My perspective is a little wobbly but I decided it was better to leave it! Translating pencil to paint in small areas proved difficult.
From Marion: I like the contrast between the strong graphic diagonals of the rocks, sand and sea against the softer diagonals billowing clouds. It creates depth, pulls my eye up and in, with different visual rewards in each section.
Of the various attempts I made at painting this scene, my first remains my favourite. You can see three versions (including the failed one) here. I also had a go at the pebbles using acrylic ink, on a wooden board primed with clear gesso. I started with the hope that the continuous line in Payne’s grey would work for the shadows without painting them in painstakingly. (Video of me painting this for project subscribers here.)
Wearing my new shoes that are supposed to not get near paint!
My thanks to everyone who’s shared their paintings for us all to enjoy and learn from. You’ll find a list of all the projects here. It’s never to late to do any of these, and if you email me a photo of your painting it will join whatever the next photo gallery is.
