A day at the beach

The interaction of sea against shore fascinates me.   I think it appeals to most people.  There is something primal about standing on a shore and feeling, hearing, tasting the waves as they roll in.
The water sculpts the land and the rocks near the shore to create peaks and valleys and it carves out openings, eventually collapsing rock til it returns to sand once more.

I have revisited this pastel that I did a couple of years ago of a stone archway on Laguna Beach in California.  The action of surf against what looks to be a fairly sandy stone created an archway through it.  What it doesn't show is the scale of this arch.  Its large enough for 2 people to walk through easily.

I wasn't satisfied with the first pastel, so went back and reworked it a little.  I wanted to intensify the colours in the rocks against the blue sky and now I think the piece is about where I want it to be.  I'm not proficient in pastel simply because I haven't used it enough.  I enjoy it when I do, so perhaps I should be picking it up more often.

There is benefit in revisiting a piece and creating it in several mediums.  There is always something new to learn with each visit.  I have recently created another painting of this view in oils which is on my blog and am considering a full size charcoal piece of it also.

And more explorations of the ocean on rocks with my digital sketch using the program that Vivien mentioned yesterday in her post.  It is a very useful way of dropping quick ideas as thumbnails for future use.  Yes, I could have used paper, but this way is even quicker.  This is from an image taken at Topsail Beach last month.  Watching the waves wash over these rocks is an endless pastime for me.  Bell Island and Kelly's Island are in the distant background.  Bell Island is still inhabited and was once famous for its mines, now more as a tourist destination, as the mines closed in 1949.

Still with a watery theme, but on my blog, is the work in progress of an aging dory that I spent time with last summer. I played with digitized manipulations of this boat, trying to decide the best medium for it.  I finally decided on pen and ink and a pointilissm technique.  You can have a peek at the progress here.