Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working in watercolours to capture some of my visual experiences from afternoon walks to the sea at St Annes-on-sea (before the recent travel restrictions were imposed).

With the sun setting sooner during the autumn and the arrival of cooler weather, there have been some beautiful views from the beach. During this recent trip, I noticed the particular intensity of contrasting tones and the beautiful cloud formations over the seascape.

Light across the shallows is my latest original watercolour painting inspired by these views, capturing the low sun over the sea.

It has muted colours with a soft, bright light emanating from the horizon. Cold, autumnal tones flood through the painting and the sun glimmers off the reflective wet surfaces of the flat sandy seashore.

A soft glow eminates from the horizon and stronger contrasts occur between darker areas of sand and sky to describe the atmosphere over the beach. The seascape painting also has a feeling of horizontal movement from the sea and the sky.

The vertical lines on the horizon are channel markers to mark the edge of the channel leading into the Lytham Estuary and finally round the coast to Preston and the dock.

I’ve used a number of exquisite colours in this watercolour using Daniel Smith artist paints. Including Buff titanium and Cerulean blue which granulates in watercolour washes, highlighting the texture of the beautiful Arches Aquarelle paper.

Light across the shallows is available in the gallery now and offers a lovely reminder of the beautiful natural light and atmosphere over the sea at St Annes-on-sea on the Lancashire coastline.

Published October 2020