Photo Gallery: Duntulm Bay Painting Project

Here’s the photo gallery for August’s painting project featuring Duntulm Bay. Definitely lots of fun being had with the various textures and greys in the scene, in mediums from ink to oils. Enjoy!

By Bayberry: ” I kept it to only watercolor and ink, which is harder for me. I always want to fix it with acrylic.”

From Marion: It’s not easy to resist reaching for acrylics, and not easy to do without, when you’re accustomed to what opaque acrylics do! Overall I think you’ve captured the location, the various textures of the elements and the gentle colours of the day the reference photo was taken beautifully.

By Karen: “I really enjoyed doing it after a first attempt when I wasn’t captured by the subject and gave up. It’s not a scene I would choose to paint but once I got into the flow I really enjoyed it. It is a little darker than I would have liked, although this photo shows it darker than it is.

From Marion: This has depth, the sense of location, the 3D on the slabs of rock, the little gate subtly waiting to be noticed, different textures in the various areas, it’s fabulous! Acrylics do dry darker (watercolours dry lighter), so a painting can easily be darker than we intend. It’s something you learn to compensate for: some people do it as they colour mix (by using colours a bit lighter in tone) others by adjusting afterwards (what I tend to do).

By Katherine: “Usually when I attempt any painting it somehow ends up looking quite grey, so I thought this challenge would suit me perfectly. But I’ve used a new medium for me – Faber-Castell gelato crayons which feel a bit like wax crayons but are in fact watercolour so dissolve if water added. My 12 crayons we’re all bright colours and I’ve ended up with this. Worked into it a little afterwards with watercolour pencils.”

From Marion: Well, this certainly isn’t “quite grey” but a rich tapestry of intriguing colour! I like the different areas of tone and mark making, pulling my eye up into the blues of the sea and calm sky. Definitely a medium you should use again!

By Eddie: “I have strengthened the blue in the sky and muted the sea in response to your comments. The hard edge on the hill was because I wet the graphite and it was difficult to cover completely but I have tried. There was some green in the stones but it didn’t show well against the dark so I have strengthened it. Overall the tweaks have made the painting stronger.

Details from Eddie’s painting.

By Bee. Pastel.

From Marion: The combination of drawing (line) and painting (blocks of colour and blended colour) not only creates visual interest that intrigues and lures me in, but also an energy. Like different tempos in a piece of music, speeding up and slowing down. Lovely use of the texture of the paper as part of this.

By Bee, in oils: “This is my final version of Dutulm Shore, I like it but it is not really the same place , tho’ I guess it was the starting point.”

From Marion: A photo is always just a starting point never the end point. The gentle greys and browns pull me in for a closer look, into the smaller and smaller pebbles. Like the use of line drawing into the wet paint to give texture and form to the rocks.

By Mark: “I enjoyed this month’s challenge, and did three attempts.

From Marion: They’ve got an energy and freshness to them, and I’m hard pressed to pick a favourite.

Remember, it’s never too late to do any of the projects, there’s no closing date to them. Simply email me a photo of your painting and I’ll add it to the next photo gallery. All the painting projects are listed here. Individual help from me with your paintings is available to project subscribers through my Patreon page and it also has a community section for easy sharing and commenting on fellow subscribers’ paintings.

My paintings inspired by this month’s location: