Journal

East From Amroth – Colour Study

A small oil painting of the view east from Amroth beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Oil on canvas (5x7 inches). 2020.

Back in early 2018, I had a real thing for the coast. I made several trips to Welsh coastal areas including Amroth, Tenby, Ferryside, and Llansteffan to photograph them. The loneliness and dramatic light of beaches in winter is something that always has me in awe.

This scene looking east from Amroth beach never quite made a stand-out photo, but there was something that kept drawing me back to it. I thought it would make a great painting.

The colours in this one are quite muted compared to my previous works, so it was vital I made a colour study before moving on to the final piece. It was important for me to convey the cold of the sand in cloud-shadow whilst also showing the warm rays of sun on parts of the beach and the cliffs.

This is good progress towards the final piece. Aside from increasing my knowledge of colour mixing, this piece also gave me more experience with the mediums I use with oil paints. Starting off with Liquin to help the flow was a bit of a backfire. Its quick-drying nature gave me some problems when it came to painting the graduated sky. I switched to linseed oil and things got a lot better from there.

I look forward to moving onto a larger canvas for the final piece. This will allow me to add the level of detail I prefer. The painting needs it considering the overall simplicity of the scene.

Published by Chris

Landscape artist Chris Richards lives on the edge of the Brecon Beacons in the village of Ystradgynlais. Chris works mainly in oils, but also dabbles with acrylics, ink pens, watercolours, and soft pastels.

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