Sunset by the sea is the second of two smaller original oil paintings I’ve completed recently. It celebrates the colour, light and movement you find by the sea as the sun sets. I've always found it a calming, quiet time, with the sun setting, the light changing and the colours intensifying.

It is based on sunset views you find on the east coast of England, with the sun setting over the hills behind the sea but affecting the colour of the sky and the horizon as you look out to sea.

I’ve kept the marks abstract and expressive throughout the painting. You can see the immediacy and sense of movement the alla prima brushmarks make with directional strokes. As with all my recent oil paintings, I’ve used texture in a descriptive way to help me suggest movement and the material quality of the land, sea and sky.

The oil painting has a minimal, contemporary feel and invites you to simply enjoy the sensation of inferred space, movement, light and colour.

Published December 2017