Night Tide (progress)

 "Night Tide" (18x18) o/p

This painting began with a trip to Hug Point beach on the northern Oregon coast last month with a couple of painter friends. We were there  painting and sketching all day, and I came away with several plein air studies and some ideas in my sketchbook for something I would do back in the studio.

 From the sketch book...

What I had in mind was a nocturne; a moonlit blue-violet scene that had a sense of peaceful mystery about it (as this beach does at night, being part of what I call the "lonely Oregon coast")...

I did a few monochromatic studies in chalk on Canson paper before I felt comfortable moving to a full colour study with a composition I liked. Although this may appear to be a limited palette, I utilized a full range of oils to achieve a subtle depth of colour involving various blues, violets, greens, greys and browns made up of primary and secondary hues...

 More refinement...

Below is the colour study (the small 12x12 on the left) and the larger version about 3/4 done... I later changed the cloud shapes, omitted the shadow on the large tree trunk and added the shallow cave at the base of the cliff (which is there in real life, but I had originally thought it might be too distracting).

In progress...

I eventually did three versions all together, with the final one being a horizontal 12x16 in which I added more trees to the bluff on the right side. I may post that one later -- it's destined for a show in New York next month.

Temple of the Pacific

"Temple of the Pacific" (24x36)

This piece was done from a couple of plein air sketches I did earlier this year, above a little cove on the north end of Boiler Bay (just north of Depot Bay, OR).  I've painted here under different conditions and times of day, always returning for it's classic Pacific Northwest character, but having an entirely different experience every time...

Living where I do (approximately one and a half hours from the beach) it's unpredictable what you're going to find there.  From here you have to traverse the coast range of mountains, and you never know what's going to greet you on the other side... Could be a clear, cloudless day from home to the horizon, but rounding that last curve of tall pines may reveal a thick fog bank obscuring the ocean altogether.  

Or, an overcast gray day at home could fool you from perfect conditions awaiting at the beach.  One thing I have become accustomed to though, is learning to accept what I find, no matter the weather (barring hard rain).   Of course back home in the controlled environment of the studio, I could take any time necessary to expand upon my outdoor sketches (which I did) -- and that's a good thing, as I believe every painting should be markedly different from any other -- even if it's a painting of a painting...inspired by a previous painting.